Holding off on selling S.W.A.T. Exiles has been part by necessity, as it did not immediately land a U.S. distributor in May, and part by design, as Sony TV opted to keep creative control. But the delay may have worked in its favor, opening up new opportunities in light of the surprise recent success of two series acquired in U.S. after their seasons had been completed, The Hunting Wives by Netflix and Heated Rivalry by HBO Max.

While there were a couple of interested parties in May — I hear Fox and Prime Video among them — the field may have widened since, with the likes of Netflix and HBO Max also said to be in the market for high quality, lower cost programming. Additionally driving the demand for such content is the ongoing trend of congloms spinning off linear assets, resulting in the creation of new cable groups. The newly launched Versant, formerly part of NBCUniversal, has USA Network looking for lower-cost scripted originals, with Warner Bros. Discovery also plotting similar spinoff of its cable nets, including TNT.

“I actually feel like, timing wise, there’s probably more potential avenues than there were in May,” Katherine Pope, President of Sony Pictures Television Studios said.

In S.W.A.T. Exiles, from showrunner Jason Ning (Lucifer), after a high-profile mission goes sideways, Hondo (Moore) is pulled out of forced retirement to lead a last-chance experimental SWAT unit made up of untested, unpredictable young recruits. While the series features Moore joined by a new cast, other fan favorite original stars, including Jay Harrington and Patrick St. Esprit, are returning as guest stars.

As Deadline reported in May, the offshoot came together very quickly following the mothership’s third and final cancellation by CBS in March. It took just two weeks between Ning pitching his idea and the project getting a series greenlight in May with a 10-episode order. The lightning speed was tied to the short window the studio had to keep Moore, whose option was about to expire, as well as the S.W.A.T. soundstages and crew members, saving money and also saving jobs when L.A. production was hurting post-fires. The quick turnaround also allowed the indie studio to get the series in front of international buyers at the L.A. Screenings.

Following the announcement, Sony TV stuck deals in several major markets in competitive situations with a mix of platforms that already carry S.W.A.T. and new ones, sources said. (The original series remains one of the studio’s top sellers internationally through multiple cycles, ranking right around Top 5.)

Domestically, while there was interest by outlets like Fox, Prime Video and the CW, no deals materialized, with buyers taking a wait-and see-approach, knowing that Sony TV was proceeding with production no matter what.

Several weeks passed with no firm offers on the table. Getting past that inflection point, as scripts started to come in, Sony TV put sales efforts on hold, focusing on making the show.

“We started feeling really good about the cast. We started feeling great about the scripts,” Pope said. “We’re like, you know what? We’re going to have something, and it’s going to be better. The buyers are going be able to actually see and feel it. There is really nothing to substitute for having a season.”

The studio also secures a $15.7M tax credit to film Exiles in Los Angeles where its predecessor also was shot.

The offshoot is said to be on par with the mothership CBS series budget-wise, with sources referring to it as having “a classic broadcast budget.” Also taking a page from broadcast traditions, the series aims to mint new stars with the new young ensemble around Moore.

Since the season is in the can — Sony TV plans to share subsequent episodes with prospective buyers as they are finished — S.W.A.T. Exiles could go different routes, with both original content and acquisition executives invited to the screenings.

Additionally, along with selling the show market by market, the studio has left open the possibility of doing a global deal around any local agreements already in place. The flexibility stems from Sony TV’s original decision to produce the 10 episodes of Exile regardless of how sales are pacing, Sony TV Distribution co-President Mike Wald said.

“By doing that, making that decision, we were in complete control of our timing and our process, so there was no rush,” he said. “And the idea all along was to do this right, take our time, and make sure we find the right home in every single market around the world.”

Sony TV previously tested a similar strategy with shows like Absentia, which launched on Sony’s AXN channels and subsequently sold the finished seasons to Prime Video in the U.S., and Alex Rider, which also was sold as a finished product to Amazon’s then-IMDb TV for the U.S.

Crime thriller Absentia, starring Stana Katic, has found a new life on Netflix, collecting strong viewership over the past couple of months. The show’s success has been gratifying for the Sony executives who worked on it but the feeling is that it has run its course, with no plans to revisit it.