• by Wayne Friedman , January 16, 2007

LAS VEGAS--The TV syndication industry is again touting its low-clutter ad advantage versus other national TV distribution. This new data comes from Nielsen Media Research, and was released at the National Association of Television Program Executives meeting.

. New research suggests the syndication business is well-positioned as the industry heads into an expected rough-and-tumble upfront sales period. Syndies are looking to get paid for commercials that air during DVR playback.

Why the optimism? The Syndicated Network Television Association now says that for the third year in a row, syndicated programming offers up more "A" and "B" positions--the first and second commercials in a given pod of commercials--than any other TV media.

SNTA says that an average of 75% of the time, commercials in syndicated shows run in either the A or B position, with the greatest percentage--96%--running during syndicated sitcoms. The lowest percentage is with talk shows, at 75%.

SNTA also notes that weekend syndicated programming tends to have longer pods than weekday programming. It says 83% of commercials run in the A and B positions for Monday to Friday strip shows.

Research also suggests that the average syndication commercial pod--which has at least one national commercial--runs just over two minutes in length, averaging 2:18. For those airing just national commercials, the duration is shorter--just 1:28.

SNTA says shorter pod lengths naturally lead to something advertisers desire even more: better recall. It notes that syndicated shows have a 34% higher recall than longer pods, which run on broadcast and cable networks.

Advertising executives say while this may be good for the business, other issues remain. Fewer off-network sitcoms mean fewer big brands for advertisers to buy. First-run programming is also tougher to launch.