Jericho moves to the CW this Sunday, TV ad goes national

November 26, 2008

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The CW Network announced its new Sunday schedule this week with a lineup that includes Jericho, the science fiction drama set in post-nuclear America, starring Skeet Ulrich, Lennie James, Alicia Coppola, Brad Beyer, Kenneth Mitchell and Sprague Grayden.

Jericho was cancelled by CBS for the second time when season two had run its course in March this year. Jericho reruns will now air on the CW Sundays 7 -8 p.m. for 29 straight weeks, starting November 30.

The news that Jericho is coming back to television could not go by unnoticed by Jericho Rangers, fans of the show who had originally brought it back to life after the first cancellation in 2007 and who have been writing both to CBS and several cable networks asking them to do the same. Apart from writing to networks, Jericho fans have also created the Save Jericho Again TV ad, which will get its second run on the NBC Universal HD Channel through the month of December.

They issued the following press release earlier this week:

UHD media flight coincides with re-introduction of Jericho’s Seasons 1 & 2 on The CW Network

In what’s considered to be yet another first by a fan community supporting a beloved show, the NBC Universal HD Channel will begin airing nationally a fan-funded and –produced TV commercial designed to highlight the desired resurrection of the post-apocalyptic drama Jericho. Slated to run through the month of December 2008, the Save Jericho Again TV ad dovetails with Universal HD’s run of the CBS-canceled show about a small Kansas town’s fight for survival in the wake of nuclear bombs dropped on 23 American cities.

Fans, or Jericho Rangers, as they’re often called, decided to expand their footprint beyond two previous ad buys in the Los Angeles area and raise several thousand dollars more in donations from around the globe to purchase a total of 85 spots to air on a national scale on Universal HD beginning December 1st. The 30-second ad, created by Jericho fan Jason Moore (screen name Rubberpoultry), will air in day parts of the Monday-Friday schedule and on Saturday and Sunday evenings through December 28th.

Surprisingly and coincidentally, the UHD flight schedule will coincide with the start of The CW Network’s airing of Jericho’s first and second seasons on Sunday nights at 7 PM, beginning November 30th. The CW, owned by CBS, announced on November 22nd that it was dumping its current Sunday night schedule for a revamped weekly line-up that would include all 29 episodes of Jericho.

The national NBC UHD ad run is a follow-up to two previous campaigns, in which more than 400 Save Jericho Again cable commercials aired in June and September in the Los Angeles area with popular, ratings-rich shows on the ESPN, Discovery, History, and Sci-Fi Channels. The original intent was to target efforts in and around the Hollywood industry area where a decision about Jericho’s rumored future would most likely be made. The ad was created to complement fans’ other media efforts and to maintain awareness of support for the show, its cast, and crew in the time frame that several networks had expressed an interest in reviving Jericho’s story.

Upon completion of those two campaigns, Jericho Rangers decided to expand their reach nationally on Universal HD, which features Jericho episodes airing through the end of 2008. Despite high-definition conversion challenges (overcome with the generous assistance of USA Studios in Los Angeles and AD-ID LLC in North Carolina) and other logistical issues, fans have overcome the obstacles and brought to fruition their goal for multiple national airings of the Save Jericho Again ad.

Universal HD is a uniquely programmed, full-time network offering the best of NBC Universal’s premier sporting events, blockbuster films, and award-winning TV series to over 3 million homes across the country. The CW Network, set to begin running Jericho episodes on Sunday, November 30th, is a joint venture between Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corporation and America’s fifth broadcast network, specifically targeting women in the 18-34 age group.

For more information about the Jericho TV ad or other Save Jericho initiatives, please visit
www.savejerichoagain.com.

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