Lexington Broadcast Services Company

LBS Communications, Inc.

Industry	Television syndication
Fate	Acquired by All American Communications
Successor	All American Communications Television (1992-1997) Pearson Television (1997-2001) FremantleMedia North America (2001-present)
Founded	1976
Defunct	May 18, 1992
Headquarters	United States
Parent	All American Communications (1991-1992)

The Lexington Broadcast Services Company (first known as Lexington Broadcast Services and later known as LBS Communications) was a television production and syndication company founded in 1976 by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel. Advertising Age magazine wrote of Siegel as "the man who built Lexington Broadcast Services into the nation's largest barter syndicator, and thus defined that segment of the TV ad business."^[1]

The company was known for distributing programs from DIC Entertainment and Columbia Pictures Television (including select material from Columbia subsidiary/label Screen Gems), by way of its Colex Enterprises joint venture with Columbia,^[2] in addition to the 1991 syndicated re-launch of Baywatch.

Around the time that the joint venture with Columbia Pictures Entertainment ended in 1988, LBS began to lose money, and in December 1991, LBS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and had to sell 80 to 85 percent of its assets to its Baywatch distributor partner the Scotti Brothers' All American Television. In 1997, All American was sold to Pearson plc, and was re-branded as Pearson Television. Pearson Television later merged with CLT-UFA to form RTL Group and Pearson Television was renamed to FremantleMedia. As of today most of LBS' library is owned by FremantleMedia with some exceptions.

Programming distributed by LBS

TV programs

• The Ropers (after distributed by D.L. Taffner Syndication Sales)
• Three's a Crowd (after distributed by D.L. Taffner)
• Too Close for Comfort (after distributed by D.L. Taffner)
• 21 Jump Street (distribution only)
• Alcoa Theatre ^{[n 1]}
• American Bandstand (distribution 1987–1988)
• Baywatch
• Casey Jones ^{[n 1]}
• Coming Up Rosie
• Doctor Snuggles
• Family
• Family Feud (Ray Combs-hosted syndicated version 1988–1991)
• Fantasy Island ^{[n 1]}
• Father Knows Best ^{[n 1]}
• Goodyear Theatre ^{[n 1]}
• Hart to Hart ^{[n 1]}
• Hazel ^{[n 1]}
• Heathcliff (in association with DIC Entertainment)
• Hee Haw (1971 to the mid-1980s), plus its spinoff, Hee Haw Honeys
• The Magic of Herself the Elf
• Hot Fudge Show
• Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n Wrestling (in association with DIC Entertainment and WWE)
• Inspector Gadget (in association with DIC Entertainment)
• Manhunt ^{[n 1]}
• M.A.S.K. (in association with DIC Entertainment)
• Monchichis
• Naked City ^{[n 1]}
• Pole Position (in association with DIC Entertainment)
• Police Academy ^{[n 2]}
• Popples (in association with DIC Entertainment)
• Punky Brewster (in association with NBC Productions; Sony Pictures Television handles domestic syndication, while NBCUniversal Television Distribution handles international syndication. Shout! Factory has DVD rights)
• RollerGames
• The Rookies ^{[n 3]}
• Route 66 ^{[n 1]}
• Salvage 1 ^{[n 1]}
• Sha Na Na
• Superfriends (distribution only)^{[n 4]}
• Stand Up and Cheer
• Starsky and Hutch ^{[n 1]}
• Tales from the Darkside
• The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin (in association with DIC Entertainment and Atkinson Film-Arts)
• The Care Bears (1985) (in association with DIC Entertainment)
• The Donna Reed Show ^{[n 1]}
• The Fantastic Journey ^{[n 1]}
• The Get Along Gang (in association with DIC Entertainment)
• The New Adventures of He-Man
• The New Gidget ^{[n 1]}
• The Monkees^{[n 5]}
• What's Happening!! ^{[n 1]}
• What's Happening Now!! ^{[n 6]}

Films

• Heathcliff: The Movie (1986) (released by Atlantic Entertainment Group and produced by DIC Entertainment and McNaught Syndicate)
• Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986) (released by Columbia Pictures and produced by Nelvana)

TV films

• Bonanza: The Next Generation (1988) (produced by Bonanza Ventures and Gaylord Productions)

Notes

1. Produced originally by Screen Gems, Spelling-Goldberg Productions and/or Columbia Pictures Television, later syndicated by Colex from 1984 to 1988. Sony Pictures Television now holds the distribution rights, along with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for DVD releases.
2. Produced by Ruby-Spears Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television (owners of the Police Academy franchise); rights have since reverted to Warner's television syndication unit.
3. Produced originally by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, distributed in syndication by Viacom Enterprises, later syndicated by Colex. Sony Pictures Television now holds the distribution rights, along with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for DVD releases.
4. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. in association with DC Comics (owners of the Super Friends property); rights have since reverted to H-B successor/DC owner Warner Bros.' television syndication unit.
5. SPT has domestic and worldwide syndication rights due to prior contractual agreements; the ancillary rights to the series are now with Rhino Entertainment.
6. Distributed during the original run by Colex. Sony Pictures Television (as successor to Columbia Pictures Television) now has sole distribution rights.

References

1. "50 Who Made A Difference", page 45. Advertising Age, Spring 1995.
2. "Sale in the works for 'Eden' mini-series". Broadcasting: 45. 1984-01-30.

External links

• Lexington Broadcast Services Company at the Internet Movie Database (as LBS Communications, Inc.)