TV One Snags Off-Network Rights to ‘Empire’

Cable net TV One, which is targeted to African American viewers, has signed a deal with Twentieth Television for the encore airings of Fox drama “Empire.” The series will bow on TV One in May with a marathon of the current second season leading up to the season-finale. Episodes from both the first and second seasons of the series will begin airing on TV One on a weekly basis this summer. Thirty episodes will have been produced by season end on May 18.

From Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television, the series was created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, and is executive produced by Daniels, Strong, Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer, Ilene Chaiken, Francie Calfo and Sanaa Hamri. Fox previously set an SVOD licensing deal for “Empire” with Hulu.