Local U.S. TV Stations Are Weeping Over Comedies
By Dom Serafini
The premise was simple enough and on the minds of many local TV station managers
in the U.S.: Now that the strongest situation comedies (sitcoms) have ended
on network television and are going into another rerun cycle in syndication,
the backbone of local stations -- the sitcom -- is now in jeopardy. Now, what
are the local stations to do?
Another problem is that some top-of-the-line off-net comedies have non-exclusivity
(they share a window with cable). So are these local stations lacking a variety
of strong half-hour shows?
A third problem is that a ninth network TV season is passing by without a sitcom
hit. The last successful sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond, came out in
1996. On the other hand, there are plenty of serialized dramas. Last May, for
the current TV season, the networks selected a total of 19 comedies, versus
35 new drama series.
Dramas, or fiction, as they are called outside North America, are manna for
international TV outlets, but bad omens for local TV stations that prefer not
to risk two half-hour segments with one show. Therefore, successful and safe
half-hour sitcoms have become their key-programming staples.
It is said that this problem for local TV stations is not of recent origin,
but, rather, has been brewing for many years, since, as it has been reported,
of the 450 sitcoms launched in the past 17 years, only 42 went on to syndication.
It is important to point out that, to face the off-net sitcom problem are TV
stations that used to be independent and are now part of station groups and
affiliated with smaller networks: in effect, more than 300 TV stations nationwide.
On the other hand, affiliates of major TV networks rely on first-run fare for
their prime access-time -- the non-network time slot between 7:00 pm and 8:00
pm in the Eastern and Western parts of the country, and 6:30 pm-7:00 pm in
the Central region.
Some other dayparts that all affiliates program themselves are early-fringe
(4:00 pm-5:00 pm); early news (6:00 pm-7:00 pm); and late fringe (11:00 pm
news) for major network affiliates. The former indies schedule their news at
10:00 pm.
Most of the experts VideoAge interviewed for this story would not speak
for attribution however, in their view, it seems the problem has reached a
critical point.
Apparently, local stations have up their sleeves only a few yet-to-be-tested
solutions in order to fill the principle gap of timeslots not supplied by the
networks. According to those experts, stations cannot pay to get into one-hour
syndicated dramas, because cable networks, which can afford to base their successful
schedules on this genre, drive up their high costs. Another drawback for local
TV stations is that a one-hour block could present a double-sized risk with
two half-hour periods.
Stations face this “recurring” problem, every now and then but continue
to buy comedies coming out in syndication even if they did not fare well on
network television.
The fact that these sitcoms are not “top-of-the-line,” means that
license fees are low, allowing stations to hit their numbers in term of profitability,
which, despite all, still reach the 30 percent mark for the former independents,
with peaks of 60 percent returns for affiliate stations in major markets.
Naturally, it is pointed out, the low cost of sitcoms will not compensate for
very low ratings; therefore it is important that stations strike a good balance.
Granting another chance to old sitcoms that did not do well in syndication
is not considered a valid alternative. “If they did not work well before,
they will not do well now,” was the comment of a New York-based sales
rep.
So, in addition to buying off-net sitcoms, stations are experimenting with
current affairs programs, news and even importing sitcoms from cable networks.
For these stations, the first-run route is a difficult one as the cost of risk
is too high. Syndicators are trying to solve the problem by putting the financial
load on station groups that need this genre and/or pursuing product placement
and simultaneous cable windows. Even so, syndicators remain reluctant to dive
into first-run programming. Indeed, during last November’s sweeps period, syndicators
were aware of the possibility that several shows would be cancelled for poor
ratings, but none actually rushed out to offer first-run replacements.
Years ago, an opportunity to bid for a few suddenly opened up time slots, was
cause for a first-run production and marketing frenzy.
“Stations will learn how to be more creative,” commented a Washington,
D.C.-based former TV station executive, “as in the case of WPIX [in New
York] where it successfully branded four old comedies set in New York during
the ’70s and aired them on Saturday nights.”
In the view of John Gluck, a co-founder of New York-based distributor, Lettuce-Entertain-U,
Llc. (and the only expert willing to be partially quoted), station groups have
to form consortiums to produce first-run fare.
Stations are now sitting tight on their five-year plans, patiently waiting
for the next cycle of successful sitcoms to come out from the networks, which
they hope will occur before the digital wave changes all the rules. The major
networks seem to be responding to their own and local TV stations’ need with
each network analyzing up to 250 sitcom ideas per season, buying rights to
about 50-55 scripts and producing some 15 pilots. Meanwhile, the off-net and
off-cable availability is four new sitcoms for a 2005 start and three for a
’06 start: The pressure is on.
