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Burning off

Burning off is a practice in the American television industry where broadcast networks air the remaining episodes of a canceled or low-rated series in undesirable time slots, often during the summer months when viewership is typically low, to fulfill contractual obligations to producers and avoid additional costs.^[1] This approach allows networks to complete their commitments for producing a full season without significant marketing efforts or expectations of strong ratings, effectively "dumping" the content to clear inventory.^[2] Networks employ burning off for shows that fail to attract audiences during the regular fall-to-spring schedule, enabling them to pivot to new programming in prime time while minimizing financial penalties from unfulfilled episode orders.^[3] The strategy has been a staple of network scheduling, particularly for scripted series that underperform, as seen in cases like NBC's rapid airing of the short-lived sitcom Bent in 2012, where the final episodes were slotted into low-viewership summer nights.^[1] Similarly, ABC burned off remaining installments of supernatural dramas 666 Park Avenue and Zero Hour in June 2013, scheduling them back-to-back on Saturdays to quietly conclude the seasons.^[4] Such tactics highlight how burning off serves as a low-stakes way to resolve production deals, though it often results in minimal audience exposure for the episodes.^[5] While primarily associated with traditional broadcast television, the practice underscores broader industry dynamics around content obligations and seasonal programming gaps, contrasting with the rise of on-demand streaming where unsold episodes might simply remain unaired.^[2]

Definition and Purpose

Definition

Burning off is a practice in the American broadcast television industry where networks rapidly air the remaining unaired episodes of a canceled or underperforming series, often in low-viewership time slots such as summer periods or late-night hours, with little to no promotional support and no realistic expectation of generating strong ratings.^[1] This approach treats the episodes as an obligation to clear rather than an opportunity to cultivate viewership, akin to disposing of excess stock without further investment.^[1] The key characteristics of burning off include accelerating the schedule to exhaust the produced content quickly, typically after a decision to cancel the program but while episodes remain from the original order, thereby avoiding additional production costs or delays in fulfilling network commitments.^[1]^[6] Networks schedule these episodes in peripheral slots, such as weekends or off-season blocks, where audience engagement is minimal, signaling to viewers and the industry that the series has no future viability.^[7] This method derives its name from the concept of "burning" through unsold or unused inventory, much like clearing out surplus goods in other industries to recoup value or meet contractual terms.^[1] In passing, burning off episodes can help accumulate the total count needed for syndication eligibility, though the primary focus remains on expeditious clearance rather than long-term distribution strategies.^[8]

Purposes and Motivations

Networks engage in burning off episodes primarily to fulfill contractual and legal obligations stemming from production deals with studios and producers, where licensing agreements often require the broadcast of ordered episodes to complete the deal and trigger residual payments for talent upon exhibition, avoiding breach-of-contract disputes with production companies.^[9]^[10] A key motivation is enhancing syndication viability, as television series traditionally need around 100 episodes (roughly four to five seasons) to become economically attractive for off-network syndication sales to local stations and cable outlets, providing enough content for a full week of weekday reruns without excessive repetition, though some formats like animated series may require only 65 episodes.^[11]^[12] Burning off remaining episodes helps shows reach or approach this threshold, maximizing long-term revenue potential from licensing deals that can generate millions for successful programs.^[12] Burning off also serves as a filler content strategy, providing networks with inexpensive programming to occupy off-peak time slots like summer or late nights, where audience expectations are lower and competition from new content is minimal.^[9] This approach is often more cost-effective than commissioning fresh productions or acquiring syndicated reruns, allowing networks to maintain schedule continuity without significant additional investment.^[13] Financially, the practice enables networks to recoup portions of production expenses through ad revenue generated during airings, even in low-viewership slots, while avoiding ongoing storage and archival costs for unused footage.^[9] By airing episodes in graveyard slots, networks can derive minimal but tangible returns on sunk costs, aligning with broader inventory management in a competitive broadcasting landscape.^[14]

Historical Development

Origins in Broadcast Television

The practice of burning off television episodes originated in the mid-1950s as broadcast networks sought to manage excess programming inventory amid the growing demand for syndicated reruns. During this period, ABC, CBS, and NBC began airing unsold pilots and remaining episodes from short-lived series during the summer months, when regular programming schedules relied heavily on repeats. This approach allowed networks to recoup production costs. For instance, ABC launched G.E. Summer Originals in 1956, a 10-week anthology series featuring unsold pilots like "It's Sunny Again," marking one of the earliest structured efforts to clear backlogs.^[15] By the 1960s, burning off became a standard tactic tied to seasonal programming cycles, with networks using low-viewership summer slots to test new concepts or dispose of leftovers from underperforming shows. CBS's Vacation Playhouse (1963–1967) exemplified this, airing 47 unsold pilots over five summers, including "A Love Affair Just for Three," to fill gaps between fall premieres and capitalize on anthology formats popular in the pre-videotape era. This era's norms for sitcoms and dramas were shaped by the networks' commitments to full-season orders, typically 22 to 26 episodes, which often resulted in surplus content if mid-season ratings faltered. Networks like NBC followed suit with series such as Sneak Preview in 1956, repurposing pilots to maintain schedule continuity without additional investment.^[15]^[16]^[17] In the 1970s and 1980s, the practice expanded as multi-season commitments grew, exacerbating inventory issues for shows that failed to sustain audiences. Standard orders of around 22 episodes per season, common across ABC, CBS, and NBC, frequently left networks with unaired episodes when series were canceled prematurely, prompting accelerated summer airings to monetize all produced content. This was influenced by the rise of cable competition, which by the mid-1980s fragmented audiences and pressured broadcasters to maximize every slot, as seen in CBS's Summer Playhouse (1987–1989), which featured failed pilots like Puppetman to gauge potential amid declining network dominance. Such patterns linked burning off to syndication goals, where additional airings helped accumulate episodes for resale.^[16]^[18]

Evolution and Decline

The practice of burning off episodes reached a turning point in the 2000s with the explosive rise of reality television, which effectively filled summer programming slots previously reserved for low-priority scripted content. CBS's Survivor, premiering on May 31, 2000, drew over 50 million viewers for its finale and established reality formats as a cost-effective alternative to scripted series during off-peak seasons. By 2003, only 35% of major network primetime programming consisted of scripted sitcoms and dramas, as networks prioritized cheaper unscripted shows like Fox's American Idol (2002) to capture audiences without the risks associated with airing underperforming scripted episodes.^[19] This shift diminished the necessity for burn-offs, prompting networks to redirect unsold scripted inventory to cable syndication or home video releases, such as DVDs, rather than scheduling them in unfavorable time slots.^[20] The advent of streaming services in the 2010s further accelerated the decline of traditional burning off by enabling platforms to absorb and distribute unaired or canceled episodes directly to subscribers without adhering to broadcast schedules. Services like Netflix and Hulu began acquiring rights to network leftovers, releasing full seasons on demand and allowing viewers to binge-watch at their pace, which eliminated the need to "dump" episodes in low-viewership periods. Concurrently, the streaming model favored shorter production runs of 8 to 13 episodes per season—down from the median of 22 episodes in 2003—reducing the overproduction that once led to excess inventory requiring burn-offs. This approach minimized financial waste while maintaining narrative cohesion, as seen in Netflix's strategy of commissioning limited series tailored to platform algorithms rather than long-form network commitments.^[21] By the 2020s, burning off had become rare in broadcast television, as confirmed by the ongoing dominance of streaming platforms that handle unaired content without traditional scheduling constraints. It evolved from a routine tactic in the 1990s—when networks annually handled dozens of underperforming shows—to an occasional measure comprising only a small fraction of cancellations, primarily on cable for niche or international purposes.^[2]

Notable Examples

Pre-2000s Cases

One notable example of burning off in the late 1990s occurred with Veronica's Closet, an NBC sitcom starring Kirstie Alley as the owner of a lingerie company navigating personal and professional challenges. After two successful seasons in prime Thursday-night slots, the show's ratings declined following a move to Mondays alongside Suddenly Susan, leading to its cancellation in early 2000. The network then burned off the remaining 7 episodes of its third season during the summer of 2000, airing them in standard primetime slots to fulfill contractual obligations despite the low viewership.^[22] Another case from the era involved The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, a UPN sitcom featuring Chi McBride as a 19th-century Black butler serving as Abraham Lincoln's confidant amid comedic historical misadventures. The series premiered on October 5, 1998, but faced immediate backlash for its controversial premise and poor reception, prompting cancellation after four episodes aired. The remaining five episodes—part of a nine-episode order—were never broadcast to complete the production commitment.^[23] These pre-2000s instances typically resulted in dismal ratings, often below 5.0 in the Nielsen household measurements, underscoring the financial risks of mid-season cancellations without recouping production costs through strong performance. However, burning off allowed networks to meet minimum episode thresholds, such as the common 13-episode orders of the period, which were designed to provide enough content for potential off-network syndication sales or international licensing while minimizing further investment in underperforming series.^[24] Such practices highlighted the precarious balance between contractual fulfillment and audience retention in the broadcast era, where short-lived shows rarely achieved the 65-episode benchmark needed for lucrative daily syndication strips.^[25]

2000s and Later Cases

In the late 2000s, Fox's sitcom 'Til Death exemplified irregular burn-off scheduling following its cancellation. Following its cancellation in April 2010, the network burned off remaining episodes in low-rated time slots, including Sundays at 7 p.m. and other off-peak periods during the summer, as part of fulfilling production commitments for the 81-episode run that spanned 2006 to 2010, concluding on June 20, 2010.^[26]^[27] ABC's Better Off Ted, a workplace comedy that ran from 2009 to 2010, faced a similar fate after airing only two episodes of its second season before being pulled from the schedule in January 2010. The remaining 11 episodes were not aired on television but were released on DVD in September 2010, leading to criticism from fans and industry observers for the network's handling of the series despite its cult following.^[28]^[29] More recently, the 2020 ABC sitcom United We Fall underwent a complete burn-off shortly after production wrapped amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The eight-episode family comedy, filmed in late 2019 but delayed by industry-wide production halts in early 2020, aired entirely in July and August 2020 as a summer run following its early cancellation due to low anticipated viewership in the disrupted schedule.^[30]^[31] These cases reflect broader trends in burn-off practices since the 2000s, where networks increasingly handle shorter season orders—often under 10 episodes—allowing quicker fulfillment of obligations in marginal slots, sometimes complemented by streaming availability on platforms like Hulu for post-airing access. Viewer reactions have evolved with social media, amplifying backlash against such scheduling; for instance, fans of shows like Better Off Ted used Twitter to protest the lack of visibility, highlighting perceived network neglect in an era of fragmented viewing habits.^[32]^[33]

Syndication and Episode Thresholds

In off-network syndication, television series are sold to local stations or cable networks for reruns, with viability often hinging on episode counts that support daily "stripping"—airing one episode per weekday to fill extended blocks. Packages of 65 to 100 episodes are typically required, enabling 13 to 20 weeks of programming (five episodes weekly) without excessive repetition, though fewer episodes restrict marketability and revenue potential. For instance, 65 episodes suit shorter animated or children's series runs, while 100 has long been the benchmark for prime-time dramas and sitcoms to sustain longer syndication cycles.^[12]^[34] Episode thresholds influence production and scheduling decisions, including burn-offs, which accelerate airing to complete contractual obligations. Networks often order 13 episodes initially for new series to test viability, akin to a "back nine" pickup in broadcasting, but full seasons require 22 or more to align with traditional structures. Burn-offs help bridge shortfalls toward the "magic number" of 88 episodes—now the effective minimum for cost-effective syndication, down from 100—allowing mid-tier shows to accumulate inventory despite shorter modern orders.^[35]^[36] Economically, U.S. domestic syndication can generate $1-3 million per episode in licensing fees, depending on the show's popularity and clearance levels, with high-profile examples like Seinfeld fetching up to $3 million each. International markets generally prefer 52 or more episodes per package to support annual programming schedules across diverse broadcasters. These revenues incentivize networks to produce sufficient episodes, even via burn-offs, to unlock post-network profitability. Historically, syndication benchmarks evolved alongside season lengths: 1960s network seasons averaged 39 episodes to fill lengthy broadcast calendars, facilitating quicker threshold attainment. By the 1970s, this dropped to 22-24 episodes amid rising production costs and audience fragmentation, and modern cable/streaming eras favor 10-13 episodes per season for focused storytelling and budget efficiency. Shorter orders have heightened burn-off risks for mid-tier shows, as reaching 88 episodes now demands multiple abbreviated seasons or supplemental airing strategies.^[37]^[38]

Filler and Counterprogramming

Burned-off television programs frequently serve as low-cost filler content in low-viewership "dead zones," such as graveyard slots typically spanning 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., where networks avoid the higher expenses of acquiring syndicated reruns or producing new material, unlike the substantial investments required for primetime scheduling. This tactic enables broadcasters to maintain a full program grid without additional financial outlay, utilizing existing episode inventory that would otherwise remain unaired. For example, ABC shifted Alec Baldwin's underperforming talk show to Saturday nights in 2018, a classic graveyard placement designed to minimize promotional costs and audience expectations.^[39]^[40] Burning off also intersects with counterprogramming strategies, where networks deliberately slot these episodes against rivals' high-rated lineups to cap potential revenue shortfalls from direct competition. A notable case occurred in 2008 when NBC aired the remaining installments of its canceled action series Knight Rider on Wednesdays, positioning them opposite Fox's powerhouse American Idol results show, which drew an average of 28.5 million viewers and dominated the time slot. Similarly, during summer months—periods of reduced overall viewership often overshadowed by sports events and vacations—networks deploy burn-offs to occupy airtime without jeopardizing flagship content, as seen with ABC's disposal of The Unusuals episodes in 2009.^[41]^[40] These scheduling placements commonly occur in overnights, weekends, and holiday blocks, where engagement is predictably low, allowing networks to clear obligations efficiently. In the post-2000s landscape, such content has increasingly appeared on secondary or affiliate networks, further segregating it from primary broadcast schedules to preserve the latter's competitive edge and viewer loyalty. Overall, this method safeguards the structural integrity of a network's premium programming while systematically exhausting contractual episode commitments.^[39]

References

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