Financial Interest and Syndication Rules

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The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, widely known as fin-syn rules, were a set of rules imposed by the Federal Communications Commission of the U.S. in 1970. They sought to prevent vertical integration in the broadcast landscape by preventing the Big Three television networks from owning any of the programming that they aired in primetime^[1].

Controversial from the very beginning, the fin-syn rule was relaxed slightly during the 1980s ^[2]. Following the severe changes in the TV landscape, such as the rise of the Fox network and cable television, fin-syn was abolished completely in 1993 ^[3].

It was the repeal of fin-syn that ultimately made broadcast netlets UPN and The WB financially interesting for its highly vertically-integrated parent media conglomerates Paramount Pictures (Viacom) and Time Warner, respectively.

Today, each of the four major networks has an affiliated syndication company:

• ABC: Disney-ABC Domestic Television
• CBS: CBS Television Distribution
• Fox: 20th Television
• NBC: NBC Universal Television Distribution

Closely related to fin-syn, the Prime Time Access Rule seeks to strengthen local and independent producers by preventing affiliates from airing network programming during much of the early evening. This rule was eliminated in 1995.

References

1. ^ Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W. (2006) The Business of Media: Corporate Media and the Public Interest. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. p. 85
2. ^ ibid. 91
3. ^ ibid. 100-101