Settlement Not Expected to Start Boom in Hour Shows

The Directors Guild of America’s decision to accept a percentage of the profits, rather than a flat sum, as residual compensation for hourlong series programming in syndication may rescue some television episodes from languishing on the shelves--but it will probably not cause a boom in the production or distribution of hourlong TV series, industry spokesmen said Tuesday.

During Tuesday morning’s announcement of the guild settlement, guild President Gilbert Cates cited “Airwolf” and “Miami Vice,” both produced by Universal Television, and “Scarecrow and Mrs. King,” from Warner Bros. Television, as shows that could enter the syndication market as a result of the new ruling; these shows have not been sold into syndication because they could not be sold into enough markets to turn a profit for the production company under the old plan.

Although unwilling to speculate on whether Universal TV will now release “Miami Vice” or other Universal shows into syndication, Stuart Mandel, Universal vice president of industrial relations, said that the new decision “is not a panacea” to the problems of getting hourlong shows into the currently weak syndication market.

“The problem of excessive costs and rising deficits is a major problem for the TV industry across the board regardless of the length of program,” Mandel said. “This is just an aid in getting product into the marketplace, but it doesn’t answer the underlying problem.”

Richard Rosenbloom, president of Orion Television, which produces the hourlong dramatic series “Cagney and Lacey,” said that the decision will not solve syndication’s biggest problem: competition from first-run syndication shows.

May Be Some Benefit

“Hopefully, it (the decision) will move some of the (unused) product out and everybody will benefit,” Rosenbloom said. “But is it earth-shattering? No.”

“Cagney and Lacey” executive producer Barney Rosenzweig was encouraged by the new contract, saying the changes in residual payments to directors would allow producers “to clean both old and new programming off their shelves” and stimulate cash flow into the TV industry.

But, he pointed out, repeated reruns of hour dramas historically have not been as popular as half-hour comedies, and hour programs give stations less flexibility in programming.

TV industry watcher Harold Vogel, vice president of Merrill Lynch capital markets, called the residual agreement “really just a reflection of reality” rather than a breakthrough. “My feeling is that it is positive for the industry as a whole; it definitely gives more flexibility,” he said.