Hi

First I don't believe "movie syndication" is the right terminology.

I am looking for the equivalent term as "TV show syndication" as applied to theatrically released
movies.

I am interested in finding out more on the contract / license between the film studios and the
networks.

I want to know such things as exclusivity, exclusivity period, contract lengths,
and the overall history of this.

I’d appreciate any help…Thanks

..."Another common type of syndication programming is movies. Syndication is one of the last stops on the life cycle of a movie, starting in the theater and then going to home video/DVD, Pay Per View, the network television premiere, and then to syndication. Syndicated movies are treated somewhat like the first-run programmming mentioned above in that broadcast affiliates can purchase the air rights to show a movie during a certain timeframe. These movies are often scheduled for weekend afternoons and late nights. Like most movies on cable, the films have been heavily edited and broken apart into short pieces to allow for commercials, with most films being either cut down to fit a 90 minute block + 30 minutes of commercials or, in the same of longer movies that cannot be cut down so easily (such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day) a 135 minute block + 45 minutes of commercials. The syndicated movie is appealing to affiliates because, even though the syndicator fills some of the commercial time themselves, the bulk of the commercial time is available for sale by the station airing the film. Network movies (such as airings of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace during primetime on FOX) typically leave local affiliates little time for their own commercials due to the network and the film's distributor collecting most of the commercial time (and money). Often stations can purchase multi-year syndication deals for movies, meaning that they can, for example, purchase the rights to the Phil Hartman/Sinbad comedy Houseguest for three years provided that they only air it during the month of February each year. Also, because each station can buy into the airing rights for the movie, it's not uncommon to see the same movie appear on different stations during different times of the year (or, in some cases, week). Cable channels typically have ties to a movie's production house or distributor which means that since the network and the movie are owned by the same studio, they can air the movies they own as much as they like (which explains why Warner Bros.'s TNT thrives on airings of Lethal Weapon 4 and John Wayne westerns)."...

You might want to look into this book:
The Movie Business: The Definitive Guide to the Legal and Financial Secrets ...
Apparently it lists everything one would want to know about movie rights, legalities etc.

Goo dluck on your hunt.

I apologize for the delay,

Tam thank you for your post...this is exactly the information I was looking for

My pleasure!