New Marketing Model of 1980s The current text says North American television debut Robotech originally aired in 1985 in first run syndication meaning it was sold directly to local television stations without having been run on a network first this was part of a trend in animation in the 1980s But this is not entirely true A number of animated Japanese series were broadcast in the US in syndication in the late 1960s and 1970 without appearing on one of the prime networksI suppose meaning NBC CBS and ABC Astro Boy Speed Racer Ultraman live action not animated and others all appeared dubbed in English on UHF stations in the US without network broadcasts