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Episode Seven: Man And Machine

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NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Only on April Fools' Day could cable's biggest and often cattiest programming dispute in years finally reach a resolution. NBC Universal and the Weinstein Co. settled their dispute over the rights to distribute "Project Runway" almost exactly one year after NBC sued the studio over a "sham negotiation" that granted programming rights to Lifetime for the show's sixth and all future seasons.
Weinstein Co. chief Harvey Weinstein said in a statement, "I want to personally congratulate Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner. We look forward to working together on our ongoing projects."
Andrea Wong, president-CEO of Lifetime Networks, said in a statement, "I couldn't be more excited that Lifetime will bring its viewers an amazing, all-new season of 'Project Runway' this summer."
As Ad Age previously reported, the sixth season of "Project Runway" will come with at least two new sponsors: Marie Claire, replacing Elle as the show's editorial partner now that judge Nina Garcia works for the Hearst fashion title as an editor-at-large, and Tresemme, which left the show after four seasons as its hair care sponsor for the CW's "Stylista." Elle made major strides in the fashion category as a direct result of its partnership with "Runway," going from the sixth-biggest magazine in ad pages to No. 2 in three years.


