I didn’t read the article upthread, but my recollection is that WKRP was videotaped, instead of filmed, and that for some reason this made all the difference where the music licensing is concerned. Somehow, the film rights would’ve lasted longer (if not in perpetuity) than the videotape rights.
I remember that the reruns (after the series ended, but still during the 80s) had the music intact. I’ve read that when Nick started airing reruns (I didn’t see these, at that time) the rights ran out, and not only did they have to remove the music, but they had to re-dub some actors’ lines because the music and dialogue were on the same soundtrack. Any reruns since then have the music removed and, in some cases, altered audio (we watched them on Antenna TV some years ago). There’s a particular episode where it’s really obvious that Herb’s voice was different.
