NATPE Blog

One of the eternal debates in the syndication industry came to the fore at TVWeek’s syndication roundtable. Debmar’s Mort Marcus argued strongly that long-term deals that put shows on stations for years are hurting the vitality of the industry and in fact keeping ratings low. CBS TV Distribution’s John Nogawski told Mort that there’s a reason for that: stations don’t want to churn through unsuccessful shows. Around and around the debate went. In the end, of course, it’s a market reality: consolidation has created the conditions that make any alternatives almost unimaginable.

—Greg Baumann