▁are ▁tradition ally ▁the ▁most ▁widely ▁synd ic ated ▁r er uns ▁and ▁are ▁usually ▁a ired ▁in ▁a ▁five - day - a - week ▁strip ▁( standard ly ▁with ▁two ▁episode ▁" run s ", ▁separate ▁sets ▁of ▁episodes ▁of ▁a ▁particular ▁program ▁that ▁are ▁usually ▁from ▁different ▁seasons , ▁pack aged ▁for ▁stations ▁to ▁air ▁back - to - back ▁or ▁in ▁different ▁time ▁sl ots ), ▁and ▁in ▁most ▁cases , ▁with ▁additional ▁week end ▁runs ▁consisting ▁of ▁two ▁( or ▁in ▁some ▁cases , ▁four ) ▁additional ▁episodes . ▁Mar gin ally ▁performing ▁shows ▁tend ▁to ▁last ▁less ▁than ▁three ▁to ▁five ▁years ▁in ▁broadcast ▁synd ic ation , ▁sometimes ▁moving ▁to ▁cable ▁channels ▁( although ▁r er un ▁packages ▁of ▁some ▁series ▁are ▁sold ▁simultaneously ▁into ▁both ▁broadcast ▁synd ic ation ▁and ▁cable , ▁and ▁sometimes ▁to ▁more ▁than ▁one ▁cable ▁network ) ▁or ▁into ▁limited - run ▁bar ter ▁synd ic ation ▁( such ▁as ▁through ▁The ▁Program ▁Exchange ) ▁after ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁their ▁synd ic ation ▁runs , ▁while ▁more ▁widely ▁successful ▁series ▁can ▁have ▁a ▁life ▁in ▁synd ic ation ▁that ▁can ▁run ▁for ▁dec ades ▁( I ▁Love ▁Lucy , ▁the ▁first ▁series ▁designed ▁to ▁be ▁r er un , ▁remains ▁popular ▁in ▁synd ic ation ▁more ▁than ▁ 6 0 ▁years ▁after ▁its ▁ 1 9 5 1 ▁debut ). ▁ ▁C able ▁and ▁digital ▁broadcast ▁networks ▁have ▁provided ▁out lets ▁for ▁programming ▁that ▁either ▁has ▁out l ived ▁its ▁synd