160:, the word "repeat" refers only to a single episode; "rerun" or "rerunning" is the preferred term for an entire series/season. A "repeat" is a single episode of a series that is broadcast outside its original timeslot on the same channel/network. The episode is usually the "repeat" of the scheduled episode that was broadcast in the original timeslot earlier the previous week. It allows viewers who were not able to watch the show in its timeslot to catch up before the next episode is broadcast. The term "rerun" can also be used in some respects as a synonym for "
363:(four to five seasons' worth) are required for a weekly series to be rerun in daily syndication (at least four times a week). Very popular series running more than four seasons may start daily reruns of the first seasons, while production and airings continue of the current season's episodes; until around the early 1980s, shows that aired in syndication while still in production had the reruns aired under an alternate name (or multiple alternate names, as was the case with
273:. This winter (or "mid-season") phase is also used to try out new shows that did not make it onto the fall schedule to see how they fare with the public. These series usually run six to 13 episodes. If they do well with the public, they may get a renewal for a half (13 weeks) or full season in the new schedule. Shows that are already popular return from February sweeps until the end of the season (which sometimes ends before May sweeps) with only limited reruns used.
866:, cable, and later, from 1998 on, digital television, although many ITV programs up to the early 1990s, particularly imported programming, were syndicated in the sense that each ITV region bought some programs independently of the ITV Network, and in particular many programs out of primetime made by smaller ITV stations were "part-networked" where some regions would show them and others would not. Nowadays, many channels in the UK (for example,
911:, as new contracts have to be drawn up and payments made to the artists concerned. Repeats on multichannel television are cheaper, as are reshowings of newer programs covered by less strict repeat clauses. However, programs are no longer destroyed, as the historical and cultural reasons for keeping them have now been seen and the cost to maintain archives is now far less, even if the programs have little or no repeat value.
25:
422:, combined with a growing body of available postsyndication programming, a handful of specialty channels have been built solely or primarily to run former network programming, which otherwise would no longer be in syndication. Branded as "classic television", these often carry reruns of programming dating back to the
870:) repackage and rebroadcast "classic" programming from both sides of the Atlantic. Some of these channels, like their U.S. counterparts, make commercial timing cuts; others get around this by running shows in longer time slots, and critics of timing cuts see no reason why all channels should not do the same.
397:
was once the most prominent barter syndicator in United States television, offering mostly older series from numerous network libraries. Barter syndicated series may be seen on smaller, independent stations with small budgets or as short-term filler on larger stations; they tend not to be as widely
372:
Few people anticipated the long life that a popular television series would eventually have in syndication, so most performers signed contracts that limited residual payments to about six repeats. After that, the actors received nothing and the production company would keep 100% of any income until
901:
and other trade bodies limited the number of times a single program could be broadcast, usually only twice, and these showings were limited to within a set time period such as five years. This was due to the unions' fear that the channels filling their schedules with repeats could put actors and
392:
syndication, in which television stations are offered the program for free in exchange for a requirement to air additional advertisements (without compensation) bundled with the free program during other shows (barter syndication is far more common, if not the norm, in radio, where only the most
209:
rerunning its episodes during the summer, shows typically went on a summer hiatus and were replaced with summer replacements, generally lower-priority programs; this strategy has seen increased use in the 21st century as fewer episodes have been produced each season and in-season reruns have
749:
Some television programs that are released on DVD (particularly those that have been out of production for several years) may not have all of the seasons released, either due to poor overall sales or prohibitive costs for obtaining rights to music used in the program; one such incidence is
756:, which has seldom been in wide syndication since the late 1990s primarily due to lack of demand, which had only a DVD set of the first and second seasons released due to the expensiveness of relicensing songs used in later seasons of the series that are performed by the show's
728:
have become an increasingly important retail item. Some view this development as a rising new idea in the industry of reruns as an increasingly major revenue source in themselves instead of the standard business model as a draw for audiences for advertising. While there were
264:
In the United States, currently running shows rerun older episodes from the same season to fill the time slot with the same program during the "off-season" period when no new episodes are being made. Shows tend to start rerunning episodes after the
November
906:
after their repeat rights had expired, as they were considered to be of no further use by the broadcasters. Although these agreements changed during the 1980s and beyond, it is still expensive to repeat archive television series on
British
733:
releases of television series before DVD, the format's limited content capacity, large size and reliance on mechanical winding made it impractical as a widespread retail item. Many series which continue to air first-run episodes (such as
883:, which had very low ratings in its first series, as well as a poor reception from both critics and focus groups and was almost cancelled. The series started to gain traction once the BBC decided to repeat it in a different timeslot and
783:
Other TV listings services and publications, including local newspapers, often indicated reruns as "(R)"; since the early 2000s, many listing services only provide a notation if an episode is new -"(N)", with reruns getting no notation.
276:
The number of episodes per season, originally well over 30 episodes during the 1950s and 1960s, dropped below 26 (the number of episodes required to fill a time slot for a year without rerunning any episode more than once) in the 1970s.
796:
channels that rely largely on off-network or library rights to programs (and in many cases, may originate little to no first run programming of their own). Reruns of a broadcaster's own library programs are often used to comply with
704:, and lack of media cross-promotion among them); some self-contained and personality-driven reality shows have been successfully rerun. Reruns of sports broadcasts, which face many of the same issues reality shows face, have found a
763:. In some cases, series whose later season releases have been held up for these reasons may have the remaining seasons made available on DVD, often after a distributor that does not hold syndication rights to the program (such as
354:
or an owner of local television stations. Often, programs are not particularly profitable until they are sold for syndication. Since local television stations often need to sell more commercial airtime than
381:
for the performers, regardless of the number of reruns, while tape recycling effectively came to an end (rapid advancements in digital video in the 1990s made preservation far more economical) and the
188:
and others are called an omnibus. The omnibus is a weekly rerun that is broadcast on a Sunday afternoon on the original channel/network. It only broadcasts the past week's episodes back-to-back.
240:, most television shows from the late 1940s and early 1950s were performed live, and in many cases, they were never recorded. However, television networks in the United States began making
873:
It has been common practice by networks, notably the BBC, to rerun some series after they have not fared particularly well on their original run. This was particularly common with
808:
In the United
Kingdom, most drama and comedy series run for shorter seasons – typically six, seven, or thirteen episodes – and are then replaced by others. An exception is
887:
went on to be an award-winning and critically acclaimed show which has regularly featured in lists of the Best
Sitcoms ever. In 2019, the series was ranked 6th on
269:(the ratings that determine the cost of a commercial run during that time slot), and usually show only reruns from mid-December until mid-January or even February
377:, such was the lack of awareness of the potential for revenue from them. This situation went unchanged until the mid-1970s, when contracts for new shows extended
314:
446:
station. Depending on the programs chosen for a classic network, running the format can be very inexpensive, due to many shows beginning to fall into the
399:
902:
other production staff out of work as fewer new shows would be made. It also had the unintentional side effect of causing many programs to be
898:
839:
commonly repeated classic shows from their archives, but this has more or less dried up in favor of newer (and cheaper) formats such as
216:
533:
networks has allowed for increasing specialization of these classic networks: in addition to general-interest program networks such as
968:
780:
originally used the term "rerun" to designate rebroadcast programs, but abruptly changed to "repeat" between April and May in 1971.
700:
have proven to be a comparative failure in reruns, due to a number of factors (high cast turnover, loss of the element of surprise,
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drew more viewers than the first run as people who had missed the first airing a month prior tuned in to catch the reairing.
46:
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301:
164:", the equivalent term for print items; this is especially true for print items that are part of ongoing series such as
805:, requiring that a minimum of the broadcaster's programming be dedicated to programming that is produced by Canadians.
792:
Reruns are often carried by
Canadian broadcasters in much the same way as they are in the United States, especially on
453:
On cable and satellite, channels that devote at least some of their program schedule to postsyndication reruns include
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692:(often in edited form) have been seen less commonly in reruns; game shows can quickly become dated because of
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in various markets; those stations were, as a result of Equity going bankrupt, sold to religious broadcaster
68:
498:
199:
are generally credited as the inventors of the rerun. It was first used for the
American television series
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Once a series is no longer performing well enough to be sold in syndication, it may still remain in
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when many episodes of the program are sold as a package. Generally, the buyer is either a
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era, this would be the only opportunity audiences had of seeing a program more than once.
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359:, syndicated shows are usually edited to make room for extra commercials. Often, about
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As in the U.S., fewer new episodes are made during the summer. Until recently, the
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that can be rerun for a long period of time without losing its cultural relevance.
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extended copyright terms to much longer lengths, eliminating the need for renewal.
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Early on in the history of
British television, agreements with the actors' union
638:
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696:, while talk shows often draw humor from contemporary events. Most variants of
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174:, for instance, has been in reruns since the retirement and death of creator
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is especially well received, it will be rerun from time to time. Before the
253:
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Syndication did not exist as such in United
Kingdom until the arrival of
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586:
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on multichannel television and free ad-supported streaming television.
654:
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256:, paved the way for extensive reruns of syndicated television series.
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506:
431:
270:
266:
252:. These kinescopes, along with previously filmed shows, and later,
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Traditionally, shows most likely to be rerun in this manner are
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306:
220:
was credited with proving reruns' viability. Buoyed by strong
18:
943:, February 11, 1955. p. 31. ProQuest Historical Newspapers,
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shows, except on the BBC, where older BBC shows, especially
299:
or a network television broadcast of a classic film such as
369:) to differentiate the reruns from the first-run episodes.
191:
When used to refer to the rebroadcast of a single episode,
824:), or are on for a season similar to the American format.
664:
and dramas. Such shows are more likely to be considered
140:. The two types of reruns are those that occur during a
136:
is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television
960:
Rerun nation: how repeats invented
American television
248:. This allowed the show to be broadcast later for the
1004:"The Wild West of streaming TV is here and it's free"
894:
s list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.
426:
era and are promoted as nostalgia. The corresponding
398:
syndicated as programs syndicated with a rights fee.
334:
are normally reshown each year, for the appropriate
812:, which are either on all year-round (for example,
402:(FAST) relies on the barter model for its revenue.
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
1028:"TVShowsOnDVD.com - The "What's The Hold-up?" FAQ"
16:Rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or TV program
281:typically pad out the remainder of the schedule.
767:) secures the rights for future DVD releases.
8:
553:, there exist networks solely for comedies (
244:recordings of shows broadcast live from the
205:(1951–57) during Ball's pregnancy. Prior to
1075:"The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century"
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
932:
529:. Since the early 2010s, the growth of
144:and those that occur when a program is
1050:"20 Surprising Facts About The Office"
985:"THE LOONEY TUNES TELEVISION SPECIALS"
577:), lifestyle and reality programming (
400:Free ad-supported streaming television
393:popular programs charge rights fees).
629:), true crime and court programming (
7:
939:Gould, Jack. "TV: Twice-Told Tale".
47:adding citations to reliable sources
724:featuring season or series runs of
702:overall hostility toward the format
621:), sci-fi and action programming (
418:channels, as well as over-the-air
14:
410:With the growing availability of
332:Charlie Brown television specials
182:, reruns of the daily soap opera
23:
346:A television program goes into
34:needs additional citations for
315:How the Grinch Stole Christmas
1:
1002:Morrison, Sara (2023-05-24).
569:), ethnic-oriented programs (
519:low-power television stations
312:Seasonal programming such as
801:regulations enforced by the
859:, are frequently repeated.
232:Reruns in the United States
1122:
680:, and to a lesser extent,
527:Daystar Television Network
424:black-and-white television
120:
963:. Routledge. p. 43.
678:Saturday morning cartoons
523:Retro Television Network
375:systematically destroyed
957:Kompare, Derek (2005).
788:Repeats internationally
613:), sports programming (
1106:Television terminology
909:terrestrial television
649:), and feature films (
609:), music programming (
123:Rerun (disambiguation)
716:With the rise of the
690:late-night talk shows
645:), news programming (
515:Equity Media Holdings
383:Copyright Act of 1976
327:It's A Wonderful Life
794:specialty television
430:would be that of an
416:satellite television
395:The Program Exchange
321:The Ten Commandments
121:For other uses, see
43:improve this article
1054:www.mentalfloss.com
420:digital subchannels
285:Television specials
991:on March 11, 2005.
698:reality television
686:tabloid talk shows
631:True Crime Network
607:Heroes & Icons
531:digital subchannel
406:Classic television
357:network affiliates
291:television special
821:Coronation Street
753:Perfect Strangers
726:television series
666:evergreen content
662:scripted comedies
521:to carry its own
487:Game Show Network
379:residual payments
366:Death Valley Days
214:'s 1955 teleplay
176:Charles M. Schulz
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1034:. Archived from
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511:Hallmark Channel
483:Discovery Family
302:The Wizard of Oz
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682:newsmagazines
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54:Find sources:
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32:This article
30:
26:
21:
20:
1083:. Retrieved
1081:. 2019-09-16
1079:The Guardian
1078:
1069:
1058:. Retrieved
1056:. 2017-03-07
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440:classic hits
436:classic rock
428:radio format
409:
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361:100 episodes
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193:Lucille Ball
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166:comic strips
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41:Please help
36:verification
33:
947:(1851–2006)
810:soap operas
771:TV listings
639:Ion Mystery
471:WGN America
467:USA Network
348:syndication
342:Syndication
212:Rod Serling
210:increased.
207:I Love Lucy
202:I Love Lucy
1085:2021-09-06
1060:2021-09-06
1013:2023-11-04
927:References
885:The Office
880:The Office
850:Dad's Army
815:EastEnders
761:characters
712:DVD retail
670:Game shows
619:SportsGrid
563:game shows
547:Antenna TV
509:, and the
250:West Coast
246:East Coast
197:Desi Arnaz
152:Variations
146:syndicated
69:newspapers
921:First run
864:satellite
837:Channel 4
731:videotape
694:inflation
571:Bounce TV
551:Rewind TV
495:Nicktoons
491:Boomerang
330:, or the
296:Peter Pan
254:videotape
242:kinescope
1100:Category
915:See also
877:such as
777:TV Guide
758:two lead
722:box sets
643:Start TV
635:Court TV
587:TrueReal
293:such as
279:Specials
226:Patterns
217:Patterns
185:7de Laan
99:May 2024
875:sitcoms
845:sitcoms
841:reality
655:This TV
651:Movies!
627:Charge!
615:Stadium
591:Defy TV
575:TheGrio
475:Logo TV
459:TV Land
236:In the
171:Peanuts
162:reprint
156:In the
138:program
83:scholar
58:"Rerun"
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904:junked
899:Equity
688:, and
653:, and
641:, and
611:Circle
605:, and
597:, and
507:RFD-TV
432:oldies
390:barter
271:sweeps
178:). In
142:hiatus
134:repeat
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706:niche
647:Newsy
623:Comet
599:Quest
595:Twist
567:Buzzr
543:getTV
539:MeTV+
442:, or
412:cable
130:rerun
90:JSTOR
76:books
965:ISBN
868:Gold
853:and
835:and
818:and
803:CRTC
740:and
625:and
617:and
603:Grit
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