Television Shows Sold Individual Stations Syndication Aired Time

"Syndication" usually involves arranging for photographs or articles to be sold to individual magazines or newspapers. When the same thing is done for television programs, the "practice" (something that is commonly done in a particular way) is known as "broadcast syndication."

"First-run syndication" happens when a new show is sold to many individual TV stations and it has never been seen before. "Off-network syndication" is used for older shows that have already been aired on network television, but can now be aired as "reruns" (repeat showings) on other television stations that aren't necessarily part of the original network.

When a television show is sold to a network, it normally airs at the same time and on the same day each week. When a show is syndicated, its "show times" (when something is shown) are not as "predictable" (easy to anticipate and know what will happen in the future). But if a syndicated show is popular among viewers, the station will begin to air it more frequently and more "regularly" (at the same time each day or week).

Networks "tend to be" (usually are) "conservative" (following traditions and rules) when selecting new programs. Therefore, television producers who want to "break the rules" (do something differently than how it has been done in the past) are more likely to try to syndicate their shows to individual stations instead of large networks.

Some syndicated shows are very well known. These include the popular "game shows" (shows where people compete to win something) Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, among others.