Last updated: February 1, 2004. This version: 8.00
Answer: There are two types of syndication:
[NOTE: Thanks to Karla Robinson (krobinso@merle.acns.nwu.edu) for
some useful suggestions to this section and the next one.]
In case you hadn't noticed, there a lot of good shows that don't make it onto network television. In some cases, they are shows produced by networks in foreign nations, but which domestic networks don't pick up.
First run syndication comes about when a production company makes a show, which (maybe) has been turned down by a network or which was intended for the syndicated market all along. If a show is turned down by a network, the production company has two choices: drop the show (and take a financial loss on it; this often happens if the network owns the production company), or sell and syndicate it as a first-run show (e.g. "Babylon 5", "Star Trek: Deep Space 9", etc.).
If the production comapny has chosen syndication, it will then sell the TV show directly to local TV stations on a TV-market-by- market basis. Examples of syndicated shows include most games shows, some "reality-based" TV shows, many syndicated dramas (e.g. "Star Trek: Deep Space 9", "Highlander", etc.; see below), some syndicated comedies and variety shows, and many daytime talk shows (e.g. "Oprah", "Jerry Springer", etc.).
The advantage of syndication is that a production comapny can avoid a loss on an already partly-completed series (though, as above, profits are unlikely to made on the show until it is rerun in syndication). In addition, a production company need not worry about interference from a network (though they still have to worry about sponsors and the local stations that carry their show!), and can produce the show as they see fit.
However, there are several disadvantages to syndcation. The first is that syndication does not guaratee that a show will be shown in every market (i.e. in a particular market, every station may choose not to buy the show), and thus a syndicated show may not be available to viewers in 100% (or even 90%) of the nation. The second is that the nature of syndication almost guarantees that a show will be shown at different times and on different days in different markets and in different cities. Often, syndicated shows get "graveyard" timeslots (e.g. between 12 am and 6 am). This, in turn, guaratnees more viewer confusion as to when a show is actually on, and reduces the profile of the show to potential new viewers. And of course, the advertising budget for syndicated shows is lower than for network shows, and ads are generally shown on lesser-watched independent stations, which also reduces a syndicated show's profile. So most shows in syndication get ratings substantially below that of "the Big Three" (or even "the Big Four") newtorks. Finally, there is another major disadvantage: distribution costs. It is cheap for the network to distribute programming to its affiliates; it's pretty costly for syndicators to do the same thing, though satellite technology helps a lot in this regard.
A first-run syndicated show (I'm talking mostly about the drama shows here) is considered successful if it gets ratings above about 3.0 points (i.e. it is profitable if it has a viewership above 3.0 ratings points). In contrast, a show on "the Big Three" networks would likely be considered unsucessful if a show's ratings were much below 10.0 ratings points.
Recently, there has been an explosion (thank God!) of good first-run shows (e.g. drama and sci-fi) that have been syndicated. The current bounty (some might say glut) of relatively good syndicated dramas (and the occational comedy) is the direct result of the success of "Star Trek: the Next Generation", which was syndicated between 1987-1995, and which is considered by some to be the first "hit" in syndication.
Here is a list of some of the popular drama and sci-fi shows that have aired in the recent past oin first-run syndication (to my best knowledge):
Air America
Baywatch
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven
Earth: Final Conflict
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Highlander: The Raven
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Mortal Combat: Conquest
Nightman
Pensacola: Wings of Gold
Psi Factor
S.O.F. Special Operations Force
Star Trek: Deep Space 9
V.I.P.
Viper
Xena: Warrior Princess
"Back End"/Re-run Syndication:
[NOTE: This infomration in this section, which was edited by me,
was provided Rick Shae (rickshae@ix.netcom.com), Nick Tang
(aq010@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) and Karla Robinson (krobinso@merle.acns.nwu.edu).]
This type of syndication refers to the "back end" cycle of a TV program. Once a show acquires enough episodes for "stripping" (that is, to run 5 days a week), the production company then sells the show on a market-by-market basis to the highest bidder (typically). That station then has the rights to air each episode a specified number of times over a specified period of time. Often the program is also still airing on the network, as is the case with "Home Improvement", "Friends", "The Nanny", "Frasier", "The X-Files", "ER", etc.
It should be noted that there are two types of "rerun syndication" (my term, not an official term): "off-network syndication", when a show is rerun in syndication after 5 seasons (e.g. "Friends", "Home Improvement") or after the end of a show's run or cancellation, and "off-first-run syndication", where the reruns of first-run episodes are syndicated (most prominent example is the stripped ST:tNG episodes).
Most production companies lose money producing the show for the network. A production company might get a license fee of $500,000 per episode of a half-hour comedy, while it may cost them, say, $600,000 or more to produce. The hope of the production company is that they will be able to amass enough episodes to take the show into syndication, make up the loss with syndication fees, and make a profit at this point.
Programs that run only 1 or 2 (regular length) seasons are difficult to syndicate since there are too few episodes (roughly less than 40) to be successful in syndication. Those programs may be sold to cable, or they may be syndicated on a weekly basis instead of a daily (i.e. 5 days a week) basis. Or the production company could decide to produce the show on a "first run" basis (the other form of syndication; see above) and attempt to sell the show market by market.
"Baywatch" is an example of this latter form of syndication. It had a limited run on a network (NBC, in the 1989-90 season), but was dropped by the network. A company called All American picked up the rights, produced new episodes and has turned the show into an international blockbuster. Now that they have amassed a larger number of episodes, the company then "back-end" syndicated the entire run for stations after the fall of 1995, and can now be seen in reruns on stations such as the USA cable network.
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