Stripping is an industry term used to refer to the practice of running a syndicated television series every day of the week. It is commonly restricted to describing the airing in this manner of shows which were weekly in first run; The West Wing could be stripped but not Jeopardy! , since daily is its designed airing schedule.
Stripping has also become a common practice on many British channels since the introduction of multi-channel cable and satellite in the 1990s.
First run syndication comes about when a production company makes a show, which (maybe) has been turned down by a network or which was intended for the syndicated market all along.
And of course, the advertising budget for syndicated shows is lower than for network shows, and ads are generally shown on lesser-watched independent stations, which also reduces a syndicated show's profile.
The current bounty (some might say glut) of relatively good syndicated dramas (and the occational comedy) is the direct result of the success of "Star Trek: the Next Generation", which was syndicated between 1987-1995, and which is considered by some to be the first "hit" in syndication.
During the sweeps of the 2002-2003 TV season, they tried again at airing a newsmagazine series called The Pulse, hosted by Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith.
The network and Fox News are thought by news insiders to be using its new syndicated newsmagazine Geraldo at Large (which airs in prime slots on all of Fox's OandOs) as a test run of rolling out a national newscast.
To the surprise and shock of many, the NFL selected the Fox bid, in the process stripping CBS of football for the first time since 1952.
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