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'Damages' in play: FX to DirecTV 101 Network?

By April MacIntyre Apr 7, 2010, 23:06 GMT

01/17/2010 - Glenn Close - 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals - The Beverly Hilton Hotel - Beverly Hills, CA, USA © Bob Charlotte / PR Photos

"Damages" to move from FX to the 101 Network on DirecTV?

Apparently a possibility, according to Ausiello at EW.  FX’s pre-upfront bash last night had every show there save for "Damages."

FX honcho John Landgraf told the EW that Patty Hewes' April 19th season ender was not the death knell for the series overall.

“Sony is talking to DirecTV,” he told EW. "We couldn’t be happier with Damages creatively. The third season is superb. It’s a massive success from a creative standpoint.

Ratings and money are the issues, according to EW.

“But,” he added, “it’s a show that has always struggled from a ratings standpoint. I think that’s because it’s so complicated. It takes an incredible amount of devotion and an incredible attention span to watch it.”

Landgraf added, “It’s a fairly expensive show to produce,” he noted. “One of the reasons we’ve been able to keep it going for three years is because it’s done very well globally.”

“If Sony can find the right partner, we’ll be happy,” he told Ausiello “There’s no question — we love it. It brings a lot of cache to our network.”

DirecTV's 101 Network featured "Friday Night Lights" in a strange deal struck with NBC to air it prior to the network, and has rerun HBO hits "Deadwood" and "Oz", Canada's "Trailer Park Boys," hit network series "The Nine" and "Smith," Aussie miniseries "Underbelly" and promises to continue to compete with other premium cablers for content.