Some Effects of Syndex
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, several local independent stations were uplinked via satellite so that they can be available either nationally or regionally. Three of those stations, WOR-TV/WWOR-TV in New York City (later moved to Secaucus, NJ), WGN-TV in Chicago, and WTBS in Atlanta were available nationally. WTBS aired shows that are generally "syndex proof" (or, in simpler terms, having "full signal rights") due to program contracts they are able to negotiate so that they wouldn't have to worry about being covered up at all, save for sports programs. In 1990, when the syndex law was passed, national versions of WWOR-TV and WGN-TV, which aired different programs from their native city versions, were launched. WWOR's national feed outside of New York was branded as "WWOR EMI Service." WGN-TV didn't have to cover up as many programs as WWOR did, and while WGN was able to carry The WB on their national feed from 1995 to 1999, WWOR was not permitted by UPN to carry their programming on the EMI feed. After the national version of WWOR ceased uplinking, the native feed, which included UPN and other shows previously covered up on the EMI feed, was uplinked by a different company because it was now only available on satellite. (That feed was discontinued in 1999, though the original version can still be seen on Dish Network.) WTBS was eventually separated from the national feed of TBS, and now airs only Atlanta-cleared programming as WPCH. WGN dropped The WB from its national superstation feed in 1999. WGN's national superstation feed, Superstation WGN, would be renamed WGN America in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Syndication Exclusivity
Famous quotes containing the word effects:
“Trade and commerce, if they were not made of India-rubber, would never manage to bounce over the obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way; and, if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their actions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put obstructions on the railroads.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)