Lifetime is reducing Providence to just ONE airing a week, Sunday Mornings at 1am ET/PT, effective July 11th. The 1pm and 8pm showing ended after yesterday. Starting Tuesday, Unsolved Mysteries will air at 1pm(still airs at 12pm too) and 8pm is replaced by a movie that starts at 7pm.

All according to www.lifetimetv.com

Guess it wasn't a huge ratings success.

why is it that hour-long series come and go so fast on Lifetime... yet shows like Golden Girls and Designing Women have been on their schedule for over 5 years

Originally posted by dawsongirl
Guess it wasn't a huge ratings success.

Apparently not. Providence used to air on Family Channel and it didn't last long there either.

Buffy... I don't know. Unsolved Mysteries has been on Lifetime since 1992 and it's a one-hour series.

TNT and Sci-Fi seem to be the only channels that seem to give hour-long series proper respect

the theory that Hollywood gives us is that shows that have a continuing or serialized format tend not to repeat well because they require such a time committment. Thats why singluar, episodic shows like Law and Order tend to do better in syndication. Typically the half-hour sitcom does most of the ratings success in syndication.

Thats why shows like The Golden Girls, Desinging Women and Cheers have been in syndication on-and-off virtually since they completed the standard 100 episode requierment YEARS ago. and shows like Party Of Five and Providence seem not to do so well in the syndication market.

However there are exceptions, when 90210 first debuted in off-network syndication it broke ratings records in many markets and help many of thoes markets get the highest ratings they've ever gotten.

And Law and Order airs what like 20 times a day and DOMINATES ratings for TNT.

Actually, TNT has a good slate of syndicated hour-long dramas- Angel, Charmed, ER, Law and Order, NYPD BLUE, and Judging Amy. And starting next year, Alias.

Maybe Soapnet will pick it up some day.

I'm sure that Providence will find a home someday. It might do well at TNT. Soapnet, hmmm not sure it'd fit there, its not soapy enough. I thought Lifetime was a perfect place for it. Oh well theres always DVD.