"Jimmy Kimmel" reruns air on TV Guide Network

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosts the ''2007 ESPY Awards'' in Hollywood July 11, 2007. ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' has landed a second home on basic cable.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Jimmy Kimmel Live" has landed a second home on basic cable.

TV Guide Network struck a deal with ABC this month to begin airing episodes a day after their initial late-night airdate. On Monday, the network quietly began stripping "Kimmel" at 7 p.m. weeknights.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. TV Guide Network and ABC declined comment.

The addition of "Kimmel" at 7 p.m. would serve to bolster TV Guide's primetime offerings while potentially exposing the series to new viewers who could sample it back at ABC as well.

While unusual, day-after recycling of a late-night series is not unprecedented. In 2002, NBC struck separate deals with Comedy Central and E! to grab second windows for "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and "Last Call With Carson Daly," respectively; both arrangements have since lapsed.

NBC has since refocused its late-night rebroadcast strategy, recently making episodes of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Conan" available on NBC.com for seven days after their original broadcast.

Late-night recycling often is done with a careful eye not to irritate network affiliates, who tend to be cautious about siphoning away viewers from an initial airdate.

For the week ending October 14, "Kimmel" averaged 1.8 million total viewers, roughly the same as CBS' "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson."

TV Guide is in 84 million homes.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter