Must-Read Facts About Television Syndication (2024)

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Must-Read Facts About Television Syndication? ›

Syndication Can Be a Very Lucrative Business

Syndication is often a profitable enterprise because a series can be rerun for years after it ends production. Shows of limited profitability during their first run will still prove to be viable to the production company if they can last 100 episodes.

A show usually enters off-network syndication when it has built up about four seasons' worth or between 80 and 100 episodes, though for some genres the number could be as low as 65.

Syndication makes it easy for companies to pool their resources and share risks, as when a group of investment banks works together to bring a new issue of securities to the market. There are different types of syndicates, such as underwriting syndicates, banking syndicates, and insurance syndicates.

Besides expanding brand reach to larger audiences, content syndication can also help drive high-quality leads, which makes it a valuable element to your overall lead generation strategy.

We believe that syndication is one thing that is still left for them. We're seeing it in some of the deals we're going to announce later with some big names. Talent is attracted to the fact that they can actually own the show with us and if the show becomes a hit, they can really make money.”

Residuals are financial compensations that are paid to the actors, film or television directors, and others involved in making TV shows and movies in cases of the cable reruns, syndication, DVD release, or licensing to streaming media.

While the exact amount isn't actually known, cast members have revealed that the reruns pay them 6% of their original salaries. If a star made a mere $150,000 per episode across all 20 seasons, that would come in around $200,000 per year in royalties.

The prices charged to basic cable networks to license off-network syndicated TV series have nearly doubled over the last four years from $400,000-$600,000 per episode to $600,000-$800,000 today, 12% per year increase.

What happens when a TV show is syndicated? ›

Syndicated means a television program being shown on a different television network than the one that first showed the program. A syndicated program can also be a program that was not made for a television network. These types of programs are made and then sold to many different television stations to be shown.

A syndicated program is a program that runs on a different television network than the one on which it was initially broadcast, or a program that was not created for a specific network. In the U.S., syndication generally comes in two forms: first-run syndication and off-network syndication.

Many working actors earn residual paychecks anytime that a TV show they appeared on air in reruns. Such sums even help stars such as Mandy Moore and Glen Powell pay their living expenses between jobs.

Philo Farnsworth patents his "dissector tube" in 1927. It turns out to be an important component in the development of all-electronic television. Television's first drama,The Queen's Messenger, is broadcast from Schenectady, New York station WGY on September 11, 1928.

With well over 700 episodes, "The Simpsons" is the longest-running scripted primetime TV series.

Content syndication can help turn your best content into a powerful lead generation tool. It is a marketing methodology that allows you to get your content in front of a much larger audience than you would if you simply posted that same content to your website.

Traditionally, syndication (primarily through broadcast channels) was the norm, but streaming democratises distribution offering content owners a D2C route to market.