TVSquad

TV syndication upfront ad sales are brisk, with syndicators expected to sell higher levels of ad inventory, similar to the broadcast networks.

Sales are more than 50% complete, with one syndicator, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, more than 70% sold out of its 2008-09 ad inventory, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

What's it all mean? It means that syndication upfront totals are expected to be around $2.4 billion, up 4.5% from last year.

Maybe one reason is that syndicators are incorporating more product integration into their packages, especially with talk and entertainment shows. Strong categories include packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, movies, and fast food.

Hmmm ... I wonder what they're saying. That TV viewers sit around eating Big Macs, doing drugs, and woofing down Cheetos? Yeah, that can't be right.

Anyway, a few shows that are hot with syndication ad sales:

• The Bonnie Hunt Show, from Warner Brothers. Many stations are pairing it with another Warner's daytime talker, The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
• House, newly available from NBC Universal
• Deal or No Deal, a half-hour version of the NBC Universal gamer
• Two and a Half Men, from Warner Bros.
• Family Guy, from Twentieth Television
• Wizard's First Rule, a new syndicated version of the Disney-ABC show (I'm not familiar with this show, so feel free to clue me in.)
• The Oprah Winfrey Show from CBS. One syndicator said that even though other daytime talkers are garnering some success, "Oprah is still the queen. She still moves product."

And Not So Hot:

• The Doctors, a CBS talk show featuring medical professionals, produced by the son of Phil McGraw, star of CBS Television Distribution's talker Dr. Phil (which, apparently, is no relation to the 1960s soap opera about bed-hopping docs ... then again, maybe it is).

Note that Dr. Mehmet Oz will be featured in a similar spin-off from The Oprah Winfrey Show, which is interesting, because Dr. Phil was spun from Oprah's powerful web, as well.