Re: Why wasn't The Next Gen even mentioned in the 25 year FOX annivers
Yeah that's right. TNG was always syndicated, so stations could buy it and air it as they please rather than as mandated by network programming.
I think I may understand the OP question. When Fox network originally began, they only had programming for certain days and at certain times (mostly evenings and weekends, as I recall).
So whenever Fox didn't have original programming for their stations (say mornings and afternoons) each market could offer up anything else they had to air, which could be TNG. In my area, I watched TNG on a Fox channel in the off-hours, when it wasn't Fox programming--along with other syndication shows and reruns and local programs and whatever else the station aired.