Hit TV Shows Lose Luster as Cable Reruns

For decades, cable channels spent heavily to fill their schedules with reruns of hit shows, and Hollywood studios came to count on that steady stream of cash to keep their content-machines going. But as Viacom’s recent announcement of a hefty write-down shows, the rerun “syndication” market is no longer the sure bet it once was. The owner of more than 20 cable channels attributed $430 million of its $785 million in pretax charges to underperforming programming, including the purchase of reruns -- such as “CSI” and “Community” -- that failed to deliver enough viewers. Viacom isn’t the only media company to have made bad bets on reruns lately.

Time Warner’s TNT struck out with “The Mentalist” and “Hawaii Five-0,” leading to a similar write-down. Crown Media Holding’s Hallmark Channel in 2014 pulled repeats of the critically acclaimed legal drama “The Good Wife” after just a few weeks because of low ratings. “NCIS LA” and “Modern Family” haven’t delivered the big numbers that USA Network, owned by NBCUniversal, had anticipated. These recent experiences may reveal the potential cracks forming in the lucrative syndication market that could have major implications across the entire TV ecosystem. TV and studio executives are now left contemplating exactly how much a rerun of “NCIS” or “Modern Family” is really worth.