Some high-rated off network comedies, notably Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, are also up by mid- to high-single-digit percentages. Meantime, syndication’s new crop of daytime talk shows, led in pricing by Disney-ABC’s Katie, are also selling well, according to media buyers.
Optimistic Predictions For Syndie Upfront
Media buyers see the marketplace climbing 3%-7% over last year, a testament to the improving health of the medium and the appearance of five new talk shows. Another good sign for syndication is that the scatter market also has been improving, although slowly. And a stronger economy isn’t hurting, either, with a number of ad categories — notably automotive — doing well.
Syndication’s Strong Upfront Is No Surprise
Mitch Burg, president of the Syndicated Network Television Association, says the medium delivers great programming that viewers really value as demonstrated by both ratings and E-score research that looks at viewers’ attitudes toward syndication and show hosts. And it does this, on average, for about half the cost of network primetime, yet is delivering, in many cases, ratings that are greater than network primetime. And marketers like syndication because the shows’ advertising pods continue to be much shorter, generating higher recall and awareness for advertisers.
