ABSTRACT

The financial interest and syndication (fin-syn) rules were a significant piece of television regulation that had a major economic and social impact on the television industry. Instituted in 1970, these regulations were enacted to control the power of the television networks by limiting ownership in programming that they broadcast. Over the years, the rules would be subject to renegotiation and modification until they were finally repealed in 1995. This chapter reviews the history of the creation of the rules. The following chapter outlines the history of the rules’ repeal.