NATPE Brings Renewed Hope to Syndication.

The 1999 U.S. fall television season was far from the most outstanding in recent memory. The recurring question seems to be: "'Where has the audience gone?" The U.S. TV industry is seeing shows with a two-point household rating branded a success and getting renewed. In some cases, distributors are making decisions for their products long before the arrival of the November ratings books.

To offer a better understanding of the new season, and the thinking behind the decision-making process, executives from several major U.S.-based companies offered their perspective on the sales and marketing of the new shows for the past season as well as a preview of some of the new products being showcased at NATPE.

Ed Wilson, president of Eyemark Entertainment, has taken the position that a successful program is one which is patiently nurtured, allowing American viewers the opportunity to find and sample the show. With this in mind, he is not pleased with the current numbers for Dr. Joy Browne. However, if the November ratings books indicate growth in viewer support for the show in key demographics, Eyemark will continue its effort to help the series grow.

On the other hand, Martha Stewart Living is gaining in ratings momentum and stations are giving the program upgrades (i.e., getting a better time slot with a higher-rated lead in). Wilson attributes this success to the careful attention Eyemark and the producers have given to this show.

For NATPE, Eyemark will be offering The Cindy Margolis Show, slated to follow Howard Stern on weekends in late-night time periods. Eyemark will also be bringing to NATPE CBS Marketwatch, a business program for weekend airing. Wilson has high hopes for this production, as it incorporates the skill and business reporting acumen of the CBS news team.

The off-net drama Early Edition has been sold to the Fox Family Channel with a weekend airing planned for syndication to local broadcast stations.

At Tribune Entertainment, Dick Askin, president, plans to renew Tribune's dedication to delivering quality programming that appeals to the widest possible audience. Their experience with Richard Simmons' Dream Maker was difficult. The show failed to attract the expected audience. Consequently, Askin and his team decided to ax the show. "The program was not making the progress we had hoped for and after careful review, we made the decision that we felt best served our clients," reported Askin.

Going into NATPE, Askin is very excited about Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. This weekly action hour starring Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame has already cleared in more than 80 percent of the U.S., clinching 48 of the top 50 markets.

This season, Tribune's Beastmaster has emerged as the dominant new action hour of the fall. The program is already set as a go for its second season. In addition, Tribune will be bringing back Earth: Final Conflict for its 4th season, along with Malibu, CA and Soul Train.

Paramount Television Group's co-president, Frank Kelly, claims success follows hard work, indicating the many shows Paramount has in the marketplace.

For instance, Leeza is growing with its transition to syndication. "This is a very advertiser-friendly show in the daytime environment," Kelly noted. Montel Williams Show is also a solid performer for Paramount.

Paramount's court shows are the leaders in this genre, and as such have validated Paramount's investment in acquiring Worldvision, since Judge Judy is now reaping the benefits of high ratings (7.6 household and 3.3 18-49 adult demo ratings during last year's November sweeps) and large fee-renewals. These factors had eluded Worldvision before its acquisition: the company was barely breaking even with the expense of launching and nurturing in TV slate.

As for other Paramount judicial fare, Judge Joe Brown rates in the top 20 among key demographics. Judge Mills Lane cleared 65 percent of the U.S., covering all 15 Tribune Broadcasting stations as well as Cox stations in San Francisco and Pittsburgh. John Nogawski, president of Distribution for Paramount, suggested these renewals should quell rumors that Judge Mills Lane won't return for a third season. "At this time, people are trying to launch [their own] court shows, and the only way to do that is to get another one cancelled. That's how these rumors get started," he surmised. Judge Mills Lane scored a 2.3 Nielsen Media Research rating during the last November sweeps.

Entertainment Tonight, now in its 19th season, and Real TV are key shows for many stations. They frequently serve as primetime lead ins. As a result, they will garner more station promotion because of the importance of such time slots. The ET weekend hour is also showing upward mobility since Paramount went to the "theme" format for the show. It is now no longer considered a re-hash of earlier shows but rather a platform for in-depth stories that stand alone.

Paramount plans to launch Dr. Laura (featuring Dr. Laura Schlesinger as host) this fall. To date, the show has sold in more than 120 markets including 24 of the top 25. Kelly believes Dr. Laura will be a performer that comes equipped with a built-in audience-recognition factor, based on Schlesinger's success on radio. "The audience is attracted to her and will stay with her through the resolution of the issue," he commented.

At Universal Worldwide Television, the mantra is "Be Different." A company that does not have the benefits of a vertically integrated structure, the Universal squad earns its stripes in the marketplace with its programs.

In the current season, Blind Date stands out as the one that has differentiated itself from the competition. Mart Cooperstein, senior vp of Distribution at Universal, noted, "The program has had significant growth in households from October to November [30 percent]. We are getting time-period upgrades now along with early renewals for a second season. We are focused on strengthening our line-up and getting more upgrades for the show."

Universal is looking forward to the christening this month of Total Recall 2070. The program cleared in more than 90 percent of the country with solid expectations due to its success on the Showtime Cable Network. Universal will also have its Motown Live music show back for a third season.

Ned Nalle, president of Universal, reiterated the "Be Different" mantra: "We are looking for opportunity in change. As broadcasters, we have to appeal to our audience. Content, not the deal, brings audiences to the television set."

Paul Franklin, executive vp at Twentieth Television, redefined the coveted term "hit" as it relates to the television syndication business. "The bar of success has had its level adjusted by the changing nature of the broadcasting business," he said. "The growth in the number of stations has caused the pie to be sliced thinner."

Franklin calls the present-day use of overnight ratings a "daily report card" for stations. This, coupled with a greater understanding of local markets, fosters a sense of whether or not a show can make it in the individual market more quickly.

Franklin is pleased with the success of Divorce Court. So much so that Twentieth will be taking a new approach to the court-show format with its NATPE debut of Power of Attorney. The court show features the attorneys who advocate each client's position and will be first launched on the Fox network O&Os (owned-and-operated stations).

The question regarding the potential of Fox's daily strip Forgive and Forget will be determined by Robin Givens' debut in January as host of the show.

At NATPE, Twentieth will be pushing The Practice for weekend airings to accompany its sale to the FX cabler. Twentieth will also be renewing X-Files deals at the convention.

Steve Rosenburg, president of Studios USA Domestic Television, argues that copycatting genres (like what's happening with the game shows on the networks) does not ensure success: "It's a question of how it's produced, the talent involved and the people behind the camera." Rosenburg offeres this as an explanation as to why Xena, Warrior Princess has enjoyed great ratings in syndication for Studios USA. "This show really enabled us to not only be successful as we are on a household basis, but across all demos. In syndication, this is so important because your time periods are all over the map," he commented. "Regardless of where it plays, it generates an audience," added Rosenburg and credited that to the show's production team.

However, not all Studios USA productions are ratings champs. Jerry Springer experienced a significant Nielsen-ratings dip from 1998 to 1999, which was not due to any format change according to Rosenburg. Rather, the drop can be attributed to a number of factors, including: the tremendous amount of competition in the business, the larger number of stations now running network daytime fare and the fact that all shows have an up-down ratings cycle, reports Rosenburg. "Jerry's [rating] numbers are down from last year, but the fact is, outside of Oprah, it's the only talk show to do an over-5 rating on an ongoing basis. So despite the ratings decline that the entire [talk genre] is suffering, it's still the second-highest-rated talk show in the business," he continued. And due to its relative ranking, Studios USA is still pleased with its performance.

Studios USA will be bringing to NATPE Arrest and Trial a dramatic half-hour from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf and Maury Povich's MoPo Entertainment. The show breaks new ground in the first-run strip arena by following highly charged criminal cases from the police investigation through the final verdict. It will incorporate a blend of actual footage, re-creations and interviews. Also new for Studios USA are the two half-hour actioners Cleopatra 2525 and Jack of All Trades. These two half-hours are being offered to replace Hercules on the syndication circuit, but are not necessarily being packaged together.

At Unapix Entertainment, Syndication president George Back highlighted the struggle facing the smaller syndicator. As a result, his company will continue to offer barter movie packages (Unapix's Flix I package has already cleared in more than 90 percent of the country). Unapix will introduce its Flix II package at NATPE.

Back also announced that two daily strip shows for fall 2000 will be introduced at NATPE. Both of the projects are replicas of the "court" theme that is so popular in today's market. The first is Singles Court, hosted by Angela Segal. It's a relationship court program where a moderator extends counseling to nonmarried couples and other individuals. The second project is Legacy, which takes a look at legal issues surrounding wills (or the lack thereof) and estates. Launch clearances for these projects have yet to be announced.

As for the current state of affairs in the syndication business, the greatest concern is still the shrinking audience for both new and established shows. Local on-air promotion is harder and harder to come by. Stations are driven to improve bottom-line results, a goal accomplished by selling the air time that might once have gone for promotional support of shows. However, station owners and distributors are growing more active in the use of the Internet to cross-promote their stations and their programming.

As NATPE draws closer to fostering more "convergence," an ever-increasing number of Internet and dot-com companies will begin to make deals with producers to satisfy the wants of their consumers.

Gene Lavelle is a 15-year syndication veteran. He has represented Republic Pictures, VIACOM, Tribune Entertainment and others. He is presently an L.A.-based distribution consultant.