What began in fall 1999 with the airing of new episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC and cable's USA in the same week has grown into the trend that has changed network television forever: It's called repur-posing. It saves broadcast networks and studios money. It gives cable networks fresh programming. And nowadays, it's everywhere. Last week, Fox announced that it will be repurposing its new Warner Bros.-produced Fastlane on Viacom's MTV. That was the deal Warner Bros, brought to Fox from the get-go, because the production company knew Fox wouldn't want to pay as much as Warner Bros, needed to produce the young-skewing action hour. Warner Bros, got cash, advertising time and promotion time for Fox in exchange for MTV's right to air the program, said Bruce Rosen-blum, executive vice president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Group. The deal made Fox, Warner Bros, and MTV happy. So far, though, Fox affiliates are less than thrilled and say the Fastlane deal violates its repurposing agreement with the network.
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