Streaming Wars Heat Up Rerun Market as New Services Stock Up on Hits

In a year in which more than 500 scripted series are on the air and new streaming services seem to debut nearly monthly, some of the biggest money being thrown around for content has gone to a handful of old TV shows, the kind that for years have hummed along evening television without much fuss. Mega million-dollar figures have screamed across headlines in recent months amid salivation over streaming rights to coveted library content: a reported $500 million for “Seinfeld” at Netflix and $500 million for “The Office” at NBCUniversal’s Peacock, to name a couple. WarnerMedia thus far appears to have one of the greatest appetites, committing an estimated $425 million for “Friends” and $600 million for “The Big Bang Theory” in order to pack the soon-to-launch HBO Max; a source familiar with the negotiations tells Variety that the WarnerMedia-backed service nabbed “South Park” domestic subscription video-on-demand rights for $500 million to $550 million.