With Major Studios Cooling On Syndication, Stations Seek Program Alternatives
Several low-cost shows are premiering this fall, but big names are nowhere to be seen.
Industry leaders from Fox Television Stations, Debmar-Mercury, E.W. Scripps, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Sony Pictures Television will unpack business challenges and programming opportunities in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere event at the NAB Show on April 16. Register here.
Station Groups Look To Fill A NATPE-Sized Hole With Summit
Last week, Fox Television Stations convened station groups and syndicators for a press- and deals-free ideas exchange in Los Angeles. Attendees said it could become an annual event. (Fox Television Stations photo)
Local TV Content Still The ‘Best Stuff,’ But Only If Investments Are Made In Its Producers
Executives from Fox Television Stations, E.W. Scripps, Tegna, Gray and Blackbird said in a TVNewsCheck webinar Thursday that local content is becoming increasingly crucial in a world of shrinking syndication options, but to pull it off more resources need to be invested in local people and the technology to support them.
Executives from Fox Television Stations, Gray Television, Tegna, Blackbird and E.W. Scripps will discuss how they’re diversifying local programming to replace syndicated content and create new options for their linear and streaming channels, all while containing costs, in a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch Webinar on April 14 at 1 p.m. ET. Register here.
Local TV Marketing ‘Not For Faint Of Heart’
Executives from Tegna, NBCU Television Stations and Fox Television Stations told a TVNewsCheck webinar that local station marketing is best executed by those in the market itself — with support from corporate — and that marketing needs to start “from a place of brand, not from a place of product.”
Exclusives
A TVNewsCheck webinar featuring executives from Tegna, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations and Fox Television Stations will evaluate how well local TV is marketing its own brand in a media environment ever more crowded with options. Register here.
Station group buyers and suppliers of syndicated content from Sinclair, Fox Owned Stations, Debmar-Mercury and Litton Entertainment said at a TV2025 panel that streaming’s accelerated growth has put more pressure on their content pipeline and that the ecosystem could use more — and bigger — players in the mix. Read the story and/or watch the full video above.
Executives from Fox Television Stations, Debmar-Mercury, Sinclair and Litton Entertainment will share how they’re building up robust content pipelines to fortify their independence at TVNewsCheck’s virtual TV2025 event later this month. Register here.
Marcus, Sullivan Wrestle Over DIY Programs
Mort Marcus, co-president of Debmar-Mercury (center), says that station groups that produce their own shows and, in some cases, leave them on the air longer than they deserve, are making the tough syndication business even tougher. Fellow panelist Bob Sullivan, the chief of programming for Tegna, one of the do-it-yourself station groups, saw thing differently. The full TV2020 panel (l-r): Frank Cicha of Fox, Ken Werner of Warner Bros., Marcus, Arthur Hasson of Sinclair and Bob Sullivan of Tegna. (Photo: Erica Keane).
Fox Television Stations’ Frank Cicha, Sinclair’s Arthur Hasson, Debmar-Mercury’s Mort Marcus, Tegna’s Bob Sullivan and Warner Bros. Ken Werner will look beyond the networks for promising new programming opportunities at TVNewsCheck’s second annual TV2020 conference in October.
The NAB Show Super Session, “The Real Story: A Take on Syndicated Entertainment News,” will take place on April 24. Cicha and Levin will discuss the origin of the Fox TV/TMZ partnership and TMZ’s evolution from a web brand into a leading syndicated television entertainment news property, as well as Fox’s testing strategy for content.
Inside Fox TV Stations’ Summer Of Testing
The station group is prepping for the rollout of five trial runs this month and next. The shows vary greatly — from locally produced fare to two shows being eyed for possible national syndication. Why all the action? According to Frank Cicha, SVP of programming (above): “There’s a lot of shelf space. I think it would be erroneous for us to sit back and think we can wait for syndication to save us.”
Fox’s Cicha Talks Daytime TV, Program Tests
Frank Cicha, senior VP of programming for Fox Television Stations, is one of the most influential players in the syndication business. He’s a 25-year Fox veteran who started out at the Twentieth Television distribution arm before moving to the station group in 1997. Here, he weighs in on the challenges facing the first-run sector and steps that station owners and distributors can take to help boost its fortunes.
