Debmar-Mercury Renews ‘Jeremy Kyle’

Jeremy Kyle has been renewed for a second season. The conflict talk show from ITV Studios America and distributed by Debmar-Mercury has cleared more than 50% of TV homes for fall 2012 broadcast syndication, including on Fox TV Stations.

Fox renewed the show in top markets, including on MNT affiliate WWOR New York and Fox affiliates KTTV Los Angeles, WFLD Chicago (and MNT affiliate WPWR), KDFW Dallas, WTTG Washington  and KRIV Houston.

“We believe in Jeremy and think he’s incredibly talented,” says Ira Bernstein, co-president of Debmar-Mercury. “Given enough time, people will find him and then they will like him. We know that people who have found him like him.”

Other station groups renewing Jeremy, from the U.K. talk show host, include Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has renewed it on 22 of its 27 midsized stations. Last month, Sinclair also acquired NBCUniversal’s Trisha with British talk show host Trisha Goddard.

“Jeremy Kyle has tremendous potential,” says Bill Butler, vice president of programming and promotion at Sinclair. “He has an incredible skill level, so I’m very enthusiastic about the show.”

Jeremy is being sold on a cash-plus-barter basis (10 local minutes, 4 national) in mostly one-year deals.

The Jeremy renewal comes as something of a surprise because it has not blown up in the ratings. For the week ending Nov. 11, Jeremy averaged a 0.7/2 in metered markets. The show’s ratings have been slightly trending up, though, from a 0.5/2 its debut week in September.

“We are slowly but surely growing,” says Bernstein. “And, in some key markets, that growth is significant.”