Sitcom reruns on CBS, NBC, ABC stations

[chris12]

In looking at various tv station schedules on the web, I notice not very many ABC, NBC ,or CBS stations air sitcom reruns during the day. In Milwaukee for example back in the day 4, 6, and 12 all aired quite a few sitcom reruns during the afternoon and evenings yet today the three stations 4, 12, and 58 don't have nay right now. I suppose one reason is there are more stations out there now of days and those stations have more talk shows or court shows to choose from.

[bpatrick]

What generally happens is this: a station buys
a sitcom for a set number of runs (usually six
or seven).  If a show is on five days a week,
the station can run through the entire series
fairly quickly, then each subsequent run gets
a slightly lower rating than the one before it
(the "I've seen that already" factor greatly
enhanced).  There are exceptions: in my part
of the country, Andy Griffith has rerun on WFMY
more times than anyone can count but consistently
wins its 5:30 time slot, while WGHP/FOX8 can be
counted on to have Seinfeld at 7:30.

With a show containing all-new episodes (the talk,
court, and occasional game shows), this becomes
less of a problem, since there's something new everyday
(provided the talk-show host, cases/judge, or game is
involving).  So there's less chance of ratings erosion with
a first-run syndicated show.

Another thing: hour-long dramas have a poor track record
in reruns on broadcast TV (Perry Mason was one exception,
but that was in the late '60s and into the '70s),
and you usually see those shows on cable.  Yet with sitcoms
generally out of favor, I don't know where the market for
half-hour reruns is going (Two And A Half Men might make it

Finally, affiliates are looking for the most compatible lead-in
for their local news; talk and court shows in particular seem
to best suited for that function.
in syndication; I can't think of any others among current sitcoms).

[Al Timiter]

Plus...stations, particularly those with one of the Big 4,  have the potential to make more money with local news programming.

[TexasTom]

You'll still see sitcom reruns on CBS, NBC, and ABC stations in some mid-sized and small markets.   For example, "Everyone Loves Raymond" reruns run at 6:30 PM weeknights on Spokane's NBC affiliate, and a search would show some other examples.  But, of course, it is far less common than it once was.

Back in the seventies and eighties, sitcom reruns of shows like "All in the Family", "MASH", and "Golden Girls" ran on big-3 network affiliates in major markets, and got extremely good ratings for many years.  10:30 PM reruns of "All in the Family" were a fixture on our CBS affiliate in Dallas through the mid-eighties, and were subsequently replaced by "Golden Girls" for several more years.  In many markets in the midwest and mountain time zone, either the ABC or CBS affiliate would run programs like "MASH" or "All in the Family" at 10:30, and would get far higher ratings than if they had aired the network late night programming in pattern (often, they'd beat "The Tonight Show" on NBC).

But as we moved into the nineties, the networks placed increasing pressure on affiliates to run late night programming in pattern, which killed the affiliates' ability to run these sitcom reruns in that lucrative time period right after the late news.  With Fox and independent stations getting stronger, these stations were able to bid aggressively for off-network comedy reruns, and I suspect that the rising prices just made these programs un-economic for big-3 affiliates to purchase for daytime runs.

As for hour-long dramas in weekday syndication -- we're about to see a reappearance of this genre, with one of the "Law & Order" programs ("Criminal Intent", I think) due for weeknight broadcast syndication starting this fall.  It will be interesting to see how it performs.

[ShawnHill1]

KCBS in Los Angeles (and even WCBS in New York City) offer late-night reruns of Becker and Frasier (WCBS also carries Home Improvement late nights as well).  At least here in L.A., KDOC also carries Becker in early-evenings, and Frasier moved to KCAL/KCBS about a few years ago after so many years in early-evenings and late prime-time on KCOP.

[Buddy Hayes]

WKRN (ABC) Nashville airs Sex and the City weeknights at 10:30pm and 1am.
KHOU (CBS) in Houston airs Fraser weeknights at 11:30
KPRC (NBC) in Houston airs Andy Griffith in the overnight hours.

[MikeB]

Since WWJ (CBS/Detroit) has no news, Everybody Loves Raymond has the 11 PM slot.  They also had Seinfeld in the past as well.

[hammondo]

In the mid-1960's WCIU Channel 26 Chicago aired JACK BENNY at 4:30pm from CBS, not cleared by cbs o & o, WBBM.

[ercjncpr]

KCBS in Los Angeles (and even WCBS in New York City) offer late-night reruns of Becker and Frasier (WCBS also carries Home Improvement late nights as well).  At least here in L.A., KDOC also carries Becker in early-evenings, and Frasier moved to KCAL/KCBS about a few years ago after so many years in early-evenings and late prime-time on KCOP.

KTTV, the LA Fox affiliate has run I Love Lucy since 1965