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Dracolich writes...

OK, I've spent the last couple of hours hunting through the Bring Gargoyles Back page. I know what is needed to bring the series back. But here's a short-term question. What is the proccess of getting a television channel to air a syndicated show? I say this because I don't have either of the Disney channels, and considering my current standing with my parents, they won't be willing to fork out MORE money for more stations or satellite service. Perhaps a more general-audience channel, like the failing Fox, or maybe even Scifi, would attract a more general audience and increase viewership. So, who do I have to write to?

Greg responds...

The process is very complicated. But going on Fox and/or SciFi wouldn't BE syndicating.

Syndicating, as I understand it, is market by market, making deals with local stations or station groups. That means you might be on Fox in, say, New York. But in Miami you might be on the WB, and in Dallas UPN. While in L.A. you might be on an unaffiliated independent station.

Syndication is almost dead for kids programming however because Fox, WB and UPN ate up most of the independent stations and station groups. Today's syndicators have a devil of a time "clearing" stations (i.e. getting stations) in a high enough percentage of the country to make the show financially worth pursuing.

Disney currently has five or six distribution outlets for their tv animation.

1. ABC Saturday Morning.

2. UPN Afternoons. (They have a deal with UPN, at least for the time being. In part this came out of the fact that Disney TV Animation was run for a time by Dean Valentine, who then left to become the boss at UPN.)

3. Disney Channel.

4. Toon Disney. They don't currently have the budget for original programming, though that could change over time. And they will be the U.S. home for the new TARZAN series. But they didn't pay the big bills for that.

5. Foreign. Markets outside the U.S. have slightly different wants. They loved Aladdin. I hear gargoyles did fairly well. They payed the bulk of the tab for Tarzan.

6. Home Video.

It is highly unlikely that Disney would sell an animated series to either Fox or SciFi. (Especially Fox.)

Response recorded on September 21, 2000