Liocracy was a Canadian mockumentary comedy television series, which aired on The Comedy Network in 2001 and 2002.
121-416: The show, a spoof of biographical documentary series such as Biography or Life and Times , starred Leslie Nielsen as host Terrence Brynne McKennie. Each episode presented a Biography -type profile of a fictional person loosely based on a real-life personality. The first episode centred on "Fiendly Giant", a Friendly Giant –like children's television host with a penchant for sadomasochism who became
242-445: A "soft" news daily strip, with a number of imitations following (among which have included such entertainment news shows as TMZ on TV , Extra and ET ' s own spin-off The Insider ); and "tabloid" television, in the wake of ABC 's 20/20 and, more immediately, 20th Television 's A Current Affair , would become a syndication staple with such series as Hard Copy and Real TV . Another area where network dominance
363-498: A Gun (1957–1959), and This is Alice (1958). The venture lasted five years and closed down in 1961. By the late 1960s, a de facto two-tiered system had developed in the United States, with the major network affiliates (usually on longer-range VHF stations) consistently drawing more viewers than their UHF, independent counterparts; syndicators thus hoped to get their programs onto the major network stations, where spots in
484-520: A Peabody Award, launched Wallace's journalism career, and became a standard in biography films, widely shown in classrooms. After a one-year revival in 1979, the show returned on A&E Networks in 1987. In 1990, A&E began producing new episodes, and expanded the show into a multimedia franchise. By the turn of the century, Biography became A&E's "flagship" program, winning three Emmy Awards, growing from one night per week to seven, and spawning its own cable television channel, several spin-off shows,
605-628: A board game called "Who Am I? The Biography Game." In January 1995, A&E launched The History Channel , followed in November by The History Channel U.K. , which included a British version of Biography with a British host. By 1996, its tenth year on A&E, Biography had achieved its highest ratings yet, drawing over 1.5 million viewers, six nights per week, and received its first Emmy nominations (The Presidents Award and Outstanding Informational Series). A&E started producing approximately 130 hours of new programming each year, and expanded
726-714: A category on the television game show Jeopardy! . In 2000, the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! did an episode called " A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn ". The episode was shot in the style of A&E's Biography , and focused on the life of one of the show's main characters, Nina Van Horn. The episode featured interviews with the other characters of the show and multiple special guest stars, including Don Henley , Jerry Hall , Sydney Pollack , Pat Sajak , Vanna White , and Buddy Hackett . The episode also included an introduction, conclusion, and voiceover provided by then-host Harry Smith. Broadcast syndication Broadcast syndication
847-481: A continuing life as syndicated programming tailor-made for the early fringe. In 1971, the U.S. FCC passed the Prime Time Access Rule and Financial Interest and Syndication Rules , which prevented networks from programming one particular hour of prime time programming on its television stations each night and required the networks to spin off their syndication arms as independent companies. Although
968-743: A copy of a 1962 Biography episode featuring Eisenhower with the notation, "There are some simplifications of facts and condensation of events." A 2018 Salt Lake Tribune TV critic wrote "the producers of Warren Jeffs : Prophet of Evil should have been more careful" to avoid confusing the LDS Church with the FLDS Church "through careless editing." BIOGRAPHY : DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER 1962...39th edition of CBS biography series. Follows Eisenhower from birth to 1962. There are some simplifications of facts and condensation of events. Does contain unique WWII film footage. Narrated by Mike Wallace. In 2002,
1089-404: A disadvantage in that their costs can be higher than some other formats due to the high volume of episodes needed. In many markets, a stripped show will be seen twice daily, usually with different episodes (one being a more recent episode and the other being an episode from a previous season). Sometimes, station groups with more than one station in a market, or a " duopoly ", will run one episode of
1210-632: A five-year hiatus, the franchise was relaunched in 2017. Over the years, the Biography media franchise has expanded domestically and internationally, spinning off several cable television channels, a website, a children's program, a line of books and records, and a series of made-for-TV movies, specials, and miniseries, among other media properties. Biography has won a Peabody Award (1962) and three Emmy Awards (1997, 1999, 2002). Biography began as an early 1960s syndicated television series produced by David Wolper and narrated by Mike Wallace . It won
1331-601: A greater artistic freedom, and looser standards (not mandated by a network). The older Bugs Bunny and Popeye cartoons made way for first-run syndicated cartoons such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , Inspector Gadget , Heathcliff , ThunderCats , My Little Pony , The Transformers , G.I. Joe , Voltron , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , and reruns of Scooby-Doo , Garfield and Friends , and The Pink Panther , among many others. Syndication
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#17327834343261452-636: A group level, with multiple stations owned and/or operated by the same broadcasting group carrying the program in different markets (except in areas where another station holds the market rights to the program) – making it increasingly more efficient for syndicators to gain widespread national clearances for their programs. Many syndicated programs are traditionally sold first to one of six "key" station groups ( ABC Owned Television Stations , NBC Owned Television Stations , CBS Television Stations , Fox Television Stations , Telemundo Station Group , and Televisa Univision ), allowing their programs to gain clearances in
1573-401: A home, for two seasons, on NBC, as SCTV Network 90 (and on premium cable channel Cinemax by 1983). The Universal / Paramount -produced package of original programming, Operation Prime Time , began appearing on ad hoc quasi-networks of (almost by necessity) non-network stations in the U.S. in 1978, with a mini-series adaptation of John Jakes ' The Bastard . From the later 1960s into
1694-484: A national roll-out is feasible based on the ratings accrued in the selected markets where the program is being aired. While market penetration can vary widely and revenues can be unreliable, the producers often enjoy more content freedom in the absence of network's standards and practices departments; frequently, some innovative ideas are explored by first-run syndicated programming which the networks are leery of giving airtime to. Meanwhile, top-rated syndicated shows in
1815-532: A pariah after being caught having sex with his rooster sidekick Rudy. Later episodes focused on Anne Surly, a serial killer indirectly based on Lucy Maud Montgomery and her Anne of Green Gables novels; Simon Duke, a horror novelist who was a spoof of Stephen King ; Rachel Lange, a soap opera diva; Boyz 'r Us, a pop music boy band; and the on-again off-again romance of Hollywood acting icons Richard Button and Elizabeth Paladoro. Filmed in Halifax , Nova Scotia ,
1936-428: A popular new stripped series hosted by Winfrey-associate Dr. Phil McGraw, in primetime, with impressive ratings results. With a general decline in first-run production in the 2020s, syndicators and stations have turned to reruns of stripped talk shows to fill time slots, with observers noting that conflict-driven tabloid shows tend to draw higher ratings in reruns than non-tabloid shows. First-run syndicated shows in
2057-461: A profitable run in reruns. Other sitcoms, such as Small Wonder , Out of This World , The Munsters Today , and Harry and the Hendersons (as well as more action-adventure oriented series like Superboy and My Secret Identity ) enjoyed success in syndication throughout their entire run. The broadcast networks aired many action-adventure programs from the 1950s to the 1980s. By
2178-438: A program that was first-run syndicated, to other stations; and public broadcasting syndication. In first-run syndication, a program is broadcast for the first time as a syndicated show. Often these programs are made specifically to sell directly into syndication and not made for any particular network. In off-network syndication, a program whose first airing was on network television (or, in some cases, first-run syndication)
2299-485: A simulcast of programming from its sister network Headline News (now HLN ) to broadcast stations later, as did its rival All News Channel , although both were used mainly to fill overnight time periods and were effectively discontinued in syndication when All News Channel folded in 2002 and HLN launched a "Headline Prime" talk show block in 2006. In 2019, NewsNet began offering a similar service to its affiliates. Entertainment Tonight began its long and continuing run as
2420-439: A sixth night, Biography This Week , which profiled someone from the previous weeks' news, such as Yitzak Rabin , George Burns , and Gene Kelly . In the mid-1990s, A&E expanded Biography into a media franchise , including multiple cable channels, a website, a monthly magazine, home videos, books for adults and children, audiobooks, music CDs, CD-ROMs, several spin-off shows, mini-series, and made-for-TV movies, and even
2541-597: A spin-off show, Biography: American Justice , and a series of Biography record albums by artists who had been profiled on the show, including Dean Martin , Judy Garland , Nat King Cole , Mel Torme , and Lena Horne , was released by EMI -Capitol Entertainment Properties. In November, A&E created a spin-off network called The Biography Channel (now Bio Channel/FYI ) featuring historical figures and current political and social leaders. By 1999, Biography had profiled 600 people. It won its second Emmy Award (Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming) and
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#17327834343262662-417: A strip on one of their stations in the morning, and the other available episode on another of their stations that night. Meanwhile, the popularity of some of the audience-participation talk shows continues to encourage new participants, some of whom, such as Morton Downey Jr. and Rosie O'Donnell , have brief periods of impressive ratings and influence; others, such as Oprah Winfrey and Maury Povich , have
2783-592: A subsidiary of Random House , began publishing a line of 200-page Biography paperbacks in 1997, beginning with books on Muhammad Ali , Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis , Ronald Reagan , and Pope John Paul II . In 1998, Biography was airing twice a day, six days a week. The episode profiling Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, aired on three separate time slots on Sunday, June 21, 1998, became the show's highest-rated episode up to that point. A&E released Biography Movies , featuring subjects such as P.T. Barnum , Lillian Hellman , and Dashiell Hammett . Bill Kurtis hosted
2904-595: A sustained run. A notable scheduling decision was made by KRON-TV in San Francisco: a 2000 dispute with NBC led to that station's disaffiliation from that network after 52 years, and since all the other larger networks were already represented in San Francisco, KRON decided to become one of the largest commercial independent stations by market size on the VHF band in the U.S., and soon tried running Dr. Phil ,
3025-573: A total run of 20 seasons dating back to the show's premiere in August 1999). Because game shows are very inexpensive to produce, with many episodes completed each day of production, successful ones are very profitable; for example, in 1988 Jeopardy! cost an estimated $ 5 million to produce but earned almost $ 50 million in revenue. New game show concepts (that is, not based on an existing or pre-existing format) are rarely tried and usually unsuccessful in syndication; somewhat of an exception to this
3146-518: A website, made-for-TV movies, mini-series, books, audio books, records, and even a board game. The show's ratings eventually slipped and its airtime was reduced to one night per week, then exclusive to The Biography Channel (now FYI). Production of new episodes ceased in 2011 and Biography was almost entirely off the air by 2012. In 2017, A&E relaunched the Biography franchise with a series of TV specials and miniseries. As of 2022, episodes are also shown on Story Television . The original Biography
3267-414: A weekly basis and are usually aired on weekends only. Big discussion occurred in the 1990s and 2000s about whether previously aired episodes of a show could become syndicated while new episodes of it continued to air on its original network. There had been much opposition to this idea and it was generally viewed to lead to the death of the show. However, licensing a program for syndication actually resulted in
3388-880: A writer for The Hartford Courant asked, "Is there anybody who doesn't like, or at the very least hasn't stopped to watch, A&E's Biography ?" Biography has won a Peabody Award and three Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Awards (Emmy) Awards : Outstanding Informational Series in 1997, Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming in 1999, and Outstanding Informational Series in 2002. The show has been nominated for 16 other Emmy Awards: The Presidents Award (1996–1997), Outstanding Informational Series (1996), Outstanding Individual Achievement Informational Programming (1997), Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series (1998–2000, 2003–09, 2011), Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming (1999), and Outstanding Informational Series (2001). Not all reviews have been positive. The same Hartford Courant writer criticized
3509-433: Is less common. Three common types of syndication are: first-run syndication, which is programming that is broadcast for the first time as a syndicated show and is made specifically for the purpose of selling it into syndication; Off-network syndication (colloquially called a " rerun "), which is the licensing of a program whose first airing was on stations inside the television network that produced it, or in some cases
3630-575: Is licensed for local broadcast on individual stations. Reruns are usually found on stations affiliated with smaller networks like The CW or MyNetworkTV, especially since these networks broadcast one less hour of prime time network programming than the Big Four television networks and far less network-provided daytime television (none at all for these networks). 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
3751-530: Is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States where broadcast programming is scheduled by television networks with local independent affiliates . Syndication is less widespread in the rest of the world, as most countries have centralized networks or television stations without local affiliates. Shows can be syndicated internationally, although this
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3872-583: The "stripping" (or "strip") talk show, such as Donahue , Oprah , The Tyra Banks Show , and Jerry Springer . Strip programming is a technique used for scheduling television and radio programming to ensure consistency and coherency. Strip programming is used to deliver consistent content to targeted audiences. Broadcasters know or predict the times at which certain demographics will be listening to or watching their programs and play them at that time. As with game shows, talk shows are inexpensive to produce and very profitable if successful. They have
3993-585: The American Library Association wrote that Biography.com is an "extensive site" and "the perfect source for anyone looking for background or historical and biographical information." In 2009, Biography.com was named a "Ten Best Reference Website" by The Sunday Times . Biography.com has been cited as a source by The New York Times , The Washington Post , The Los Angeles Times , The Chicago Tribune , The Columbus Dispatch , The Boston Globe , and NPR . Biography has been
4114-526: The GSN dating game show Baggage first aired in syndication as a test run in early 2011 on stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group , which preceded its full launch into other markets in fall 2012; although it was removed from syndication after one season. The 2014–15 season saw the introduction of Celebrity Name Game , hosted by former The Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson ;
4235-725: The Gambino crime family , Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Andre the Giant , and Sam Walton . Since its first broadcast in 1962, Biography has profiled: Biography has been described as "an undisputed phenom," "one of cable television's most respected programs," "one of the most popular series on cable TV," "the belle of the Nielsen ball," and "the most pervasive series of history films found in classroom libraries." It has been called A&E's "flagship series", "signature series," "strongest brand," and "most-watched show." In 2002,
4356-572: The Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), moved into syndicated distribution when its network was displaced by WB/UPN-affiliated stations, and eventually ended its final season on TNT (1998). In 1997 Earth: Final Conflict , based on ideas from Gene Roddenberry , premiered in syndication. Three years later, a second Gene Roddenberry series, Andromeda also premiered in syndication. As emerging networks WB and UPN signed contracts with formerly-independent stations, and
4477-489: The 1950s were MCA 's The Abbott and Costello Show (vaudeville-style comedy) and Guild Films ' Liberace (musical variety) and Life With Elizabeth , a domestic situation comedy that introduced Betty White to a national audience. In addition to the Adventures of Superman , many other series were based on comic strips and aimed at the juvenile audience, including Flash Gordon , Dick Tracy , Sheena, Queen of
4598-452: The 1950s, however, much of the theatrical product available consisted of low-budget secondary features (mainly Westerns) with relatively few notable stars. One syndication company, National Telefilm Associates , attempted to create a " NTA Film Network " of stations showing its lineup of first-run series, which included syndicated programs such as Police Call (1955), How to Marry a Millionaire (1957–1959), The Passerby , Man Without
4719-800: The 1980s caused the number of independent stations to grow from fewer than 100 in 1980 to 328 as of 1986 , as they did not need cash for programming. With the loosening of FCC regulations and the creation of new additional broadcast networks (such as The CW and MyNetworkTV ), most of these independents have joined one or another of these or smaller (religious or low-budget) networks. In other cases, like those of KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, KMCI-TV in Lawrence - Kansas City and WMLW-TV in Racine - Milwaukee , those independent stations are used to complement their network-affiliated sister station (respectively in
4840-401: The 2000s onward, reality competition shows in one form or another, such as Star Search and American Gladiators , enjoyed popularity in syndication as early as the mid-1980s. Since the now-defunct networks UPN and The WB began offering their affiliates additional nights of prime time programming in the late 1990s, there have been fewer first-run scripted series in syndication, at least, in
4961-453: The 2008–09 season before those reruns moved exclusively to cable. More new shows were added for the 2008–09 fall season, including a daytime run of Deal or No Deal (which featured certain elements that differed from the show's franchised format, most notably with prospective players instead of models holding briefcases that held the monetary amounts) and an adaptation of the popular board game Trivial Pursuit . While Deal caught on and
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5082-695: The Clock and To Tell the Truth premiered in the late 1960s and found loyal audiences for many years. Several daytime network games began producing once-a-week nighttime versions for broadcast in the early evening hours, usually with bigger prizes and often featuring different hosts (emcees were limited to appearing on one network and one syndicated game simultaneously) and modified titles ( Match Game PM , The $ 100,000 Name That Tune or The $ 25,000 Pyramid , for example). A few independent game shows, such as Sports Challenge and Celebrity Bowling , also entered
5203-614: The Jungle , and Joe Palooka . Original juvenile adventure series included Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion , Cowboy G-Men , and Ramar of the Jungle . Series based on literary properties included Sherlock Holmes , Long John Silver (based on Treasure Island ), and The Three Musketeers . Several of these were co-productions between U.S. and European (usually British) companies. Crusader Rabbit pioneered in
5324-531: The Nielsen-monitored audience. Forever Knight drew devoted "cult" audiences (3% rating). Psi Factor and Poltergeist: The Legacy attempted to draw on the audience for the Fox series The X-Files (as did the short-lived spinoff Baywatch Nights ). Among the other series were Relic Hunter , V.I.P. , High Tide , She Spies and Once a Thief . Babylon 5 began life in 1993 on
5445-545: The Night , Lauren Hutton 's innovatively shot Lauren Hutton and... , and talk shows hosted by Dennis Miller , Whoopi Goldberg , David Brenner and Keenen Ivory Wayans ; Magic Johnson 's The Magic Hour was seen as a massive flop, similar to Thicke of the Night . The popularity of syndicated talk shows fell dramatically in the mid-1990s as network and cable offerings expanded in the wake of Johnny Carson 's retirement. Long before their popularity on network television from
5566-474: The Seeker was canceled in 2009, until Trifecta Entertainment & Media (a company that mainly distributes programs for off-network syndication) began producing SAF3 (pronounced "safe") in 2013. During the late 1970s and 1980s, independent stations signed on in mid-sized and many small markets. The market for made-for-television cartoons grew as a result to include a branch for such stations. It usually had
5687-406: The U.S.; much as with the closing of windows that provided opportunity for Ziv in the 1950s and various producers in the early 1970s. The more expensive dramatic projects are less attractive to syndicators (particularly when they might be sold, with somewhat less risk, to cable channels); "reality" series such as Cheaters and Maximum Exposure and several dating series began to be more common in
5808-607: The United States " (E/I) rule imposed in the late 1990s as part of an amendment to the Children's Television Act of 1990 that requires stations to air three hours of educational children's programs every week, regardless of the station's format. Syndication is generally a less expensive option for a local station than to attempt to produce its own locally originated E/I programming; not all networks provide their own E/I programs, so stations that are affiliated with networks that do not carry children's program blocks acquire E/I programs off
5929-575: The United States in the 1970s was probably The Muppet Show , also from Lew Grade's company. Animated series from the 1980s Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds and Around the World with Willy Fog came from Spanish animation production company BRB Internacional and their Japanese co-producers Nippon Animation . Game shows thrived in syndication during the decade. Nightly versions of What's My Line? , Truth or Consequences , Beat
6050-679: The United States include talk shows (e.g., The Dr. Oz Show , Dr. Phil , The Real , The Doctors , The Ellen DeGeneres Show & The Kelly Clarkson Show ); tabloid/newsmagazine shows (e.g., TMZ Live ); crime/law enforcement shows (e.g., Crime Watch Daily ); game shows (e.g., Hollywood Squares , Funny You Should Ask , Family Feud , Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune ); court shows (e.g., Judge Judy , Judge Mathis , Judge Jerry , Judge Faith , Protection Court , Hot Bench , America's Court with Judge Ross , and The People's Court ); and sitcoms (e.g., The First Family ). The emergence of barter syndication in
6171-527: The United States usually have a domestic market reach as high as 98%. Very often, series that are aired in syndication have reduced running times. For example, a standard American sitcom runs 22 minutes, but in syndication it may be reduced to 20 minutes to make room for more commercials. Syndication can take the form of either weekly or daily syndication. Game shows, some "tabloid" and entertainment news shows, and talk shows are broadcast daily on weekdays, while most other first-run syndicated shows are broadcast on
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#17327834343266292-601: The United States. Family Feud , created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman , ended its first syndication run in 1985. Three years later, a revival of the program featuring Ray Combs as host became a moderate hit and continued for seven seasons, its last year featuring the return of original host Richard Dawson in a failed attempt to save the series. A third revival hit the airwaves in 1999 and has gone through four hosts. The first three hosts ( Louie Anderson , Richard Karn and John O'Hurley ) struggled in their respective runs and only lasted three to four years. The current run of
6413-540: The area of first-run animated series; followed by Bucky and Pepito , Colonel Bleep , Spunky and Tadpole , Q. T. Hush , and others. (All of these were five-minute shorts designed to be placed within locally hosted kiddie shows.) Syndicated sports programming included Championship Bowling and All-Star Golf , both produced by Chicago-based Walter Schwimmer Inc. In addition to regular series, syndicators also offered packages of feature films, cartoons, and short subjects originally made for movie theaters. Until late in
6534-545: The brief commercial-television run of William F. Buckley Jr. 's interview/debate series Firing Line . The more obvious result was an increase in Canadian-produced syndicated dramatic series, such as Dusty's Trail and the Colgate -sponsored Dr. Simon Locke . Game shows, often evening editions of network afternoon series, flourished, and a few odd items such as Wild Kingdom , canceled by NBC in 1971, had
6655-445: The broadcast networks. In the 1980s, national broadcast networks only aired cartoons on Saturday mornings , not competing with the weekday and Sunday syndication blocks aired by local independent stations; however, by the 1990s, Fox and then The WB launched their own weekday afternoon children's program blocks. By the end of the 1990s, both syndication distributors and broadcast networks ended up losing most of their children's market to
6776-595: The dance-music show Soul Train , and 20th Century Fox 's That's Hollywood , a television variation on the popular That's Entertainment! theatrically released collections of film clips from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library. There were also many imported programs distributed this way. These include the documentary series Wild, Wild World of Animals (repackaged by Time Life with narration by William Conrad ) and Thames Television 's sober and necessarily grim The World at War . The Starlost (1973)
6897-569: The daytime and nighttime shows had diverged noticeably). The nighttime version of Family Feud (1977) quickly jumped from once-weekly to twice, and finally to five-day-a-week airings, and its massive popularity, along with that of new five-day-a-week entries like Jack Barry's The Joker's Wild (1977) and Tic-Tac-Dough (1978), the move of Match Game ' s daily run from CBS to syndication (1979), and Chuck Barris 's increasingly raunchy remakes of his 1960s hits The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game , brought an end (with rare exceptions) to
7018-532: The debut of a revival of You Bet Your Life that reunited host Jay Leno and sidekick Kevin Eubanks from their time on The Tonight Show ; it ran two seasons, before Leno left during the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes . 2023 saw the debut of two new games, Person, Place or Thing and Who the Bleep Is That . The dominant form of first-run syndication in the U.S. for the last three decades has been
7139-491: The early 1960s version of the show for focusing on "great men". A writer for The New York Times described Biography as "skipping easily, and often superficially" from one subject to the next. Variety has reviewed some episodes as "disappointingly routine...marred by errors and omissions," and "suffer[ing] tunnel vision." An episode on Fidel Castro was criticized as having "a distinct anti-Castro edge by Mike Wallace." The Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library includes
7260-458: The early 2000s. Some of the more low-key programs in this category were designed to appeal to children, such as Beakman's World , Disney's Sing Me A Story with Belle , Animal Rescue and Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures . They were able to get significant clearance because of stricter Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforcement of rules on children's television programming. Several game shows are currently syndicated; historically,
7381-605: The episodes) distributed to PBS stations by the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority . Also in 1971, CBS dropped Lassie and Hee Haw , the latter show's run ending as part of the network's cancellation of all of its rural-oriented shows (known then as " rural purge ", which also resulted in the cancellations of The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres ). Lassie entered first-run syndication for two years, while Hee Haw continued to produce new episodes until 1992. Throughout
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#17327834343267502-540: The era of once-a-week games. Also popular in first-run syndication and daytime was The Gong Show , hosted by Barris throughout most of its run ( Gary Owens hosted the first syndicated season). A number of half-hour musical-variety shows were also offered in the early 1970s, generally built around personable middle-of-the-road singers like Bobby Vinton , Bobby Goldsboro , Dolly Parton , and Andy Williams , or groups like Sha Na Na , The Johnny Mann Singers , and The Golddiggers . Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972)
7623-873: The failure of the DuMont Television Network —could serve. Some stations were not affiliated with any network, operating as independent stations . Both groups sought to supplement their locally produced programming with content that could be flexibly scheduled. The development of videotape and, much later, enhanced satellite down link access furthered these options. While most past first-run syndicated shows were shown only in syndication, some canceled network shows continued to be produced for first-run syndication or were revived for syndication several years after their original cancellation. Until about 1980, most syndicated series were distributed to stations either on 16mm film prints (off-network reruns, feature films, and cartoons) or videotape (topical series such as
7744-521: The final episodes airing in late May of that same year; it would later be revived by CNBC in 2018. 5th Grader and Don't Forget the Lyrics! were canceled the following year for the same reason (although 5th Grader would later be revived by Fox and Nickelodeon on two different occasions). Reruns of the popular Discovery Channel show Cash Cab began airing in syndication in January 2011. Reruns of
7865-515: The foresight to film The Cisco Kid in color, even though color TV was still in its infancy and most stations did not yet support the technology. Among the most widely seen Ziv offerings were Sea Hunt , I Led Three Lives , Highway Patrol and Ripcord . Some first-run syndicated series were picked up by networks in the 1950s and early 1960s, such as the Adventures of Superman and Mr. Ed . The networks began syndicating their reruns in
7986-413: The franchise into other media. Barnes & Noble began selling Biography videos in its 400 stores. In the summer of 1996, A&E launched Biography.com. In the fall, a Saturday-morning children's version, Biography for Kids , was released. The next year, Biography won its first Emmy Award (Outstanding Informational Series), and was nominated in two other categories. The same year, Biography
8107-439: The increased popularity for shows that remained in production. A prime example is Law & Order . As with radio in the U.S., television networks, particularly in their early years, did not offer a full day's worth of programming for their affiliates, even in the evening or "prime time" hours. In the early days of television, this was less of an issue, as there were in most markets fewer TV stations than there were networks (at
8228-416: The independent stations due to breaking news or sports commitments without the traditional inconvenience of a late night or weekend airing of the pre-empted show. A duopoly of a network-affiliated and independent station also allows a network station to move a low-rated syndicated program to their sister independent station to stem revenue losses. Off-network syndication occurs when a network television series
8349-492: The intent of the rule was to encourage local stations to produce their own programs for this time slot, budgetary limits instead prompted stations to buy syndicated programs to fill the slot. This, coupled with an increase in UHF independent stations , caused a boom in the syndication market. In the 1970s, first-run syndication continued to be an odd mix: cheaply produced, but not always poor quality, "filler" programming. These included
8470-454: The largest U.S. TV markets (such as New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia , where all six aforementioned groups each own stations), before striking deals with other major and smaller station owners. Shows airing in first-run syndication that are carried primarily by an owned-and-operated station of a network may sometimes be incorrectly referenced as a network program, especially if said network's syndication wing distributes
8591-450: The late 1950s, and first-run syndication shrank sharply for a decade. Some stalwart series continued, including Death Valley Days ; other ambitious projects were also to flourish, however briefly, such as The Play of the Week (1959–1961), produced by David Susskind (of the syndicated talk show Open End and also producer of such network fare as NYPD ). Among other syndicated series of
8712-451: The late 1970s, Westinghouse also found considerable success with The Mike Douglas Show , a variety/talk show hosted by a singer with an easygoing interview style, which aired in the afternoons in most markets; similar programs soon followed featuring Merv Griffin , who had been the host of CBS ' most sustained late-night answer to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson previously, and another network veteran, Dinah Shore . Also notable
8833-510: The late 1980s, however, increasing production costs made them less attractive to the networks. Studios found that reruns of one-hour dramas did not sell as well as sitcoms, so they were unable to fully recoup the shows' costs using the traditional deficit financing model. When NBC canceled the television series adaptation of Fame after only two seasons, the producers made special arrangements with LBS Communications , which resulted in MGM reviving
8954-652: The lineup were far more scarce. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rulings in 1971 curtailed the U.S. networks' ability to schedule programming in what has become known as the " fringe time ", notably the 7–8 p.m. ( Eastern and Pacific Time ) hour of "prime time", with the stated hope that this might encourage more local programming of social and cultural relevance to communities (off-network syndicated repeats were also banned); some projects of this sort came to fruition, though these were usually relatively commercial and slick efforts such as Group W 's Evening/PM Magazine franchise, and such pre-existing national projects as
9075-454: The mentioned cases, KCBS-TV , KSHB-TV and WDJT-TV ) by allowing a duopoly control of more syndicated programming than would be possible on one station (and to spread it throughout the schedule of the two stations, often several times a day), or to air news programming in times unavailable on the larger network station, along with fulfilling network and syndicated programming commitments, which allows popular or network programming to be moved to
9196-672: The mid-to-late 1980s into the early 1990s, sitcoms continued to enter first-run syndication after being canceled by the networks, the most successful of which were Mama's Family and Charles in Charge . Other sitcoms during this time to enter first-run syndication after network cancellation included Silver Spoons , Punky Brewster , Webster , It's a Living , Too Close for Comfort , 9 to 5 , What's Happening!! , and WKRP in Cincinnati . Many of these sitcoms produced new shows in syndication mainly to have enough episodes for
9317-605: The modern U.S. Presidents. The program became popular in syndication, and in 1962, won a Peabody Award (Television Education), the first of several for both Wolper and Wallace. Biography has been credited with turning Wallace's journalism career around, and in 1963, he left to join The CBS Morning News with Mike Wallace , and, later, 60 Minutes. Biography stopped releasing new episodes in 1964, although some episodes continued to be used as educational films in classrooms, became standards for filmed biographies of
9438-516: The most popular have been Wheel of Fortune and the current version of Jeopardy! , both created by television personality Merv Griffin , respectively premiering in 1983 and 1984. The shows have been No. 1 and No. 2 or No. 1 to No. 3 in the syndication ratings consistently since at least the late 1980s. In fact, according to the Guinness Book of World Records , Wheel is the most popular syndicated television program both within and outside
9559-430: The network's affiliates on the same day of the week and at the same time (in a given time zone, in countries where this is a concern). Some production companies create their shows and license them to networks at a loss, at least at first, hoping that the series will succeed and that eventual off-network syndication will turn a profit for the show. A syndicated program is licensed to stations for "cash" (the stations purchase
9680-478: The news agency model, where nominally competing networks share resources and rebroadcast each other's programs. For example, National Public Radio ( NPR ) stations commonly air the Public Radio Exchange 's This American Life , which may contain stories produced by NPR journalists. When syndicating a show, the production company , or a distribution company called a syndicator, attempts to license
9801-563: The night they passed away, the following night. In 2002, host Harry Smith left to join CBS's The Early Show . A&E began reducing the number of nights Biography aired starting 2003, when Neil Ross became the show's final host, narrating episodes on Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley . The growth of Biography ' s magazine circulation slowed in 2002 and declined 9% in 2003. In 2004, A&E scaled back Biography magazine from monthly to quarterly publication. By 2006, Ross had left
9922-496: The number could be as low as 65. Successful shows in syndication can cover production costs and make a profit, even if the first run of the show was not profitable. This type of syndication has arisen in the U.S. as a parallel service to member stations of the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS ) and the handful of independent public broadcasting stations. This form of syndication more closely resembles
10043-558: The persons profiled, and it played for decades in syndication. The series was briefly revived for syndication in 1979 with host David Janssen , profiling Idi Amin and Walt Disney , among others. The Arts & Entertainment Network (now A&E), a joint venture started in 1984 by ABC , NBC , the Hearst Corporation , and the Rockefeller Group , acquired the broadcast rights to Biography and began airing
10164-545: The primary host of Biography , although Graves and Perkins continued to have a role with the series. Smith left in 2002 to join CBS's The Early Show , and was replaced by Neil Ross . Ross left in 2006, and A&E produced Biography as an unhosted show. Biography has profiled over 1,000 subjects, ranging from " Moses to Mozart to Madonna ," in the words of host Harry Smith, and as of 2018, Biography.com claims to contain over 7,000 biographical profiles on its website. The most-watched episodes profiled Ron Howard ,
10285-447: The program from one that reported history to one that recorded it as it unfolded. A&E also added on-camera interviews to the Biography format. In 1994, A&E expanded the show from one night per week to five (every weeknight at 8pm) and commissioned over 100 hours of new programming. Journalist Jack Perkins joined the show as an alternate host along with Graves. For the 1995–96 season, A&E expanded Biography again, adding
10406-555: The program, hosted by Steve Harvey , has been a major ratings success; on the week of June 12, 2015, for the first time ever, Family Feud was the highest-rated syndicated program in terms of average household ratings. While the current version of The Price Is Right (another Goodson-Todman game show) has enjoyed tremendous success on the CBS daytime schedule since its inception in 1972 under hosts Bob Barker and Drew Carey , it has also produced three spinoffs, two of which failed after one season. The most successful syndicated edition
10527-418: The program, regardless to its distribution to stations of varying network affiliations and despite the fact it is not part of an individual network's base schedule. Since the early 2000s, some programs being proposed for national distribution in first-run syndication have been test marketed on a selected number of or all stations owned by certain major station group, allowing the distributor to determine whether
10648-595: The ratings decline by changing Biography ' s management personnel and launching a marketing campaign centering on photographs taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz of well-known subjects that had been profiled on Biography , including Jerry Seinfeld , Muhammad Ali, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford . "We produced a show on the Green River Valley killer in a week," O'Hearn says. When Katharine Hepburn , John Ritter and Gregory Peck died, up-to-date shows about their lives were televised if not on
10769-427: The rights to local insertion some or all of the advertisements at their level); given to stations for access to airtime (wherein the syndicators get the advertising revenue); or the combination of both. The trade of program for airtime is called " barter ." In the United States (as a result of continued relaxation of station ownership regulations since the 1970s), syndicated programs are usually licensed to stations on
10890-427: The rise of cable television channels aimed at that audience such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network , which provided appealing children's entertainment throughout the week at nearly all hours. Syndication remains a method of choice for distributing children's programming, although this has gradually shifted to only produce programs to satisfy the federally mandated " regulations on children's television programming in
11011-420: The series for first-run syndication in the fall of 1983, where it continued for four more seasons, with the last first-run episode airing in the U.S. on May 18, 1987. Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in 1987, and became the most-watched syndicated show throughout its seven-year run. Its great success caused many others to debut. Friday the 13th: The Series (a horror series which shared its title with
11132-426: The series was renewed for a second season in January 2015, while Ferguson would also win a Daytime Emmy Award for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his work on the program. In January 2016, Fox owned-and-operated stations began a test run of South of Wilshire —a game show produced by TMZ. The 2017 summer season includes the game show iWitness created by TV judge Judith Sheindlin. 2021 saw
11253-595: The show and Biography was airing only once a week, usually on Friday nights with three back-to-back episodes. A&E removed Biography from its lineup in August, making new episodes of the show exclusively available on The Biography Channel . Its first year on The Biography Channel featured 64 hours of new programming, including episodes on the Onassis family , Jamie Oliver , Russell Simmons , George Lopez , Anthony Hopkins , Grace Slick , Elmore Leonard and Olivia Newton-John . The following year, The Biography Channel
11374-423: The show expanded from one night per week to five. Where else could you find maybe on three successive nights the stories of Robert E. Lee , Gypsy Rose Lee and Bruce Lee ? In 1999, after reportedly trying without success to recruit Charlie Gibson (who was then leaving ABC's Good Morning America ) to replace Graves and Perkins, A&E named journalist Harry Smith, previously with CBS's This Morning , as
11495-453: The show on Tuesday nights at 8pm beginning on April 6, 1987, with Peter Graves as host. In the words of one observer, A&E's Biography "picked up where Wolper left off." In 1990, A&E acquired the rights to the Biography trademark and library, and began producing new episodes of the show, which expanded the subjects from historical figures to contemporary figures, including political leaders and popular celebrities, and which changed
11616-413: The show to one station in each media market or area, or to a commonly owned station group, within the country and internationally. If successful, this can be lucrative, but the syndicator may only be able to license the show in a small percentage of the markets. Syndication differs from licensing the show to a television network. Once a network picks up a show, it is usually guaranteed to run on most or all
11737-553: The show was created by Ian Johnston and Peter Hays, two former journalists for the Halifax Daily News . The show was titled Liography in its first season, but was changed to Liocracy in the second season after the A&;E Network , the producers of the original Biography series, threatened a copyright infringement lawsuit. The second season premiered in November 2002, and ran for 13 episodes into early 2003. The series
11858-535: The show. By the end of the century, Biography had profiled over 800 people, and on October 1, 2000, A&E Networks expanded its British partnership with Sky UK with the launch of a UK market Biography Channel. Biography ' s ratings declined 15% from 2000 to 2001, and another 17% from 2001 to 2002, before increasing 6% in 2003. Despite the decrease in ratings, by 2002, Biography won its third Emmy Award (Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series), and marked its 1,000th profile. A&E responded to
11979-689: The successful movie franchise) also debuted in 1987. The next syndicated shows that debuted in 1988 were War of the Worlds and Freddy's Nightmares . Baywatch , which debuted in 1989 on NBC and was canceled after one season also became one of the most watched syndicated shows throughout its ten-year-run, garnering a worldwide audience. By 1994, there were more than 20 one-hour syndicated shows. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Renegade were also syndicated. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and its spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess were also popular, often tying Deep Space Nine at 5% to 6% of
12100-528: The syndicated versions of Price were 30 minutes long. A Hollywood Squares revival also thrived beginning in 1998 under host Tom Bergeron , running six seasons until its 2004 cancellation. By far the most successful entry into the market in the 2000s has been the daily version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire , which premiered in September 2002 and was canceled in May 2019 after 17 seasons in syndication (and
12221-543: The syndication market around this time. Of these shows, Let's Make a Deal and Hollywood Squares were the first to jump to twice-a-week syndicated versions, in about 1973. Another popular daytime show to have a weekly syndicated version was The Price Is Right , which began concurrently in weekly syndication and on CBS ; the syndicated "nighttime" version was hosted by Dennis James for its first five years, after which daytime host Bob Barker took over for another three years of weekly episodes (even though, by this point,
12342-568: The syndication market shrunk, Andromeda season 5 moved to the Syfy Channel (2004). There was not another first-run syndicated drama (or a first-run scripted series in syndication) until 2008, when Disney-ABC Domestic Television and ABC Studios teamed up with Sam Raimi to launch a new first-run syndicated series, Legend of the Seeker , based on Terry Goodkind 's Sword of Truth novel series. Another gap in first-run scripted series in syndication followed for four years after Legend of
12463-469: The syndication market to fulfill the requirements. Also in the 1980s, news programming of various sorts began to be offered widely to stations. Independent Network News , which was produced by WPIX in New York City, was a half-hour nightly program that ran from 1980 to 1990 on independent stations (in some markets, INN was paired with a locally produced primetime newscast); CNN would offer
12584-414: The talk shows of Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin , and variety and quiz shows). Ziv Television Programs, after establishing itself as a major radio syndicator, was the first major first-run television syndicator, creating several long-lived series in the 1950s and selling them directly to regional sponsors, who in turn sold the shows to local stations. Ziv's first major TV hit was The Cisco Kid . Ziv had
12705-495: The time four), which meant that the stations that did exist affiliated with multiple networks and, when not airing network or local programs, typically sign-on and sign-off . The loosening of licensing restrictions, and the subsequent passage of the All-Channel Receiver Act , meant that by the early 1960s, the situation had reversed. There were now more stations than the networks—now down to three in number after
12826-429: The way for a second series two years later, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers . The following year, the two shows aired together under the umbrella block The Disney Afternoon . In the fall of 1990, Disney added another hour to The Disney Afternoon ; the block continued in syndication, running additional first-run animated series until 1999. These cartoons initially competed with the ones that were nationally televised on
12947-541: The website. In 2017, A&E Networks relaunched the franchise with a set of two-hour specials and mini-series for three of its channels, A&E , History and Lifetime . Biography returned to A&E on June 28, 2017, with The Notorious Life of Biggie Smalls . A&E announced that it would produce up to 40 hours of new episodes as part of the relaunch, including features on John Gotti , Tupac Shakur , Vladimir Putin , Elizabeth Smart , Mike Tyson , and David Koresh . The original, early 1960s syndicated Biography
13068-520: Was Street Smarts , which lasted from 2001 to 2006 (despite the series airing in late night slots in many markets). Between 2003 and 2007, no new game shows debuted in syndication, marking four consecutive seasons where no new shows with that genre debuted, a syndication first. That streak ended with the fall 2007 debuts of Temptation and Merv Griffin's Crosswords , bringing the daytime tally to six game shows; both ended production after one year, though Crosswords aired in reruns in some cities during
13189-617: Was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series attempting to ape the All in the Family -style sitcoms; Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (1969), an Australian children's series, or Gentle Ben (a decade later, the decidedly not-for-children Australian Prisoner: Cell Block H would have a brief U.S. syndicated run); and a Canadian sketch-comedy series began appearing on U.S. television stations in 1977— Second City Television , which would eventually find
13310-451: Was a Canadian series, apparently modified from the vision of science fiction writers Harlan Ellison and Ben Bova . Britain's ITC Entertainment , headed by Lew Grade , made UFO (1970) and Space: 1999 (1975). These two series were created by Gerry Anderson (and his associates), previously best known for Supermarionation (a combination of puppetry and animation) series such as Thunderbirds . The most successful syndicated show in
13431-454: Was allowed to interview sitting First Lady Hillary Clinton for an episode profiling billionaire Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton . Also in 1997, A&E released Biography audio tapes, and replaced its eight-year-old A&E Monthly magazine with Biography magazine. Circulation started at 100,000 in 1997 and grew for several years (to 270,000 by early 1998; 367,000 by mid-1998; 528,000 by 1999; and, 700,000 by 2001). Crown Publishing Group ,
13552-631: Was also important for the nascent anime community in the United States, with imports like Speed Racer and Star Blazers (a localized edit of Space Battleship Yamato ) helping to grow interest in Japanese animation. This led to the establishment of companies dedicated to importing and translating anime such as Streamline Pictures and Viz Media towards the end of the 1980s. In 1987, The Walt Disney Company tried its luck at syndication; DuckTales premiered that September and would eventually last for 100 episodes. The success of DuckTales paved
13673-526: Was challenged by syndicated programming in the 1980s was with late-night talk shows ; The Arsenio Hall Show was the only very successful one (it would be canceled after five years in 1994 due to ratings declines spurred by many CBS affiliates pushing the show to later timeslots following the debut of the Late Show with David Letterman , and was later revived in 2013), but similar programs were attempted such as Alan Thicke 's earlier short-lived Thicke of
13794-511: Was narrated by Mike Wallace, who won his first Peabody Award on the show, and launched his journalism career. Wallace left in 1963 to join The CBS Morning News with Mike Wallace , and later, 60 Minutes . Actor David Janssen hosted a short-lived 1979 revival of the show on CBS. Actor Peter Graves hosted Biography on A&E starting in 1987, and he was joined in 1994 by journalist Jack Perkins as an alternate host, when
13915-550: Was not renewed for a third season. Biography (television program) Biography is an American documentary television series and media franchise created in the 1960s by David L. Wolper and owned by A&E Networks since 1987. Each episode depicts the life of a notable person with narration, on-camera interviews, photographs, and stock footage . The show originally ran in syndication in 1962–1964, and in 1979, on A&E from 1987 to 2006, and on The Biography Channel (later Bio, now FYI ) from 2006 to 2012. After
14036-426: Was on television in some incarnation seven nights per week, including an "international-figure-personality-of-the-week," Biography International. That year's episode profiling Ron Howard was viewed in 3.5 million homes, becoming a new Biography record. Journalist Harry Smith (previously with CBS's This Morning ) joined Biography as the primary host, though Peter Graves and Jack Perkins continued to appear on
14157-743: Was produced by David Wolper and Jack Haley Jr. and narrated by Mike Wallace, who at the time was just beginning his award-winning journalism career. The show featured no interviews, consisting instead of a half hour of film clips, newsreel footage, still photographs and recordings. Production began in 1961 and the show was distributed in syndication by Official Films , premiering in February 1962. The 1960s series profiled world leaders ( Winston Churchill ), contemporary U.S. politicians ( Fiorello H. La Guardia , Joseph McCarthy ), athletes ( Babe Ruth and Knute Rockne ), and other 20th-century notables, including generals, authors, scientists, actors, and all
14278-602: Was rebranded "Bio." In 2008, Biography released a documentary, Johnny Cash 's America , together with a companion DVD/CD package published by Legacy Recordings containing an unreleased recitation by the singer entitled "I Am the Nation." The last new episode aired in 2011, and the show ended its run in 2012. In 2014, A&E replaced its underperforming Bio channel with The FYI Network and partnered with digital publisher SAY Media . SAY Media began operating Biography.com, while A&E continued producing short-form videos for
14399-460: Was renewed for the 2009–2010 season, Trivial Pursuit: America Plays suffered low ratings throughout its run and was canceled. For the 2009–2010 season, the Fox game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? moved to syndication with a new, less expensive format. Don't Forget the Lyrics! followed for the 2010–2011 season. Deal , suffering from falling ratings, was canceled in February 2010, with
14520-438: Was the 1972–80 weekly version that was initially hosted by Dennis James , but in 1977, daytime host Bob Barker also hosted the nighttime version for the final three seasons. For the 1985–86 season, Tom Kennedy hosted a daily syndicated version, and in 1994–95, Doug Davidson emceed his own daily syndicated version, titled The New Price Is Right . Unlike the daytime series, which expanded to its current one-hour length in 1975,
14641-521: Was the growing success of audience-participation talk shows, particularly that of the innovator of the format, Phil Donahue . First-run syndication in the 1970s also made it possible for some shows that were no longer wanted by television networks to remain on the air. In 1971, ABC canceled The Lawrence Welk Show , which went on to produce new episodes in syndication for another 11 years, and currently continues to much success in weekend reruns (with new segments featuring Welk cast members inserted within
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