Shows Still Popular in Syndication

[KMan101]

Not sure if this is the place (figured it was the best?) but I was curious what shows everyone watches in syndication? If they do ... and I'm also talking about cable syndication.

I'm only asking because I constantly read the ratings for shows and it's amazing to me that shows like Friends and Full House can average over a million viewers on Nick at Nite (yeah, it's just a million but still ... for cable ... which is on par with a lot of CW shows ... seriously), and shows like Seinfeld and Family Guy and American Dad also average around a million viewers a night on TBS. That '70s Show also seems to do fairly well.

And then there's local syndication (not aware of these ratings but I'm sure Big Bang is pretty popular ).

Does it surprise anyone these shows can still pull in a solid amount of core viewers? I'd say no only because there's just something timeless and rewatchable about all of them and that to me is the key to survival. Not all shows succeed in syndication.

I also notice Castle on TNT averages around a million too. And Cleveland Show too on Cartoon Network.

Some networks would love a million for their shows.

Anyway, kind of a random topic but I wanted to discuss it.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/04/17/wednesday-cable-ratings-american-pickers-wins-night-nba-basketball-bring-it-melissa-joey-the-americans-more/254829/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Tvbythenumbers+%28TVbytheNumbers%29

[All My Shadows]

I'm not sure of its ratings, but Little House on the Prairie has been on the air nonstop since it premiered, and it seems like ANY time a cable network tries to get rid of it, they accept defeat and bring it back a few weeks later.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Roseanne. Do I REALLY need to say anything more than that?

[Gray Bunny]

You know, I thought the same thing when I recently looked at cable ratings. VERY surprised that 20+ year schmaltzy Full House can still pull in a million viewers in reruns. That's a testament to the strength of syndication and I hope the people behind these series signed a healthy contract to get nice royalties.

Roseanne. I'm amazed how many times this gets played on at least 3 different cable networks, plus whatever local channels may run them.

Meanwhile, The Golden Girls gains a new generation of faithful viewers with each passing decade.

[KMan101]

I feel like Roseanne has died down a bit (though I'm without cable and not missing it -- I can watch most channels online if they're up and have an antenna for the locals), but yeah it's been on nonstop. TBS, Nick@Nite, TV Land, Logo, WEtv ... The Golden Girls seems to do well always. It was always bragged by Lifetime how well it did for them. WEtv ran it a lot but TV Land doesn't seem interested.

And yeah, that's very true about Little House and even the Waltons. I notice Hallmark constantly tries to dump it and they always bring it back. LOL

Everybody Loves Raymond feels played to death on TV Land so it must do well, and even though I enjoy it, sheesh ... lol.

Family Guy gets like 2 million on Cartoon Network. It's crazy.

George Lopez is/was pretty popular on Nick@Nite from what I can remember

And my all time favorite I Love Lucy has really never been off the air since it ... went off the air. LOL. Hallmark must do well with Lucy and the Girls in the mornings. They haven't changed that in quite a while, and when they try, they always switch it back. My absolute favorite block of time scheduled ever if I do say so myself. And Hallmark seems happy with Frasier.

Cosby Show is another that seems to do well. TV Land is always airing it and N@N ran it to DEATH.

My third favorite show ever, Three's Company, was always said to do well on TV Land in the early mornings. I think they've brought it back and so did Antenna TV, thankfully I get Antenna TV .... I would get ME-TV but I have a smaller antenna and WESH in Orlando sucks to pick up. Pisses me off because I can pick up every other channel just fine. It never picks up except early in the morning and PERFECT weather days. Maybe if it wasn't in the attic but I have no choice in that right now.

[Khan]

I've always wondered whether any drama series have repeated well in syndication. These days, it seems, I'm more partial to them than I am sitcoms.

[wingwalker]

Your crime procedurals like CSIs, NCISs, L&Os tend to do well in syndication (it was those shows that helped TNT grow it's ratings enough to create their own original dramas). Drama's like Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, etc do very poor in syndication.

That's why CBS has so many crime procedurals on it's network. It owns the CSI and NCIS franchises and makes just as much (if not more) money from their cable repeats as they do from new episodes that air on CBS.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Shows like Matlock and In the Heat of the Night have been in syndication on WGN for years.

[All My Shadows]

Norman Lear's sitcoms have to be really popular as well. They were all still very heavily syndicated to local stations up until about 10 years ago, and they've dominated Antenna TV's primetime lineup for over three years now, and whenever TV Land airs one, it's very successful.

Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory are probably gonna be huge hits in syndication for many years to come.

Family Guy, IMO, is in such a perfect timeslot on Cartoon Network. I watched it every night in that hour all the way through junior high and high school, and it's still going strong there. I always said that if a network were to truly attempt a teen-based soap on a multi-night basis, that would be the perfect time to air it.

[Soapsuds]

The Golden Girls is still going strong on HallMark Channel.

Murder She Wrote is also doing well in syndication. I forget which channel it is on though.

[P.J.]

Gunsmoke and Bonanza always amaze me. They never leave TVland and it's usually in two hour blocks. There are shows I really don't get the uber-appeal of like I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, and Seinfeld or Roseanne, but those are half hour comedies. I think it's more remarkable for hour dramas. I mean, USA has re-run NCIS to death...and it still performs.

[quartermainefan]

The biggest syndication success story of all time is Star Trek.  It was only when it entered syndication and reruns that it caught on. 

 

My favorite syndicated hit of all time

 

[Mathewson]

Boy Meets World - on ABC Family. I don't really watch that channel but that's the channel the reruns are mostly on. I know a lot of people who are still talking about Cory and Topanga. some of my friends even talk about it on social media

Friends

Full House - haven't watched it in years. But so many people LOVE it, ugh!

Family Matters - haven't watched it in years

I'd like to think Mad About You is popular in syndication. I heard it's on during the day but I'm always at work then. I'm one of the only people who really seems to like Mad About You so I don't think it's very popular.

[applcin]

Raymond Burr has found new life on Me-TV. Perry Mason is, I think, one of its top shows, plus they have Ironside.

The Twilight Zone.

Though I'm not a fan, Leave It To Beaver seems to have been making the channel rounds for years.

When Antenna TV had "Mad About You" on a while back, it didn't stay on very long. I'm guessing it didn't perform too well, esp. on a station where people expected to watch older classics.

[Eric83]

I love In the Heat of the Night.