Broadcast Syndication – When TV Shows Become More Lucrative than Movies – An Analysis of Television Syndication and its Phenomenal Superpowers
Broadcast Syndication
I’ve always been puzzled at how Jerome Allen “Jerry” Seinfeld is frequently listed as the wealthiest actor in the world. Do a search on Google for the ‘richest actor in the world’, and you will see Seinfeld’s name pop up in 9 out of 10 articles. This is really puzzling since Jerry Seinfeld is, after all, only a stand-up comedian (albeit a famous one) who has done a handful of films (mostly cameos) and starred as a lead in just two TV shows (Seinfeld, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee). Even though his filmography isn’t that spectacular, he still boasts a personal fortune of over $800 million.
How?
Baffled and perplexed by this, I did my proper research on Jerry Seinfeld. Turns out, Seinfeld is the richest actor in the world thanks to the profits generated from only one sitcom. Yes, only ONE! One sitcom has made Jerry Seinfeld richer than the biggest Hollywood A-listers like Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Will Smith, Johnny Depp and Tom Hanks.
Of course, that sitcom is Seinfeld, the show about nothing! The famous TV show, possibly the greatest sitcom ever, has generated $4 billion in revenue since entering syndication in 1995. Also, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David (co-creator of Seinfeld) each stand to make $400 million just from the most recent syndication cycle. To think that NBC executives almost rejected the show as they considered Seinfeld ‘too New York’ and ‘too Jewish’!
We calculated what it would get us if it made it to syndication. We were wrong by a factor of five!
Steve Bannon, American media executive who invested in Seinfeld
Hot Damn!
Understanding Broadcast Syndication and its Extraordinary Superpowers
So, what is syndication?
Broadcasting syndication is the license to broadcast television programs and radio programs by multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. Simply put, syndication is when a show, rather than being exclusive to a single network and shown at a particular time, is sold to individual stations for them to do with as they wish.
Syndicated shows are either “first-run,” meaning they are “free agents” that are not owned by any particular network (like Star Trek: The Next Generation), or they’re “second-run,” meaning they used to belong to a network (like NBC and Seinfeld) but they now air elsewhere (these are reruns, essentially).
There are three main types of syndication:
- First-run Syndication
Shows that are broadcast for the first time as a syndicated show and is made specifically to sell directly into syndication (Sesame Street, Supernatural, Baywatch) - Off-network Syndication
Licensing of a program that was originally run on network TV or, in some cases, first-run syndication (Seinfeld, M*A*S*H, The Big Bang Theory) - Public Broadcasting Syndication
Special type of syndication reserved for public and community TV stations such as PBS affiliates (This American Life)
Broadcast Syndication – The Cornerstone of the Hollywood Entertainment Industry
Syndication of entertainment programs has been around since the 1930s, when syndicated radio shows were being distributed throughout the United States. These first radio programs were distributed on transcription disks (similar to old LPs, but with higher audio quality for broadcast). This format was eventually replaced by phonograph records, then tape recordings, cassettes and CDs, and while the practice of buying and selling radio shows is ongoing, today they are likely to be downloaded.
There are some key differences between syndication and airing on a network. A network show is usually guaranteed to air on all the network’s affiliates. There are, however, cases where network affiliates have refused to air a network show. Sometimes, this is due to concerns about offensive content, or pressure from local ‘moral guardians’, though it’s usually because they feel that the network program simply isn’t getting any good ratings, and that syndicated, or even local, programming airing instead is more profitable.
Syndicated shows, meanwhile, are scheduled by each individual station as they wish. Usually, they follow a pattern when it comes to scheduling, but time slot shifts are common, and shows may be cut down to make room for more commercials.
Little Known Facts about Broadcast Syndication
- The Stars of I Love Lucy Basically Invented Syndication
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz made reruns commonplace, and without reruns, there would be no syndication. The I Love Lucy duo made a deal with CBS in 1951 to produce the show on higher-quality film instead of the industry-standard blurry kinescope, allowing for decent looking reruns down-the-road (kinescope’s quality wasn’t up to snuff for repeated viewings). The couple also later struck one of the first major syndication deals in TV history when they sold 180 episodes of I Love Lucy to CBS for $5 million ($19.5 million today).
- Some Syndicated Shows Are Sped Up to Allow for More Commercials
Most contemporary sitcoms run around 21 or 22 minutes, with about eight minutes left over for ads. Older sitcoms like Seinfeld, however, originally ran for 25 minutes with only five minutes for commercials. So how does a network like TBS handle this potential loss of revenue when they air syndicated Seinfeld reruns? They speed up the show! It may sound crazy, but the episodes you see on TBS are actually several minutes shorter to free up room for ad space. They’re subtle, but the cuts are there. So much for timing being the key to comedy!
- Some Network Shows Are Created with Syndication in Mind
It’s called the “10/90 Model”: take a couple of tried-and-true TV stars (such as Kelsey Grammar and Martin Lawrence) and give them a sitcom with a premise designed for longevity (such as the storytelling-friendly courtroom setting of FX’s 2014 flop Partners). Once the pieces are in place, make a deal with the network that if the first 10 episodes do well in the ratings, 90 more episodes will be ordered, allowing the show to have enough episodes to sell into syndication. Critics snub this model as they believe it values episode quantity over quality and leads to forced, formulaic storytelling.
- Many Syndicated Shows Are Retitled
Do you remember Happy Days Again? What about CSI: Las Vegas? Timmy and Lassie? If these titles seem odd to you, you probably haven’t watched a lot of syndicated reruns. Many popular shows were retitled for syndication so as to not confuse viewers who were still watching new episodes every week. So Happy Days, for example, became Happy Days Again so it would be clear that the Fonz didn’t actually age in reverse or something. Viewers have since grown savvier about such things, thankfully.
- Syndicators Can Show Episodes In Any Order They Please
Fans of one-camera comedies like The Office, who are intimately familiar with their season-long story arcs, have a nasty surprise in store if they ever catch their favourite shows in syndication on networks like TBS: the shows are aired wildly out of order. A Season 2 episode will air the night after a Season 5 finale, for example, and there’s seemingly no method to the madness. Older, multi-camera sitcoms with more “self-contained” storytelling could get away with this, but The Office? The reality is that it’s in the station’s best interest to mix things up, for a number of reasons:
–Some episodes are more popular than others, so it pays to play them more often.
–Holiday episodes do better during the actual holidays, chronology-be-damned.
–Sometimes stations don’t have the entire series available to them, so they work with what they have.
- Syndication Can Be a Very Lucrative Business
There’s big money to be made in syndication – especially for 2 Broke Girls. The syndication rights to the CBS sitcom were sold to TBS in 2012 for a record-setting $1.7 million per episode, the most ever for a half-hour sitcom. The Big Bang Theory pulled a big $1.5 million in 2010, while Modern Family sold to USA for $1.4 million in 2010. Hour-long shows do even better: three CSI shows were all sold for more than $1 million per episode, and The Sopranos and Hawaii Five-0 each pulled $2.5 million.
- The Hope of Syndication Can Save Even Failing Shows
Shows that are coming close to that magic 88 episode mark are sometimes saved from cancellation even if they have horrible ratings. Case in point: FOX‘s ‘Til Death, which was renewed by the network for a fourth season even though no one was even watching it (leading to some “interesting” choices by the producers). Why save a show that no one watches? In the case of ‘Til Death, Sony offered FOX a break on licensing fees to make renewal more appealing and to get the show closer to 88 episodes, hoping for a lucrative syndication deal.
- 88 Is a Magic Number in the World of Syndicated TV
Everyone used to cite 100 as the magic number of episodes needed for second-run syndication, but these days, 88 is where it’s at. Why? Most network comedies and drama average about 22 episodes per season, so the thinking is that four seasons will make the investment worthwhile. It equals out to about five months’ worth of programming if a show is aired every day, Monday through Friday.
- Wheel of Fortune Is the Longest-Running Syndicated Game Show
More than 6,000 episodes of the syndicated word puzzle game show Wheel of Fortune have aired since 1983, making it the longest-running syndicated game show currently on the air. The show originally aired on NBC from 1975-1980, but the syndicated version – with hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White – is the version that quickly became one of America’s favourites. It was a rough start, though: in its first year, only 50 markets carried the show (the largest being Philadelphia). By 1984, however, 99% of TV households were able to watch!
- DuckTales Was the First Syndicated Disney Cartoon
Cartoon giant Disney didn’t debut an animated show in first-run syndication until DuckTales in 1987, but when it did, it made a splash! The show ran for four seasons and 100 episodes and paved the way for other Disney afternoon fares such as Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, and Darkwing Duck. The beloved series also spawned several video games (including a stone-cold classic for the NES) and a feature film.
Sources:
Ranker
Wikipedia
TV Tropes
Today I Found Out
FYI: Content has been taken from the above websites as they were already exceptionally detailed and precise.
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