Whatever happened to exclusive cable rights? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

AKA · 03-17-2004, 10:14 PM

Three out of Nick At Nite's five shows air on different cable networks (not counting Cheers, which also airs on TV Land): Full House airs on ABC Family, Roseanne airs on Oxygen, and The Cosby Show airs on TBS and WGN. On top of that, Cheers, Roseanne, and The Cosby Show are still in syndication.

I remember when The Wonder Years went into syndication in 1992. It was distributed, I believe, by Turner, who hacked the episodes to bits and placed what I call "aritificial commercial breaks" in the episodes. When the show began airing on Nick At Nite in 1997, the episodes seemed to be uncut (or at least less so than what was in syndication). This might have to do with Time Warner's purchase of Turner. It might also have to do with the exclusive rights Viacom had to the series for five or so years.

Has cable exclusivity become more of a rarity? And if so, is that a bad thing?

Personally, I think it's a bad thing. To me, it means that production companies are less likely to give cable networks "network cuts" of episodes and are more likely to give them the syndication hacks. This makes watching reruns less special.

Brian · 03-17-2004, 10:44 PM

Aren't those particular networks owned by Viacom?

AKA · 03-17-2004, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brian
Aren't those particular networks owned by Viacom?

ABC Family is owned by Buena Vista, Oxygen is owned by Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, TBS is owned by Time Warner (formerly owned by its namesake, Ted Turner), and WGN is owned by Tribune.

AKA · 03-23-2004, 01:05 AM

Bump.

03-17-2004, 10:14 PM	#1
AKA Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 17, 2001 Posts: 15,746	Whatever happened to exclusive cable rights? Three out of Nick At Nite's five shows air on different cable networks (not counting Cheers, which also airs on TV Land): Full House airs on ABC Family, Roseanne airs on Oxygen, and The Cosby Show airs on TBS and WGN. On top of that, Cheers, Roseanne, and The Cosby Show are still in syndication. I remember when The Wonder Years went into syndication in 1992. It was distributed, I believe, by Turner, who hacked the episodes to bits and placed what I call "aritificial commercial breaks" in the episodes. When the show began airing on Nick At Nite in 1997, the episodes seemed to be uncut (or at least less so than what was in syndication). This might have to do with Time Warner's purchase of Turner. It might also have to do with the exclusive rights Viacom had to the series for five or so years. Has cable exclusivity become more of a rarity? And if so, is that a bad thing? Personally, I think it's a bad thing. To me, it means that production companies are less likely to give cable networks "network cuts" of episodes and are more likely to give them the syndication hacks. This makes watching reruns less special.

03-17-2004, 10:44 PM	#2
Brian Member Forum Celebrity Join Date: Jun 23, 2001 Posts: 20,451	Aren't those particular networks owned by Viacom?

03-23-2004, 01:05 AM	#4
AKA Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 17, 2001 Posts: 15,746	Bump.