Understanding TV Syndication
A Look at the Mysterious S-Word, Often Quoted by Hollywood
In a nutshell, syndication, or distribution, essentially means the selling of a TV show directly to local stations as opposed to a national network. An example of a syndicated program would be The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which can be seen on the NBC station in New York City but in Portland, Maine, it is not NBC but rather the local ABC affiliate, which carries the show. As a result, the time slot for shows like Ellen may also vary from one city to another.
While the word syndication is often thought of as part of TV lingo, it should be noted this word existed long before television was born. The word has also been used to describe the distribution of newspaper and radio content throughout multiple cities. But because TV today, like radio up until the 50s, is so well served by the national networks, the word syndication has a bit of a negative connotation since it is used to describe non-network programming.
Why does syndication exist?
Very simply put, syndication exists because it allows the owners of media outlets to cut down on costs by sharing content. As far as television is concerned, it also exists partly because of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations as there is still a limit on the number of TV and radio stations that a given company can own.
In addition, since the late 60s, the FCC has limited the amount of network programming that the television networks are allowed to air. This is why the 7 to 8 PM ET time slot, also known as the "early fringe," consists mainly of syndicated programming on most nights of the week.
The idea was to encourage local and independent TV producers to get their shows on the air, and not have the big three networks decide everything. Just how effectively this has worked is debatable as the 7 to 8 PM time slot has become a place for tabloid style news shows such as Extra as well as a place for networks to dump reruns of their older shows, such as Two and a Half Men.
The Politics of Syndication
There are also different types of syndication. In addition to domestic syndication (in other words syndication within the United States), there's also international syndication, which occurs when TV shows are sold from one country to another. Cable syndication occurs when a TV network decides to sell reruns of a network show to a national cable network, such as TNT, instead of local affiliates across the country.
The practice of syndication can make for some interesting politics in the world of television as this can sometimes allow for TV producers to get programming on network television stations, even after they've been rejected by the networks. Those of you who've seen the movie Frost/Nixon may recall that this is how David Frost got his interview with Former President Nixon on the air after CBS, NBC and ABC had all told him that they wanted nothing to do with his project.
A similar incident occurred more recently in 2005 when PBS made headlines because an episode of Postcards From Buster was to feature lesbian parents. PBS reacted by announcing that it would not air the controversial episode, but many local PBS affiliates aired it anyway. Needless to say, some people were confused by this. But those who know how the television industry works knew exactly what had happened. The show's producers decided to syndicate.
Is Syndication Still Relevant Today?
Because of increased media concentration and government deregulation, one can't help but wonder how long domestic syndication will continue to exist. The number of local television stations that a company is allowed to own keeps increasing. Today that limit is at 39% of all US TV households, but at the beginning of the television era, the limit was only five stations.
In addition the number of channels on the TV dial has grown since the 60s. There are now a whole bunch of cable networks which don't even have to bother with the technicality of having local affiliates and can distribute their product directly to the viewers. And many of these channels are owned buy the same people who own the major networks.
Also syndication used to be run by companies that were, in theory at least, independent from the networks. Not any more. What used to be Paramount Distribution is now CBS/Paramount Distribution. NBC has also gotten into the syndication business as NBC/Universal is responsible for putting Access Hollywood on the air and, of course, most Access Hollywood stations tend to be NBC stations.
The Future
This begs the question, is syndication really still syndication now that the networks are slowly taking control of it. But hopefully, there will always be at least some decision making at the local level and maybe syndication will continue to exist. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.
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