Where's My Carol Burnett?
One of the things I enjoy about my job is reading viewer emails/letters and speaking to them on the phone. It makes me feel like I'm on the old Art Linkletter show from CBS Daytime in the 1960's, "House Party", and the segment of the show called "Kids Say The Darndest Things". Well, so do viewers!
The biggest topic for the last two weeks has been about Carol Burnett & Friends on MeTV/KTXA 21.2 and why it is not being shown locally even though there are promotional spots airing. I'd like to explain.
Most entertainment TV shows in the United States are covered under SAG (Screen Actors Guild), AFTRA (American Federation Of Television & Radio Artists) and other collective bargaining guild agreements with Hollywood studios. A major item in those agreements is the payment of royalties, or "residuals", when a show is licensed in either syndication to a TV station or a cable network. For a show to be licensed to television after its initial network airings, the cost of the residuals covered under various union agreements has to be fulfilled. Typically, "off-network" shows (meaning shows previously aired on CBS, ABC, NBC. FOX, or CW) are licensed in the syndication aftermarket for a fixed number of airings per episode for a finite period of time. Years ago they were sold for 6 runs, or "airings" per episode (today is anywhere between 10-16 runs in the first go around).Once those six runs had aired, the station had to renew the license for the shows to buy more runs, if available. If shows were successful, more money was put up to clear more runs. If not, the shows left syndication and the airwaves.
We used to own the rights to CHiPs at KTVT in the early 1990's but the distributor, Turner/MGM, had only cleared 8 runs per episode. We wanted to renew the show because it worked and we were running out of authorized plays. But the syndicator told us there were no more runs cleared for air, so it was scheduled to end pretty quickly and leave the air.
A month or two later, a broadcast executive in Los Angeles, Greg Nathanson, who was President/General Manager of KTLA then (and is an acquaintance of mine), was in the same boat as us. The only difference was that he put up enough money in the Los Angeles market alone to clear an additional 6 runs of 139 episodes of CHiPS nationally which paved the way for us to renew the show here.
The reason you do not see Carol Burnett & Friends on MeTV/KTXA 21.2 is due to exactly that which happened to CHiPs initially. Since all authorized airings of this show have been shown in the DFW area, MeTV is required under their contract for Carol Burnett & Friends to black it out here and to provide us with an alternate show which right now is The Twilight Zone.
We appreciate your calls and emails and both us and the MeTV Network wishes it were different. Feel free to email me at kenf@ktvt.com or call me at 817-586-7365 if you have any questions and I will glad to provide further explanation.
Thanks for watching MeTV/KTXA 21.2! See you next time.
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