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The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: rwalker on March 03, 2023, 09:32:06 PM

Title: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: rwalker on March 03, 2023, 09:32:06 PM
Phil, Rachel,  Mathis,  Milian. To name a few. Gone this fall

TTD didn't sell, what about Person place or thing? Anything new being shopped?
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: BillCullen1 on March 04, 2023, 09:04:43 AM
There was talk of Trivial Pursuit hosted by LeVar Burton, but I haven't heard anything on that.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: BrandonFG on March 04, 2023, 11:12:22 AM
The last few years a Fox syndicated game that started as a summer trial series usually makes the fall lineup the following year. “25 Words”, “Pictionary”, and I might’ve forgotten another one. So I’d expect “People, Place, or Thing” this fall.

Unfortunately, I also think affiliates will only opt for more local news and community talk shows. There’s also not too many sitcom reruns. Personally I don’t get the point of turning Channel 7 or 13 into CNN Lite, but it saves the station thousands if not millions, so that will prolly become the new normal.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: That Don Guy on March 04, 2023, 01:12:45 PM
The last few years a Fox syndicated game that started as a summer trial series usually makes the fall lineup the following year. “25 Words”, “Pictionary”, and I might’ve forgotten another one. So I’d expect “People, Place, or Thing” this fall.

Unfortunately, I also think affiliates will only opt for more local news and community talk shows. There’s also not too many sitcom reruns. Personally I don’t get the point of turning Channel 7 or 13 into CNN Lite, but it saves the station thousands if not millions, so that will prolly become the new normal.

How common are sitcom reruns before, say, 5 PM?

And don't remind me about community talk shows; one of those kept The Price is Right off the air in San Francisco for most of the late 1970s and mid-late 1980s.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: BrandonFG on March 04, 2023, 01:17:02 PM
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How common are sitcom reruns before, say, 5 PM?
I don't think I've seen "new to syndication" reruns before 5 since the late-90s. Nowadays they usually air in prime access.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Chelsea Thrasher on March 04, 2023, 01:29:04 PM
Because syndication is functionally dead in most meaningful contexts and the bean counters know it.

Between broadcast and streaming, fewer and fewer people are producing anything for syndication, which has not had a single bona fide hit since Steve Harvey took over Feud. Thirteen years ago. The "best" new shows have been middling to low, and most new syndie programs have been abysmal in the books in most markets.

In an era where most high profile TV viewing is "event" based (new streaming drop, the weekly Thursday-Friday rush to watch whatever Star Trek is doing on Paramount+, live sports, etc etc), syndication is in the worst possible positioning.

If you say "watch this 8pm where you live, or next day on [streamer]", okay fine. The sports game that's at 7pm ET, so that's 4 out west? Fantastic, just tell me where.  But viewers (ESPECIALLY viewers under 50) have collectively decided that outside of a half dozen remaining legacy shows, "watch at 7pm on the CW in Seattle, 4:30pm on FOX in Chicago, if you're in Nashville it's a 10:30am on NBC, and if you miss it at that one random time, screw you forever (and oh hey, 10 minutes of unskippable ads per hour on a service you have to pay for because only 10% of local TV viewers watch via antenna)" is an absolute non-starter. And production companies know there's no money in it AND stations can recognize there's probably not going to be viewers in it - except for when there's dealings going on with O&Os or secondary revenue streams streams (Drew Barrymore for example struggles on traditional TV but does a TON on social and streaming).

FOX still does a little bit as they're both a production house, have the largest network of O&Os, don't have a non-news cable arm anymore, and are FAR less invested in streaming than ABC/CBS/NBC's parent companies, and have more time to fill and affiliates more accustomed to filling it. But even those aren't lighting the books up even remotely.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: ChrisLambert! on March 04, 2023, 05:26:48 PM
I don't think I've seen "new to syndication" reruns before 5 since the late-90s. Nowadays they usually air in prime access.

Our CBS affiliate has a .2 that runs ‘10s-‘20s sitcoms from 1-6, but that’s obviously a non-standard situation.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Stackertosh on March 04, 2023, 06:58:13 PM
Judge Judy,Muary,Jerry Springer (Talk Show) still show reruns. I wonder if they going to rerun them next fall.


I would love to see some of the ABC reboots go into syndication (Press Your Luck,Pyramid)
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Jimmy Owen on March 04, 2023, 09:25:47 PM
Reruns of talk shows won't last long before viewers start getting deja vu.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: PYLdude on March 04, 2023, 09:28:53 PM
Reruns of talk shows won't last long before viewers start getting deja vu.

Jerry Springer says hi.

No prize.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Dbacksfan12 on March 05, 2023, 03:55:13 AM
FOX still does a little bit as they're both a production house, have the largest network of O&Os, don't have a non-news cable arm anymore
Perhaps I’m misunderstanding your post…what about FS1 and FS2?
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: colonial on March 05, 2023, 01:12:42 PM
It was reported back in December that GSN and Debmar-Mercury planned to offer episodes of "People Puzzler" in syndication. All of the episodes will have aired on GSN if it pops up in syndication this fall.

Fox may consider "Person, Place or Thing" for a full season next fall. Fox is also trying out a quiz from TMZ called "Who the Bleep Is That" this month on its 12 O&Os.

As far as LeVar Burton's "Trivial Pursuit," he again mentioned at a fan convention late last year that the series is "in development" and may premiere "in 2023" but that's all that's been said.

As others have mentioned, the daytime genre is grinding to a halt when it comes to new series. Nothing has been an all-out hit since Steve Harvey took over "Feud." For anything new on syndication to succeed these days, they need to have a streaming element -- Drew Barrymore's talk show has reportedly done quite well on Pluto TV, for instance. I believe the games on the Fox O&Os air on Tubi.

It's slim pickings on daytime TV these days. I can't imagine any of these longer news blocks or pay-for-play shows are doing well ratings-wise, but the stations get ad money from them (but we may be reaching a tipping point with that as well -- aging audience, little success with streaming, a worn-out workforce making little money to do the work of three people, etc.). It's nothing more than background noise.


JD
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: PYLdude on March 05, 2023, 02:04:10 PM
FOX still does a little bit as they're both a production house, have the largest network of O&Os, don't have a non-news cable arm anymore
Perhaps I’m misunderstanding your post…what about FS1 and FS2?

That’s what I was saying. Those are still under the control of Rupert Murdoch.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Bob Zager on March 05, 2023, 02:05:13 PM
Fox may consider "Person, Place or Thing" for a full season next fall. Fox is also trying out a quiz from TMZ called "Who the Bleep Is That" this month on its 12 O&Os.

JD
"Who the Bleep Is That," begins it's test run tomorrow March 6!
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: TimK2003 on March 05, 2023, 02:15:17 PM
^^ Speaking of the television news genre, the talent pool is shrinking as well.

Much like what happened in radio in the last couple of decades, owners are either not renewing the contracts of their top tenured talent or they are taking big salary cuts.

In the small market "farm league" stations, the overall quality of up and coming news talent has really gone down as the starting salaries for most of these positions is at or near minimum wage. And compared to 15-20 years ago, these college grads are now doing the work of 2 or 3 people for that minimum wage.

Living in a bottom-40 TV market, the ones I've seen with potential to "make it" in the business, leave the business for more higher-paying jobs in other occupations.  Most of those who remain in these bottom markets and climb the ladder look like they skipped their requisite college broadcast courses and sound terrible on the air.  They are slowly making their way into the medium market stations.

Also in these smaller markets, they are struggling to fill their schedule.  They don't have the budget nor the talent do do news all day like the larger markets, so they rely on double and triple runs of syndicated fare over one or all of the multiple stations they have.  Usually airing the first run syndicated show in the morning on Channel A, then rerunning them on Channel B in the afternoon, filling in the rest of the day with "best of" syndicated shows from years past.

I do see TV stations, especially those not affiliated with the big 4 networks and also those in the smaller markets, changing significantly in the years to come or even closing up shop since there is no profits to be made.  Much like radio of late, there is only so much a station can trim (budgets, talent, programming,...) before the audience bails and the profits dry up.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Matt Ottinger on March 09, 2023, 01:17:03 PM
In the small market "farm league" stations, the overall quality of up and coming news talent has really gone down as the starting salaries for most of these positions is at or near minimum wage. And compared to 15-20 years ago, these college grads are now doing the work of 2 or 3 people for that minimum wage.

When we had the shooting at Michigan State a few weeks ago, it was painful seeing the "reporters" in the Lansing market struggle with breaking news and staying on the air.  It's like, they knew that's what they should be doing, they just didn't really have any idea how to do it. It wasn't until Grand Rapids reporters showed up on the scene (from about an hour away) that we got respectable coverage.  And Lansing is generally considered a mid-sized market (#115 out of 210).  I would hate to see what smaller markets aren't capable of.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: TimK2003 on March 09, 2023, 01:46:55 PM
In my small market, we recently had a reporter who thought she was one of those Saturday E/I kid show hosts.  She would "segue" between scenes by either jumping out of one scene and landing in another or duck down in scene 1 and pop up in scene 2.  She served her one year contract here then was finally gone.  Also on that station, for a time, one of the "main anchors" was still in college, not even 21 (but she was one of those good reporters who was smart enough to leave the industry).  The one who remains, sadly, tries to do Dad Jokes during the newscast and other "unprofessional" bits (wearing a storm trooper mask on Star Wars Day 5/4)

Over at the other channel, their solo evening anchor can't even read a story without stumbling on a word.  Their morning show host "gets it" and does a phenominal job.  Why they don't switch the two people?

So where are the News Directors that are supposed to mentor  and reprimand these newbies?  Instead of a college degree, all you need now is just a pulse to break into TV news.

Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Sodboy13 on March 09, 2023, 11:06:21 PM
It's bad out there in part because 28 years of endless consolidation and "streamlining" enabled by the Telecom Deregulation Act has really nuked the farm system and required those who remain to do more with less, and for less. It is nowhere near the attractive field it used to be, and too many getting into it don't have their nuts and bolts down and are trying to set a glide path toward influencing or PR.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: chrisholland03 on March 10, 2023, 07:21:58 AM
So where are the News Directors that are supposed to mentor  and reprimand these newbies?

They were all pushed out.  My partner was one.  Unless you're an on-air personality or in a top-25 market, the station groups won't pay the salary that comes with experience.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: BrandonFG on March 10, 2023, 09:59:39 AM
I dunno if I’m just getting older and everyone under 25 looks like babies to me, but anytime I watch the local news, the reporters and even anchors look like they just got their degrees last week. And I’m in a Top 50 market, so when I worked in news in the late-2000s it was still a good 2 or 3 years before you made it to a metro like mine.

Of course there were exceptions back in the day, but now it seems more like the norm.
Title: Re: Syndication wide open, where's the game shows?
Post by: Joe Mello on March 10, 2023, 11:41:02 AM
It's bad out there in part because 28 years of endless consolidation and "streamlining" enabled by the Telecom Deregulation Act has really nuked the farm system and required those who remain to do more with less, and for less.
It's that, I'm sure, but it's also streaming trying to kill traditional broadcasting and cable. As Chelsea had mentioned upthread, there's no incentive to put something into the broadcast space right now, even though you would have a larger potential audience.