The New Instant Replay

In the 1960s, when the average U.S. household received a mere handful of TV channels, a popular show reminded viewers to tune in next week, “Same ‘Bat-time,’ same ‘Bat-channel.’”

Yet today, the buzz in television has become less about adhering to regimented schedules than serving a ready-when-you-are programming buffet--making a single show available almost immediately at different times, on multiple channels.

Television’s new math is increasingly rooted in this concept of instant reruns, tailor-made to people who can’t be bothered to set the VCR, or who don’t have the time or inclination to be locked into that same-time, same-station routine. Although the strategy is not new (HBO plays its series up to four times a week), it appears to be taking hold more firmly than ever before. Consider Fox’s serialized drama “24,” which the network broadcast twice a week for an extended stretch in addition to repeating it on the FX cable channel.

Other examples include “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” playing on USA after NBC, ABC’s daytime series “The View” joining A&E;’s prime-time lineup, the WB network’s “Charmed” repeating on TNT and plans for next-day reruns of NBC’s “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” this fall on Comedy Central. In fact, ABC parent Disney justified its pricey acquisition of the cable channel since-christened ABC Family in part because it creates a second venue to repeat such ABC shows as “Alias” and “According to Jim.”

Prone to obscuring their actions behind a veil of gobbledygook, TV executives have coined various unwieldy terms to describe this practice, from “repurposing” (which sounds like something birds do when feeding their young) to “multiplexing,” which is only slightly more accurate but at least more appetizing.

Whatever the jargon, the concept represents a decidedly low-tech solution to the problem of rising programming costs--namely, find a few shows that people like and run the sprockets off them within days of the network premiere to bring in more money right away.

Some will doubtless conclude this amounts to much ado about nothing, a second chance to watch series you made a point of missing in the first place. Still, with potential viewers juggling busier lives and more leisure-time options--combined with people’s diminished willingness to blithely sit through reruns in the summer, as they did when the major networks were the only game in town--some executives characterize the shift as a fundamental concession to changing lifestyles and viewing patterns.

“We have to find a way to make television more convenient and more consumer-friendly,” said Jamie Kellner, chief executive of Turner Broadcasting, who oversees the WB (a network part-owned by Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times) as well as AOL Time Warner’s basic cable channels. “Nobody else puts it on once and says you have to be there.”

The odd part about this new formula is that it has such an old-fashioned feel to it, running counter to assumptions that Space Age technology will revolutionize television. Among these innovations are personal video recorders such as TiVo and Replay, devices that make it far easier to digitally save and record programs for later viewing (as opposed to fiddling with videotapes), inspiring TiVo’s Burger King-like slogan, “TV your way.”

Another long-awaited promise is “video on demand,” which would transform television into a sort-of video jukebox, allowing viewers to punch up whatever program they wanted to see--perhaps for a small fee--whenever they wanted to see it.

It all sounds fabulous, but at present personal video recorders are found in less than 1% of U.S. homes, with market leader TiVo reporting a subscriber base of 380,000. In addition, many within the industry remain skeptical of video on demand, seeing any widespread adoption as being years and years away--which is pretty much what they were saying about it years and years ago.

Far from being forward-gazing and gadget-driven, multiplexing seems more suited to technophobic types who still can’t set the time on their VCRs--as well as a financial throwback to the aforementioned ‘60s, when independent TV stations possessed little money to buy programming. Born out of necessity, as a result, was the “Million-Dollar Movie,” where stations like Channel 9 in Los Angeles ran the same film every night of the week, until you were expecting “King Kong” to commandeer a plane, grab Fay Wray and high-tail it back to his island.

Alan Bell, president of Irvine-based Freedom Broadcasting, which owns several network-affiliated TV stations, explained the idea then was to add up rating points to sell sponsors--just as the current strategy relies on accumulating audiences through multiple telecasts.

“All of that stuff we used to do, because we had to” is being done again now, Bell noted, “to compensate for the way the audience has dispersed.”

There are bugs to work out in this approach, among them coming to terms with actors, writers and directors generally convinced (not without reason) that their share of profits is diluted by strip-mining hit programs--TV’s most precious renewable resource--for short-term gain. It’s also unclear whether too many repeats undermine ratings on the main network--siphoning viewers from the Tuesday airing of “24,” say, who know they can catch the cable telecast.

Nevertheless, research thus far suggests that encore showings of programs such as “Charmed” bring in additional viewers who might not tune in otherwise. And as Kellner points out, most series today reach a relatively small percentage of the population, increasing the likelihood that repeats will be fresh to an audience that in the average U.S. home gets to choose from among 80-plus channels--including “Batman” reruns, appropriately enough, which take wing again beginning Monday on TV Land.

“New viewers are getting to see these programs,” Kellner said. “That has to be good for the business.”

Maybe so, but it’s hardly the futuristic scenario many envisioned. Instead, TV’s corporate crusaders appear armed not with some belt full of high-tech gizmos, but rather the dynamic duo of extra channel space no one can afford to fill and a trusty old remote control.

Brian Lowry’s column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at brian.lowry@latimes.com.