Television syndication

In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. (Much of this article will deal with U.S. television, since the U.S. has more consistently than most other countries featured large numbers of independently owned stations which can, but do not need to, affiliate with one or more networks.)

First-run syndication

As with radio in the U.S., television networks in their early years particularly didn't offer full-days-worth of programming for their affiliates, even in the evening or "prime time" hours; and, from the beginning, there were some stations which were not affiliated with any network, and all sought to supplement their locally produced programming and whatever network feeds there were with items which could be flexibly scheduled. The development of videotape and, much later, enhanced satellite downlink access furthered these aims.

Related Topics:
Videotape - Satellite

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The 1950s and 1960s

Ziv Television Programs, Inc., after establishing itself as a major radio syndicator, was the first major first-run television syndicator, creating several long-lived series in the 1950s and selling them directly to regional sponsors, who in turn sold the shows to local stations. Among the most famous and widely watched Ziv offerings were Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol. Some first-run syndicated series were picked up by networks in the 1950s and early '60s, notably Superman and Mr. Ed. The networks started syndicating their reruns in the late 1950s, and first-run syndication shrank sharply, for a decade (CBS's first syndication arm, Viacom, would eventually be split off from the company and eventually come back to purchase CBS, having already purchased Paramount Studios and its interests, and created UPN). Some stalwart series continued, notably Death Valley Days; other ambitious projects were also to flourish, however briefly, such as The Play of the Week (1959–1961), produced by David Susskind (of the syndicated talk show Open End and also producer of such network fare as NYPD).

Related Topics:
Ziv Television Programs, Inc. - 1950s - Sea Hunt - Highway Patrol - '60s - Superman - Mr. Ed - CBS - Viacom - Paramount Studios - UPN - Death Valley Days

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However, FCC rulings in the late 1960s curtailed the U.S. networks' ability to schedule programming in what has become known as the "early fringe," notably the 7-8pm (ET/PT) hour of "prime time," with the stated hope that this might encourage more local programming of social and cultural relevance to communities (off-network syndie repeats were also banned); some projects of this sort came to fruition, though usually relatively commercial and slick ones such as the Group W Evening Magazine/PM Magazine franchise, and such pre-existing national projects as the brief commercial-television run of William F. Buckley, Jr.'s interview/debate series Firing Line. The more obvious result was a rash of Canadian-produced syndicated dramatic series, such as the Gilligan's Island knock-off Dusty's Trail and the Colgate-sponsored Dr. Simon Locke; game shows, often evening editions of network afternoon series, flourished, and a few odd items such as Wild Kingdom, cancelled by NBC in 1971, had a continuing life as syndicated programming tailor-made for the early fringe.

Related Topics:
FCC - Group W - William F. Buckley, Jr. - Firing Line - Wild Kingdom - NBC

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The 1970s

Into the 1970s, first-run syndication continued to be an odd mix: cheaply produced, but not always poor-quality, "filler" programming, such as the dance-music show Soul Train, several sports history series, and 20th Century Fox's That's Hollywood, a television variation on the popular That's Entertainment! theatrically released collections of film clips from the MGM library; imports such as the impressive documentary series Wild, Wild World of Animals (repackaged by Time Life with narration by William Conrad) and Thames Television's sober and necessarily grim The World at War; and a few ambitious, if not necessarily well executed, dramatic series, including the science fiction series The Starlost (1973; Canadian, though apparently corrupted from the vision and advice of U.S. SF writers Harlan Ellison and Ben Bova) and ' (1975), from the UK team, the Andersons, previously best-known for their "Marionation" (puppet/animation) series. The most successful syndicated show in the US in the 1970s of all was probably the UK-based The Muppet Show.

Related Topics:
1970s - Soul Train - 20th Century Fox - That's Entertainment! - MGM - Time Life - William Conrad - Thames Television - Science fiction - The Starlost - 1973 - Harlan Ellison - Ben Bova - 1975 - The Muppet Show

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Game shows thrived in syndication in the decade. Five-day-a-week versions of What's My Line? and To Tell the Truth premiered in the late '60s and found loyal audiences until 1975 and 1978, respectively. Several daytime network games began producing once-a-week nighttime versions for the early-evening hours, usually with bigger prizes and often featuring different hosts (emcees were limited to appearing on one network and one syndicated game simultaneously) and modified titles (Match Game PM or The $25,000 Pyramid, for example). Of these shows, Let's Make a Deal and The Hollywood Squares were the first to jump to twice-a-week syndicated versions around 1973. The nighttime version of Family Feud (1976) quickly jumped from once-weekly to twice, and finally to five-days-a-week, and its massive popularity, along with that of new five-a-day entries like Jack Barry's The Joker's Wild (1977) and Tic Tac Dough (1978) and Chuck Barris's increasingly-raunchy remakes of his '60s hits The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, brought an end (with rare exceptions) to the era of once-a-week games.

Related Topics:
Game shows - What's My Line? - To Tell the Truth - Match Game - Pyramid - Let's Make a Deal - The Hollywood Squares - Family Feud - The Joker's Wild - Tic Tac Dough - The Dating Game - The Newlywed Game

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Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1973) was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series attempting to ape the All in the Family-style sitcoms; Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (1969) was an Australian children's series in the manner of Flipper or Gentle Ben (a decade later, the decidedly not-for-children Australian Prisoner: Cell Block H would have a brief US syndicated run); and a Canadian sketch-comedy series began appearing on U.S. television stations in 1977—Second City Television would eventually find a home, for two seasons, on NBC, as SCTV Network 90 (and on cable station Showtime later).

Related Topics:
1973 - Hanna-Barbera - All in the Family - 1969 - Second City Television - Showtime

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The Universal Studios-produced package of original programming, Operation Prime Time, began appearing on ad hoc quasi-networks of (almost by necessity) non-network stations in the U.S. in 1978, with a mini-series adaptation of John Jakes's The Bastard.

Related Topics:
Universal Studios - Operation Prime Time - 1978 - John Jakes

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From the latter '60s into the late '70s, Westinghouse also found considerable success with The Mike Douglas Show, a variety/talk show hosted by a singer with an easygoing interview style, which played in afternoons in most markets; similar programs soon followed featuring Merv Griffin, who had been the host of CBS's most sustained late-night answer to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson previously, and another network veteran, Dinah Shore. Also notable was the growing success of audience-participation talk shows, particularly that of the innovator of the format, Phil Donahue.

Related Topics:
The Mike Douglas Show - Merv Griffin - CBS - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - Dinah Shore - Phil Donahue

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First-run syndication in the 1970s also made it possible for some shows no longer wanted by network television to remain on the air. In 1971, ABC cancelled The Lawrence Welk Show, which went on to produce new episodes in syndication for another 11 years. Also in 1971, CBS dropped Lassie and Hee Haw, the latter show's run ending as part of the network's cancellation of all of its rural-oriented shows (see The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres). Lassie entered first-run syndication for two years, while Hee Haw continued to produce new episodes until 1992.

Related Topics:
1971 - ABC - The Lawrence Welk Show - CBS - Lassie - Hee Haw - Rural - The Beverly Hillbillies - Green Acres - 1992

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The 1980s through today

During the latter 1980s and early 1990s and throughout the remainder of the decade there was a resurgence of dramatic first-run syndicated programs, many of them in the science fiction and fantasy fields, or adventure dramas with fantastic elements. Baywatch aired on NBC for one season and was cancelled, but became very popular in the U.S. with new episodes in syndication and extremely popular worldwide. ' debuted in 1987 and became one of the most-watched syndicated shows throughout its seven-year run. ' was also syndicated. Along with the latter-day Star Trek series, ' and its spin-off series ' helped build the audiences for such shows; Babylon 5 and Forever Knight drew devoted "cult" audiences; Psi Factor and ' attempted to draw on the audience for the FOX series The X-Files (as did, even less probably, the shortlived spinoff Baywatch Nights). Among the slightly less fantasticated series were Relic Hunter and VIP, She Spies and Once a Thief. In 1997, ', based on ideas from the late Gene Roddenberry, premiered in syndication. Three years later, a second Gene Roddenberry series, Andromeda also premiered in syndication.

Related Topics:
Baywatch - NBC - Star Trek - Spin-off - Babylon 5 - Forever Knight - Psi Factor - FOX - The X-Files - Relic Hunter - VIP - She Spies - Once a Thief - Gene Roddenberry - Andromeda

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Also in the 1980s, news programming of various sorts began to be offered widely to stations. Independent Network News, which was produced at WPIX studios in New York City, was a half-hour weekdaily program that ran for several years on independent stations; CNN would offer a package of its Headline News to broadcast stations later. Entertainment Tonight began its long and continuing run as a "soft" news daily strip, with a number of imitations following; and "tabloid" television, in the wake of ABC's 20/20 and, more immediately, Fox's A Current Affair, would become a syndication staple with such series as Extra and Real TV. Another area where network dominance was challenged by syndicated programming in the 1980s was in late-night talk shows; The Arsenio Hall Show was the first and only very successful one, but Alan Thicke's earlier shortlived Thicke of the Night, Lauren Hutton's innovatively-shot Lauren Hutton and..., and Dennis Miller, Whoopi Goldberg, David Brenner and Keenan Ivory Wayans attempted similar programs; the only syndicated latenight contender to fail as infamously in ratings and critical reception as CBS's The Pat Sajak Show and Fox's The Chevy Chase Show was Magic Johnson's The Magic Hour.

Related Topics:
WPIX - New York City - CNN - Headline News - Entertainment Tonight - ABC - 20/20 - Fox - A Current Affair - Extra - Real TV - The Arsenio Hall Show - Alan Thicke - Lauren Hutton - Dennis Miller - Whoopi Goldberg - David Brenner - Keenan Ivory Wayans - Pat Sajak - Chevy Chase - Magic Johnson - The Magic Hour

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As UPN and the WB began offering their affiliates ever-more nights of primetime programming, less call has been felt for first-run drama, at least, in the U.S.; much as with the closing of windows that provided opportunity for Ziv in the '50s and various producers in the early '70s. The more expensive dramatic projects are less attractive to syndicators (particularly when they might be sold, with somewhat less risk, to cable channels); "reality" series such as Cheaters and Maximum Exposure and several series about dating stunts began to be more common in the early 2000s; even among these, a few programs have gained some positive critical attention, notably Animal Rescue and Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures.

Related Topics:
WB - 2000s

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Several game shows are currently syndicated; the most popular by far are Wheel of Fortune and the latest incarnation of Jeopardy!, premiering in 1983 and 1984 respectively. The shows have been 1-2 in the syndication ratings consistently since at least the late-'80s. Family Feud ended its first syndication run in 1985; a revival was a moderate hit from 1988 to 1994 and still another revival has been airing since 1999. By far the most successful entry into the market in the 2000s has been the daily version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, premiering in 2002. New game show concepts (that is, not based on an existing or pre-existing format) are rarely tried and usually unsuccessful in syndication; Street Smarts was somewhat of an exception.

Related Topics:
Game show - Wheel of Fortune - Jeopardy! - Family Feud - 1988 - 1994 - 1999 - Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Street Smarts

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The dominant form of first-run syndication in the US for the last three decades has been the "stripped" talk show, such as Donahue, Oprah Winfrey and The Jerry Springer Show. In many markets, a stripped show will be seen twice daily, usually with different episodes. Sometimes, station groups with more than one station in a market, or a "duopoly," will run one episode of a strip on one of their stations in the morning, and the other available episode on another of their stations that night.

Related Topics:
Donahue - Oprah Winfrey - The Jerry Springer Show - Duopoly

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Meanwhile, the popularity of some of the audience-participation talk shows continues to encourage new participants, some of whom, such as Morton Downey, Jr. and Rosie O'Donnell, have brief periods of impressive ratings and influence; others, such as Oprah Winfrey and Maury Povich, have a sustained run. A notable scheduling decision was made by KRON-TV in San Francisco; a dispute with NBC led to their disaffiliation from the network, and since all the other larger networks were already represented in San Francisco, KRON decided to become the largest-market independent commercial station on the VHF band in the US, with the exception of Los Angeles's Viacom-owned KCAL, and soon tried running Dr. Phil, a popular new stripped series hosted by Winfrey-associate Phil McGraw, in primetime, with impressive ratings results.

Related Topics:
Morton Downey, Jr. - Rosie O'Donnell - KRON - VHF - Viacom - Dr. Phil

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While in earlier times, independent TV stations thrived on syndicated programming (including some venerable and quite profitable stations such as KMSP in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market), with the loosening of FCC regulations and the creation of new additional TV networks (Fox, The WB, UPN and i), most of these independents have joined one or another of these or smaller (religious or low-budget) networks.

Related Topics:
KMSP - Minneapolis-St. Paul - Fox - UPN - I

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