Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Opportunity

I'm reading from several sources that some networks are considering reducing the number of hours of prime time they provide to their affiliates. This is interesting in a number of ways.

Since I work in the opposite side of the building from sales, I don't know which would be more lucrative for stations, a few prime time ads or more ads within a syndicated show. But if a few hundred stations suddenly find themselves with a few more hours a week to fill, syndicated programming gets a boost.

I would hope stations would take a few chances by giving programming that hasn't aired in their market a spin, and depending on the number of stations in a market, they might have to. The equilibrium of availible shows/availible slots would be in flux for while if this did come to pass.

More availible syndicated hours would also mean opportunities for new programming to start up and gain a foothold in the marketplace, especially if it thematically fits in the prime time hours. This is a hard time to be spinning up shows financially, but if prime time slots suddenly come open, there will be a bit of a land rush for those slots.

Peter

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