ABC's The Middle has been receiving a little ratings surge as of late, and now is a better time than any to make some syndication deals. ABC Family has acquired the cable rights in a deal that will see the show's pay TV premiere in the fall of 2013. Broadcasters will begin airing repeats as well, but why do we care about this seemingly business as usual news?
What we have seen lately is that good performing comedies actually get massive viewership bumps when the series' repeat spam hits television. The perfect example of this would be The Big Bang Theory which had a shrinking audience in its Thursday time slot during the back half of last season. This season featured the premiere of the show's repeats on TBS, and since then the comedy has been hitting ratings not seen since it was the beneficiary of a Two and a Half Men lead-in.
