When it comes to this year’s syndication markets, everyone’s wild about Harry. That’s the Harry Connick Jr.-fronted variety/talk show being rolled out by NBCUniversal to Fox O&Os, and there’s little reason to expect it won’t do well.

"He’s a music and a TV star, but he’s also a great host  funny and spontaneous and intelligent – and that’s what’s going to make this show work," Ed Swindler, president of NBCUniversal domestic TV distribution and NBC broadcast operations (home to shows like Steve Harvey and Access Hollywood, among others), enthused to Cynopsis. "The other side is that this will be a remarkably advertiser-friendly show. [Connick’s] got a diverse fan base and our research is great in all demographics. Stations across the country were so excited to get [Harry] that we’ve got really good time slots for it  mostly all between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., but some top markets at 4."

But good positioning, demographics and a winning host aside, there’s another reason Harry is the name on so many people’s lips this syndication upfront season: It’s virtually the only new first-run syndicated offering this season. Aside from the return of Judge Alex and The Verdict with Judge Hatchett, there’s almost no new product this year that’ll get advertisers salivating at upfronts.

How to attract advertisers this year

"It’s quiet this year," says Bill Carroll, SVP, director of content strategy at Katz Television Group. "The reason is the continuing success of perennial programming: Shows that have been around for a while continue to be successful and the availability of viable time periods becomes less and less."

This is not a new story. Syndication experienced a cool 2015 which, despite a hot Q4, ultimately left it down 3 percent in ad spending for the year, according to Standard Media Index. Thus far 2016 has kept that late-in-the-game hot streak going for ad spending gains around all areas of television, giving syndication a 15 percent boost by mid-March.

Syndication has been going through big changes in recent years, notes Stu Zimmerman, EVP, advertiser sales for Sony Pictures Television. "I wouldn’t say it’s as much a transition as it is a transformation," he says. "There’s so much happening technologically, from the way viewers consume things to how data is measured  that all negotiations are becoming more customized. And it’s far from over."

So when there’s not a lot new to talk about at the upfronts or in ad meetings, what do you do to get advertisers excited again? In the case of many of the biggest distributors, you play up the syndication industry itself, and what makes it one of the best bangs for an advertiser’s buck.

For many distributors like SPT, home to regulars like Dr. Oz, King of Queens and Seinfeld (Zimmerman’s group also sells some inventory in Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, but those are distributed by CBS Television Distribution), it’s about finding ways to blend advertising with the show and also having shorter, more dedicated pods to offer advertisers. The main goal: Make sure viewers  who are more likely to watch syndication live, and so are unable to fast-forward over commercials  stick around through the product placements.

"It’s about finding new ways to drive revenue that creates a new ad experience for the consumer, so it doesn’t feel so invasive," says 20th Television EVP media sales Michael Teicher, whose shows include off-net Modern Family and millennial viewer favorite Family Guy, and original programming with The Wendy Williams Show (produced by Debmar-Mercury). "People aren’t skipping our ads."

“We’ve got this ability for massive reach," says John O’Hara, EVP Warner Bros. Brand Networks, home to power players like The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Big Bang Theory and 2 Broke Girls. "Very few networks can reach a mass audience quickly. This kind of uncluttered wide reach has people sitting up and taking notice in a bigger way than in the past, versus other areas of TV with elongated pods where your message can get lost."

Integrated product placement “is a way to cut through the clutter and it’s great for advertisers," says Billie Gold, VP director for programming research at Amplifi US. But, she warns, "Viewers will only accept it if it works with the program. It has to be sporadic. You can’t rely on it too often."

Yet there are two changes bubbling up under syndication’s familiar surface.

Going local

First, a lack of fresh programming nationally is inspiring station groups to get into production. Last year, the then-hot new show of the moment, T.D. Jakes, tested well but was passed over  and ultimately was picked up by TEGNA Media for a Fall 2016 launch. Meanwhile, Media General Inc.‘s Hollywood Today Live got a second season pickup, and Scripps has The List.

None of these have national coverage, but they’re filling a niche Katz’s Carroll says is needed. "It’s about control and cost," he says. "Stations have been looking at how there hasn’t been a lot of success launching shows nationally, and they a) want to control their destiny and b) look for ways to control costs. That’s not to say the national syndication market is going to disappear, though."

Who’s a syndicator now?

Second, in the bigger picture NBCU’s Swindler suggests that thanks to growth in distribution platforms, many traditional broadcasters are essentially syndicating content. "Pushing your product onto many different platforms is a kind of syndication," he says. "It’s about reaching the viewers and engaging the audience whatever the platform is (whether linear, TV Everywhere, Facebook or mobile), then asking them to come back and giving them a reason to come back. In some ways, what is old is new again."

“The business goes in waves,” says Debmar-Mercury co-president Ira Bernstein, whose company is behind shows like Wendy Williams and Celebrity Name Game (20th Television sells national ad barter time on Debmar’s shows’ behalf.) “In 2017 there will potentially be a lot of long-term sitcom deals that are up and expiring, and that will allow for new things to be introduced. For now, there’s this comfort level in what you have. It’s more challenging to say, ‘What can I replace?’”

So let’s think about Harry once more. All systems seem go, and Katz admits that “stations are really excited about the potential he has.” But then there’s the flip side: marquee show names have not been a guarantee of eyeballs lately.

“My son calls it the ‘shiny penny,’” says Bernstein. “There is a lot of interest in big, well-known talent, of course, but that’s interest in a brand name person despite the fact that every big brand name person has failed in the last few years. You try to transition someone to a talk show; that’s really hard.”

In the end, much like any business proposition with so many moving parts, prognostication is one of the hardest parts of the job. And in syndication, where stability, live viewing and flexibility with ad placement still tending to be the strongest calling cards for advertisers, innovation can take a long time to become the order of the day.

Roberta Caploe: Publisher @robertacaploe
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group 

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