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STAR WARS
Television rights
The original Star Wars film (Episode IV) first saw TV release in February 1983 on HBO, Show time, and The Movie Channel. (The original asking price was $1 per subscriber which would cover the entire production budget for the film solely from money from HBO) CBS had exclusive network rights when it aired on commercial television one year later, and continued on CBS for several years. The remaining films in the original trilogy also aired on premium cable before airing on network television (NBC acquired the original network rights to The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi).
In 1992, the Sci-Fi Channel became the first U.S. network to air the three then-existing episodes in the saga. Sci-Fi and USA Network retained TV rights until 1996, in preparation for the theatrical release of the "Special Editions" of the original trilogy. In 1998, a year after the SE releases, Show time acquired limited one-month premium cable rights to the "Special Edition" of Star Wars for airing in January. It continued on broadcast stations, including super stations TBS and WGN, for several years after).
In 1999, to promote Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the remaining "Special Edition" films (V and VI) aired on U.S. broadcast network Fox (they bypassed premium cable for direct broadcast airing). That same year, Fox acquired all television rights to Episode I after the premium cable networks declined due to cost. A similar situation nearly happened with Attack of the Clones, until HBO struck a last-minute deal with Fox and Lucas film for the exclusive pay-cable rights. Episode II, like its predecessor, never saw prior pay-per-view cable release, but it did run on HBO and sister network Cinema during its 18-month term of license.
The Fox network acquired the U.S. network television rights. In April/May 2005, to promote the then-upcoming Episode III: Revenge of the SIth, Episodes I, IV, V, and VI were placed in limited syndicated television distribution, (on Fox affiliates in most markets) while the Fox network was able to air Episode II in mid-May, prior to Episode ii i's initial theatrical release.
During negotiations for the cable rights to Episode II, HBO/Cinema also struck a first-look deal for Episode III, which they accepted and is currently on its initial 18-month term of license (it was also the only Star Wars prequel film to see any pay-per-view cable issue). In addition, the Time Warner-owned networks were able to win the right to become the first U.S. television network system (cable or broadcast) to air all six films in the saga. On November 11, 2006 Cinema aired all six films in rotation in both standard & High Definition. (Cinema had never aired the original Star Wars (Episode IV) prior to this date, and at the explicit request of Lucas film, the high definition broadcasts were in the original scope aspect ratio.)
The six films will also be repeated on HBO in standard & High Definition. The versions of Episodes IV, V, and VI that are airing are the 2004 DVD Special Editions, as they are the current canonical versions. In the UK, Sky purchased the rights to air all six films in August 2006, becoming the first English-language television network to air all six films, which will be aired in order of release, beginning with the original Episode IV. Afterwards, the episodes will continue to be shown during the "100 films a month" cycles on Sky Movies.
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