Why CBS Remains Bullish on Syndicated TV Shows
The Drew Barrymore Show, Entertainment Tonight and The Perfect Line
Courtesy of CBS/Paramount+ (2); Quantrell Colbert/CMV/Paramount+
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on X
-
Google Preferred
-
Share to Flipboard
-
Show additional share options
-
Share on LinkedIn
-
Share on Pinterest
-
Share on Reddit
-
Share on Tumblr
-
Share on Whats App
-
Send an Email
-
Print the Article
-
Post a Comment
It’s 2026 and YouTube routinely tops Nielsen charts of highest performing distributors on television. Video podcasters are storming streaming platforms. Successful TV creators are beginning to dabble in microdramas. And yet, as the old world of network television continues to fall away, CBS is doubling down on a very linear phenomenon: syndicated television.
Just last month, the company’s broadcast syndication subsidiary, CBS Media Ventures, announced a slate of shows old and new that felt like a throwback. We’re talking game shows (The Perfect Line, Flip Side), courtroom shows (Hot Bench and the upcoming Adam’s Law, featuring the son of Judge Judy Sheindlin herself), a clip show (American Mayhem, from the producers of America’s Funniest Home Videos), an entertainment news show (Entertainment Tonight) and one of the last buzzy syndicated daytime talk shows left (The Drew Barrymore Show).
CBS isn’t the only company still hanging on to the syndication model. Warner Bros. Television, Disney/ABC, Sony Pictures Television and various independent production companies are among those still in the business of licensing internally produced projects to local station owners.
But its investment seemed especially notable coming in the wake of NBCUniversal’s decision to leave the first-run syndication business, spelling the end for Access Hollywood, Access Live, Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show. NBC’s news arrived, moreover, after Kelly Clarkson announced she was ending her syndicated NBC daytime talk show and Debmar-Mercury canceled Sherri Shepherd’s own syndicated talk show.
To explain why the company remains confident in syndication business, COO and CFO, TV Media at Paramount Bryon Rubin sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss cost management on syndicated series, the value of the Entertainment Tonight vault and the timeless escapism of game shows.
Why does the syndicated programming business still appeal to CBS in this rapidly changing, cord-cutting television ecosystem?
It’s a good question. Listen, our goal and our strategy is really to produce high-quality shows that audiences love, that drive ratings and drive revenue, but also that really drive value for our advertisers and our station partners. And all of that starts with our teams. We’ve got great teams in front of the camera, behind the camera, our teams that sell the shows, that distribute the shows, that produce the shows. We feel we can do it and we have been doing it in a very cost-effective way. And it really starts with the quality of our shows and the quality of our hosts. Our competitors have quality hosts too, for sure. But we’re talking about Drew Barrymore, who’s a household name and a household name to viewers who grew up, most of them. Judge Judy, who’s been the face of syndication television for decades, is now passing the torch onto her son and we’re starting a show called Adam’s Law with him. Jaleel White, who’s also been a household name — people grew up with him on Family Matters as Steve Urkel, if you can remember. He’s an actor and a talented host. That’s a long answer to your question, but that’s why we’re super excited about our business, about our shows, and about our teams, about our hosts.
How do you manage costs on the production side of something like a traditional game show or a court show when everyone is looking to keep their budgets down and local TV stations are facing major challenges from streaming?
It’s something we literally think about every day. A couple of examples are Hot Bench and our new show Adam’s Law. They share soundstage, they share sets, they share crews. That’s an efficient way to produce two shows almost at a time and share resources. And they’re produced in Connecticut, which is a tax incentive-friendly jurisdiction. The Drew Barrymore Show, we produce that in our own facility in New York, our broadcast center. So we own it, we don’t pay rent to anybody; that’s a more efficient way to produce things. And then our two newest shows, The Perfect Line and Flip Side are both produced in Georgia, which is also a very tax-efficient state. So production efficiencies, tax incentive efficiencies for sure are two of the biggest ways that we try to keep costs down as much as possible.
Access Hollywood was canceled earlier this year and E! News was axed in 2025. Why do you remain bullish on the entertainment news program business