If there's one constant now that begin in the last decade, it's knowing how much a network will milk a movie or show. Or in a desperate plea for ratings one show (awards) gets airtime on a company's group of channels.
Does The King of Queens need to be on four channels? It's on TBS, Paramount Network, TV Land, and it's now airing on Lifetime. For a show to qualify for me, local affiliates don't count. Things change every year due to the limited budgets of your affiliate. But with that example, it's definite overkill compared to most other channels. With other shows, it's usually one or two channels.
Turner is doing whatever they think is necessary to get people to recognize Impractical Jokers by putting it on a couple of their channels. Another overkill is Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, which is on three different channels. Bob's Burgers and Family Guy are in that same treatment as Law and Order. The Simpsons is starting to get on multiple channels. Long ago, the CSI shows were on two or three channels. The big name crime shows seem to get the multiple channel treatment. Although this is a small sample, it feels more common than you think. Thankfully, there's still shows that are on one channel.
What I predict for cable is that they will keep losing their identities and it will all be the same things you see on every channel. Nothing will stand out and the commercials will get longer to where it's seven or eight minutes because they keep losing viewership. I'm not sure if commercial free channels like Turner Classic will still be a thing. But this trend will accelerate at some point in the decade. I'm not saying now, but in the foreseeable future.
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