The Game Show Forum

The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: MikeK on September 14, 2020, 09:45:00 AM

Title: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: MikeK on September 14, 2020, 09:45:00 AM
jjman's post in the 2020-21 thread got me thinking about which stations haven't aired syndicated games in ages.  One which comes to mind immediately is WJW here in Cleveland.  The last traditional syndicated game show they aired was You Bet Your Life in 1992-3, when they were a CBS affiliate.  (Remember the big affiliate changes of the mid-90s.)  I use the word "traditional", because the last quasi-game WJW aired was Kwik Witz in the late 90s.  Speculation on why they don't air games, besides 13 hours of local news/weekday nowadays:  They aired 4 of the 5 new syndie games in 1990-1, all but Trump Card.  Also, YBYL with The Cos was to be big, airing versus J!, and flopping hard.

Surely there isn't a channel which hasn't aired a syndicated game in over 20 years...right?
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: tvmitch on September 14, 2020, 09:52:52 AM
This is an interesting topic starter for sure.

All the stations in the Harrisburg/Lancaster, PA market have aired at least one syndicated game show in the past 20 years. Off the top of my head, I know that Millionaire ran on all the major stations in the market for at least one season.

We also get stations from the Philadelphia market here. I might be wrong, but I think that WCAU might qualify. I don't know that they have run a syndicated game show since the year 2000. WPVI has WoF/J!, and KYW has run Family Feud on occasion.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: bscripps on September 14, 2020, 10:04:14 AM
My station, WWTV/WWUP in Cadillac MI.  I've worked there for 24+ years and in that time we've never aired a game show in syndication.  Off-net reruns (I still know every single episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" by heart), judge shows, "Martha Stewart Living" for a while, "Ellen", paid programs, and as a CBS affiliate we've had network stuff (TPiR, LMaD, Power of Ten, Winning Lines, etc), but I don't recall any syndicated games.

We did have the '94 TNPiR for its season (that promotional toy pinball machine that floats around on eBay every so often used to be in our lunchroom), but that's the last one.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: WhammyPower on September 14, 2020, 10:16:02 AM
I'm pretty certain Milwaukee's NBC affiliate's last syndicated game show was Let's Ask America (does that really count if it stayed in-house to Scripps and what was formerly Journal Communications?). I'm not 100%, but I think it was the only offering they've had since the big contract shuffle for Wheel and Jeopardy.

I'm less certain that the ABC affiliate's last syndie affair was H2 in an overnight slot, sadly. (And yet, look at all these game shows they have in primetime that are doing fairly well!...)

Also, prior to the recent forced airings of Millionaire (and I think they also did the test run of 25WOL), I don't recall what the FOX affiliate's last syndie offering was at all. EDIT: They did air Monopoly Millionaires Club, so that'll do it.

And thanks to Gannett, I can't easily go back to old TV schedules on the Google News archive, either. :(
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: BrandonFG on September 14, 2020, 10:27:07 AM
I think the longest drought here is WAVY...the last show I can remember them airing is “Merv Griffin’s Crosswords” in 2008. That’s not much of a surprise; not counting a Bob Eubanks dating show called “Infatuation”, I believe the last syndicated game they aired prior to that was Davidson’s “Squares”.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: jjman920 on September 14, 2020, 01:51:35 PM
Turns out I was mistaken about the length of WBAL's drought. Forgetting its time with Millionaire and Monopoly Millionaires Club the past decade. But it has been 4 years now since that point.

If I'm not mistaken though, it's been quite a while for my CBS affiliate, WJZ. I'm pretty sure it's been a solid stream of Maury/LMAD/TPIR/News/Y&R/B&B/Talk/Phil/News 4-7/Evening News/ET for the past 10 years and overnight reruns have been filled with syndicated dramas. And before LMAD and The Talk came in, those slots were filled with Guiding Light and As The World Turns, respectively. I'm trying to search my memory banks, but this drought could be north of 20 years.

Also, you're reading that correctly, up until a year or so ago, my CBS affiliate ran three straight hours of news, delaying the CBS Evening News until 7pm. They finally caved in and now air the Evening News live at 6:30pm, with a local newscast at 7pm. Odd that they'd do that being an O&O.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: Unrealtor on September 14, 2020, 02:20:48 PM
I don't think KVUE in Austin has had one since TNPIR in 1994. The KXAN/KNVA/KBVO cluster has Wheel, J!, and Feud (and I think it has had all three since they started their current syndicated runs). KTBC has 25 Words. KEYE had Celebrity Name Game and Millionaire, but nothing at the moment.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: Scrabbleship on September 14, 2020, 02:42:11 PM
WCAU might qualify. I don't know that they have run a syndicated game show since the year 2000.

I thought the earliest years of Feud under Steve Harvey were on WCAU. ISTR a billboard for Feud on WCAU driving through Philly in 2012.

A market with two, going on three, syndie game droughts is DC. I don't WRC they've aired anything syndicated since TJW '90 or Davidson $100K Pyramid. Even the gimme shows other NBC O&O's aired in the later 2000's were elsewhere - Merv Griffin's Crosswords was on WJLA, Syndie DOND was on WDCA.

Right next door, WTTG has had a drought of similar, IIRC their last syndie game was Studs. WUSA has a burgeoning drought, their last syndie game was Millionaire in 2008.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: JMFabiano on September 14, 2020, 04:52:14 PM
Trying to remember what WNBC had.  Last one I can clearly remember was Combs Family Feud before it switched to WWOR. 

Was syndie DOND there?
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: BrandonFG on September 14, 2020, 05:09:33 PM
Trying to remember what WNBC had.

(snip)

Was syndie DOND there?
I wanna say Deal was WCBS or WWOR. Yes it was. (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,16007.msg195377.html#msg195377)
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: mmb5 on September 14, 2020, 07:21:40 PM
Too lazy to look up, but I don't think Detroit's NBC station has any syndicated games since Donnymid/Weakest Link.  The ABC station would have had a near 30-year streak if it wasn't for the one oddball year they decided to carry Funny You Should Ask.  Most of our games go the CBS station because without any local programming, they have a lot of time to fill.

I'm an idiot.  WOF+J has been on WDIV-NBC forever.  Nevermind me.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: aaron sica on September 14, 2020, 07:59:01 PM
This is an interesting topic starter for sure.

All the stations in the Harrisburg/Lancaster, PA market have aired at least one syndicated game show in the past 20 years. Off the top of my head, I know that Millionaire ran on all the major stations in the market for at least one season.

I would say for the last 40 years, WGAL has only aired a smattering of syndicated game shows. Starting in fall 1980, the only syndicated offering they had for a season was "Hollywood Squares". Pretty sure they aired "Sweethearts" (the CNR one), and also "The Challengers" (both at 10:30am I believe, pre-empting the NBC offering). After Challengers, I don't think they aired another syndicated game show *until* Millionaire, not counting any lottery game shows or local quiz shows.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: Strikerz04 on September 14, 2020, 08:05:49 PM
WMAQ (Chicago) last had DoND in 2010 and MG Crosswords in 2007, but before then? Combs' Feud?


WBBM hasn't had a syndie game since losing Hollywood Squares in 2004.


Unless my memory is shot, WCIU had a gap since Donnymid (2004) and Funny You Should Ask
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: PYLdude on September 14, 2020, 08:10:37 PM
Trying to remember what WNBC had.

(snip)

Was syndie DOND there?
I wanna say Deal was WCBS or WWOR. Yes it was. (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,16007.msg195377.html#msg195377)

And before that, they’d only had one other syndie game since they dropped Feud, that being Merv Griffin’s Crosswords. (I’m not counting Ruckus or Inside the Box and I believe The Challengers and Feud aired there at the same time.)

WCBS actually hasn’t had a syndie game since 2004, when Hollywood Squares bade farewell. The year before alone, there was three; they dropped Millionaire after season one and Weakest Link got cancelled.

With rare exceptions WPIX has been out of the game show biz for most of the last 30 years. The only one with any staying power was Street Smarts which they had for the whole run. Besides that there was Pictionary, Bzzz, the syndicated Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, and Celebrity Name Game (and they really didn’t give a crap about it, if its airing schedule was any indication).
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: Chief-O on September 14, 2020, 08:21:16 PM
I might be wild-a** wrong here, but I'm sure WFRV (Green Bay) hasn't had any syndie GS's since losing WOF and J! (WLUK airs both these days).
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: TimK2003 on September 14, 2020, 10:10:43 PM
IIRC, in the 14 years I've been out in Western Colorado, I don't ever recall seeing a syndicated game show on the Grand Junction ABC Affiliate, KJCT. 

Their now-sister station, NBC-11/KKCO, has had the Wheel/J! franchise that whole time -- and they moved the latter to early afternoons at 4PM about 5 years ago to add an extra newscast at 6PM leaving Wheel at 6:30.  And the CBS/Fox/MyTV combo of stations (KREX/KFQX/KGJT) have pretty much picked up all the other syndicated game shows over the years.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: SuperMatch93 on September 14, 2020, 10:37:32 PM
WMAQ (Chicago) last had DoND in 2010 and MG Crosswords in 2007, but before then? Combs' Feud?


WBBM hasn't had a syndie game since losing Hollywood Squares in 2004.


Unless my memory is shot, WCIU had a gap since Donnymid (2004) and Funny You Should Ask

Didn't Karn Feud air on the U for a while, or was that pre-2004?
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: PYLdude on September 14, 2020, 11:50:57 PM
Going back to New York for a second: if I’m not mistaken, they too hadn’t had a game show airing there in awhile before 25 Words or Less; they had the current Feud twice and the second season of Donnymid, and I believe To Tell the Truth for a brief period before it got cancelled, but they’ve never really been big on carrying game shows as long as I’ve been alive. They had Double Dare, Finders Keepers, the block with Talk About and Jackpot that went belly up midway through the 89-90 season, and then the revivals of the Dating and Newlywed Games from the late 90s. Anything else, unless you wanna count American Gladiators (for the sake of this argument, you might), has pretty much been network material like Greed or the last season of Fun House.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: chargeradiocom on September 15, 2020, 01:28:54 PM
In Cincinnati, it would probably be WLWT. The last syndie they ran was Bergeron Squares IIRC. All the other full-power stations currently run or have run something within the last 10 years. (If we count low-power WBQC, they may have gone longer, though they did run BUZZR on one of their subchannels for a couple years.)

On the flip side... In neighboring Dayton (whose channels can be received in northern parts of the Cincy market), each of the Big 4 affiliates currently runs at least one syndie game show. Dayton is one of the rare markets where Wheel & J! are on separate stations, with Wheel on WHIO & J! on WDTN. (It’s been that way for as long as I can remember, back to when I was a kid in the 80s, so I assume the two stations have a grandfathered arrangement.) WKEF has Feud & 25 Words. WRGT has Funny You Should Ask, albeit shoved into late nights. WBDT doesn’t run anything currently, but it’s one of those CW stations that kind of gets the syndie leftovers, so I’d be surprised if they haven’t run a syndie game show within the past few years.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: danderson on September 15, 2020, 01:44:26 PM
WYFF Greeneville SC hasn't run one since Tic Tac Dough with Patrick Wayne. That's 30 years ago.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: JMFabiano on September 15, 2020, 04:44:02 PM
Going back to New York for a second: if I’m not mistaken, they too hadn’t had a game show airing there in awhile before 25 Words or Less; they had the current Feud twice and the second season of Donnymid, and I believe To Tell the Truth for a brief period before it got cancelled, but they’ve never really been big on carrying game shows as long as I’ve been alive. They had Double Dare, Finders Keepers, the block with Talk About and Jackpot that went belly up midway through the 89-90 season, and then the revivals of the Dating and Newlywed Games from the late 90s. Anything else, unless you wanna count American Gladiators (for the sake of this argument, you might), has pretty much been network material like Greed or the last season of Fun House.

WNYW 5, yes?

Super Pay Cards and Cross-Wits were there too, I believe.  This was pre-Fox era of course. 

Of the NYC indies, I always considered W(W)OR to be the gaming channel, as it were.  As they had the Barry-Enright shows, $100,000 Pyramid (Clark/Davidson), $1MCOAL, Face the Music, various rerun packages, and others. 

I actually considered WPIX less when I thought game shows in the NYC market...though they had $50K Pyramid and the last season of Davidson Squares.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: PYLdude on September 15, 2020, 07:04:29 PM
Channel 11 had a fair amount of stuff. They were the original New York home for Tic Tac Dough, had the last season of the 80s version of the Newlywed Game (not sure about the Dating Game), the entire run of the Don Bleu hosted Gong Show, the first two seasons of Fun House, the Jim Peck-hosted episodes of You Don’t Say, Gladiators 2000, and all the ones I previously mentioned; Street Smarts was a late night staple there for many years.

They actually had the last season of both of the first two syndicated editions of Hollywood Squares; through a prior discussion I found out they had to share rights with WABC and only aired the show two or three days a week. (That’s in the case of the Las Vegas season, as opppsed to the Universal Studios season where Squares simply moved from WABC to WPIX)

But for what it’s worth in New York, I dare say the king of game shows has been WWOR by far. If there was a new show coming down the pike, it would often find its way onto channel 9 somehow. That’s how we got to see The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime, Bullseye, The New Price Is Right, and a bunch of others. They even gave us the original Pictionary (kids), Pick Your Brain, Click, and Peer Pressure to keep the younguns interested.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: Ryanmo97 on September 15, 2020, 08:37:30 PM
My station, WWTV/WWUP in Cadillac MI.  I've worked there for 24+ years and in that time we've never aired a game show in syndication.  Off-net reruns (I still know every single episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" by heart), judge shows, "Martha Stewart Living" for a while, "Ellen", paid programs, and as a CBS affiliate we've had network stuff (TPiR, LMaD, Power of Ten, Winning Lines, etc), but I don't recall any syndicated games.

We did have the '94 TNPiR for its season (that promotional toy pinball machine that floats around on eBay every so often used to be in our lunchroom), but that's the last one.
I live in Northern Michigan too and I think the last game show our Fox station had was Joker's wild 90. Our abc station I think had Wheel and Jeopardy then they moved to our NBC station.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: Ryanmo97 on September 15, 2020, 08:39:44 PM
I just remembered the ABC station here in Northern Michigan did have Donnymid.
Title: Re: Stations which haven't shown syndicated games in years
Post by: Strikerz04 on September 16, 2020, 03:18:13 PM
WMAQ (Chicago) last had DoND in 2010 and MG Crosswords in 2007, but before then? Combs' Feud?.

WBBM hasn't had a syndie game since losing Hollywood Squares in 2004.


Unless my memory is shot, WCIU had a gap since Donnymid (2004) and Funny You Should Ask

Didn't Karn Feud air on the U for a while, or was that pre-2004?




You might be right. Feud, TTTT, and Card Sharks had the block in 2001-02, and when Donnymid left, it might've been there until O'Hurley took over