Top Syndicators Meet Challenges with New Ways of Doing Business

Editor39s Note Be sure to read the first three columns in Simon39s seriesamp160Shorter Commercial Breaks Feed Syndicationamp8217s Growthamp160Opposite Cable and Streaming Syndicators Ramp Up Original Contentamp160andamp160The Gift to Syndication of Nielsenamp8217s Ratings MagiWarner Brothers gets picky about what original series get developedamp160and then distributed for firstrun syndication More often than not their picks not only work they get long profitable runs on television stations nationwide Consider the following quotThe Ellen DeGeneres Showquot quotThe People39s Courtquotamp160quotJudge Mathisquot and quotTMZquotamp160all over a decade and countingamp160Talk show quotThe Realquot with its diverse quintet of cohosts is midway through season two while quotCrime Watch Dailyquot halfway through its rookie season as a newsmagazine hour looks like another winnerYou also can conclude that Warner Bros Domestic Television Distribution under President Ken Werner is just as picky about what future directions it will push its business They along with every other player in the firstrun arena as well as TV stations see a more fragmented programming environment aheadAlso in their view Several options that can solidify or perhaps expand their output and revenues One is providing originals to the growing number of multicast networks simultaneously distributed via the digital signals of TV stations and cablesatellite operators Think MeTV Tuff TV or Decades to name threeamp160Another is to develop originals for primetime and afternoon weekends among stations especially those affiliated with The CW or MyNetworkTV A third route Put both current and new firstrun content on the videoondemand services cable and satellite operators provide nationally to more than 65 million customersRight now Warner Bros and others choose trial runs of series through a bunch of stations runs that last from a month to two or three It39s a road WB traveled before with quotThe Realquot and returned to last Monday with quotSouth of Wilshirequot a game show set in a Los Angeles restaurant and coproduced by quotTMZ39squot Harvey Levin The test on Fox stations in New York LA and elsewhere will run through the end of February This time around if viewership meets WB39s expectations quotSouthquot will stay in production continue on Fox and go for more clearances without a break quotThe Realquot had to wait a year after its 2013 summer trial before its nationalamp160launchOf all three directions out there to pursue Ken Werner believesamp160thatamp160a test that can go straight to ongoing series is the best choice quotThe market forces out there are very dynamicquot he says quotStations are under pressure to increase earnings and grow revenuesamp160What you39ll begin to see is companies like ours creating different programming and a set of potential new revenue streams that stations can take advantage of on a local basis to help control their own destinyquotSinclair and Hearst two of the country39s largest station groups are in the thick of using show tests to firm up their respective destinies quotFull Measurequot the Sunday morning investigative report overseen by Sharyl Attkisson has been running for four months on the majority of Sinclair stations Early ratings fortunes may encourage Sinclair to syndicateamp160it elsewhere Hearst appears ready to nationally market quotMatter of Fact with Fernando Espuelasquotamp160a weekend interview program on several of itsamp160stations since last September On the daytime scene there39s quotThe Security Briefquot an hourlong talk strip dealing with crime crime prevention and terrorism topics Independently produced and syndicated quotBriefquot is about to wrap one month of play on more than 20 stations including several from Sinclair and Tegna Itsamp160backers say the financing is set to keep their program going without a break in the face of positive viewer and station feedbackA few stations are experimenting with multicast channel presentations of firstrun syndicated favorites figuring they will enlarge the channel39s audience base KCOPTV in Los Angeles presents quotTMZquotamp160on diginet Heroes ampamp Icons while Sinclair39s Las Vegas station offers quotJudge Judyquot via a multicast channel after the station39s runIn time multicast will become home to original syndicated programs believes Twentieth Television Executive Vice President Michael Teicher quotIt39s never been a better time to create contentquot he says quotOnce we have the ability to measure every content platform multicast can be an option We view it as an advantagequotquotWe39re always looking for opportunity to place our contentquot adds Stuart Zimmerman Sony Pictures Entertainment39s Executive Vice President of Advertising Salesamp160on the subject of firstrun multicast clearances At this point no reports of stations running quotDr Ozquotamp160which Sony syndicates or quotWheel of Fortunequot and quotJeopardyquot which Sony produces and CBS Television Distribution syndicates on multicast channelsWerner39s not convinced of that yet quotThe question with this direction is how do you aggregate sufficient audience to make the model workquot he asks quotMeTV is a good example of how stations can make it work utilizing classic offnetwork series However it39s challenging right now to go out and create original programming given the cost combined with the challenge of marketing new unknown seriesquotWB39s top syndication executive is also skepticalamp160about any movement to cultivate a new original marketplace for primetimeafternoon weekend series such as the wave of actionadventure hours syndicated from the early 1980s to the mid1990s quotIf this was viablequot Werner notes quotyou39d see MyNetworkTV doing so I believe for now stations will stay with offnetwork series a few movies and some live local or regional sportsquotSinclair whose own syndication profile has grown in the last year via its American Sports Network distribution of college football and basketball conference games plus the first Arizona Bowl the first postseason college bowl game syndicated among stations in decades last month and quotRing of Honorquot pro wrestling hours may go forward with that marketplace anyway under the original programming unit formed in fall 2014That unit was mandated to create both scripted and unscripted material for those time periods Sinclair has an opportunity to share where that effort is headed later this month at the NATPE showcase in MiamiMeantime firstrun syndicated content remains the untapped grail of videoondemand despite availability to the majority of cable and satellite subscribers and fastgrowing usage thanks to catalogs of 20000 titles or more offered each month While many stations place replays of their local newscasts top news stories and sports coverage on VOD firstrun is forbidden thanks currently to the nature of stationsyndication contracts Few executives on either side of this fence will go public with their VOD opinionsHowever Werner39s sure that in the near futureamp160stations will end their opposition to firstrun VOD play Customers who can39t watch one of their favorite syndicated shows when stations play them could do so within their own timeframe opening up roundtheclock advertising and promotion opportunities sharable among stations operators and syndicatorsquotIs there a place for ondemandquot Werner wonders quotYes if TV stations are able to monetize their own contentamp160assets by creating ondemand branded sites in their DMA We could work with them to assist with VOD revenues where they make money and we make money We are always looking for ways to strengthen our partnership with stationsquotIt all depends on who picks this course and whenPhoto at top courtesy or Corbis The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecom MyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Top Syndicators Meet Challenges with New Ways of Doing Business

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