Author Topic: CBS Cancels Guiding Light (Read 40308 times)

TheInquisitiveOne · « **Reply #15 on:** March 30, 2009, 12:10:46 PM »

[quote name=\'gsgalaxy82\' post=\'211493\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 10:46 AM\']Agreed, which is why I think CBS should open up the 3 pm hour for such a combo. Thus, 10 am would be perfect for a game show, to pair up with Price is Right. As said before, GL airs at 10 am in most markets anyways.[/quote]

Which is exactly the case for us Chicagoland folks:

2pm - Rachel Ray
3pm - Dr. Phil
4pm - Judge Judy (2 shows)
5pm - CBS 2 News

If CBS entertains the idea for another daytime game show, they can put together a homebrew show and work something simple...no million-dollar cash prizes, no vote-offs, no money ladders, none of the gimmicky stuff.

Worse comes to worse, they can follow a practice that WGN is doing with Millionaire: show episodes from the previous season of TPIR, followed by a new episode at 10am. That can work wonders for Drew and crew.

The Inquisitive One

Casey Buck · « **Reply #16 on:** March 30, 2009, 12:15:25 PM »

[quote name=\'gsgalaxy82\' post=\'211485\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 08:02 AM\']If I'm not mistaken, only two CBS affilates don't air GL at all (WNEM in Saginaw, MI, though they do air it on their My5 subchannel and KOVR in Sacramento, ironically a CBS O&O!).[/quote]
Guiding Light hasn't aired in Sacramento since 1991, when former affiliate KXTV sacrificed it in order to carry more syndicated programming. When CBS bought KOVR in 2005 from Sinclair, they apparently decided that it wasn't worth bringing GL back in the middle of a storyline.

By the way, that's not the only scheduling oddity that KOVR has. They also air the primetime lineup an hour early (from 7-10 PM), with an hour-long 10 PM newscast, and Letterman at 11 PM, another practice that was kept from the previous management.

Don Howard · « **Reply #17 on:** March 30, 2009, 12:29:29 PM »

[quote name=\'Casey Buck\' post=\'211500\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 12:15 PM\']
When CBS bought KOVR in 2005 from Sinclair, they apparently decided that it wasn't worth bringing GL back in the middle of a storyline.
[/quote]
When is a soap opera ever not in the middle of a storyline?
I suspect that if we do see games, it'll be on the order of the block we saw after Santa Barbara's cancellation with Scrabble and Scattergories. Two shows with barren sets and a shoestring budget used as a stop-gap until what Moonves would rather see is ready for air.
It would be a bit odd for a while with Guiding Light off the schedule given that it's now a couple of months into its seventy-third year. That rich history dating back to 1937 could be what's saved it from the wrecking ball for so long where other shows may have perished.

gsgalaxy82 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 30, 2009, 12:30:21 PM »

[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' post=\'211499\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 11:10 AM\']
If CBS entertains the idea for another daytime game show, they can put together a homebrew show and work something simple...no million-dollar cash prizes, no vote-offs, no money ladders, none of the gimmicky stuff.
[/quote]

Which is why I suggested they should simply just pick up Family Feud, but I understand all the crap that would probably go into doing something like that under such short notice. You'd have the distributor and station contracts that would have to be paid off. But on the bright side, CBS wouldn't have to build a set or really even build a new audience. And since Feud is already on in the mornings/afternoon in most places, it wouldn't be a big adjustment.
But that's all speculation. Reason I mention Feud is because I doubt CBS would want to spend the money to build a new set and all that stuff.

SteveR · « **Reply #19 on:** March 30, 2009, 01:09:40 PM »

[quote name=\'gsgalaxy82\' post=\'211493\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 11:46 AM\'][quote name=\'SteveR\' post=\'211488\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 10:24 AM\']Affiliates will take any/every hour that's offered to them.

I'm sure most affiliates will see the 3:00 hour as a prime chance for either a) another hour of local news or b) a chance to pair up whatever combo they have of Oprah / Phil / The Drs. and the upcoming Dr. Oz shows.
[/quote]Agreed, which is why I think CBS should open up the 3 pm hour for such a combo. Thus, 10 am would be perfect for a game show, to pair up with Price is Right. As said before, GL airs at 10 am in most markets anyways.[/quote]
There's little chance affiliates will be interested in a trade-off of 10am-for-3pm. They'll be in total greed mode and expect to have both hours for themselves.

DC does Inside Edition/Insider reruns in the 10-11 hour and GL at 3. Baltimore does GL at 10 and Phil at 3.

But the last thing the network can expect is an overwhelming approval of using either hour for network programming.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #20 on:** March 30, 2009, 01:17:48 PM »

In today's economy, a station might consider a network show to a syndicated one that they have to purchase, especially if local advertisers are not as buying as many spots as they used to.

SteveR · « **Reply #21 on:** March 30, 2009, 01:31:59 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'211508\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 01:17 PM\']
In today's economy, a station might consider a network show to a syndicated one that they have to purchase, especially if local advertisers are not as buying as many spots as they used to.
[/quote]Isn't there a barter aspect to most syndicated acquisitions? That allows the station to keep 100% of the revenues from the local ad avail spots in the show.

The network show might not make that kind of arrangement offer.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #22 on:** March 30, 2009, 01:41:59 PM »

Very interesting developments. Would be sorry to see the longest-running soap go, but I've watched the more recent eps., and the execution is quite painful to watch. Most of it comes from saving their budget, so now you have more outdoor scenes, and using different rooms within the same building, to avoid spending money on sets. Creative...if you're doing an independent short film. For a national soap opera? Not as much. And don't get me started on the washed-out outdoor scenes...

But I digress...would love to see games back in daytime, esp. competently produced. Feud seems like a good idea. I'd rather see something that has proven successful, so that it could actually lead to more game show opportunities in daytime.

/Hey, it worked for Millionaire
//Not necessarily for the better

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #23 on:** March 30, 2009, 01:55:41 PM »

[quote name=\'SteveR\' post=\'211511\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 01:31 PM\']
[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'211508\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 01:17 PM\']
In today's economy, a station might consider a network show to a syndicated one that they have to purchase, especially if local advertisers are not as buying as many spots as they used to.
[/quote]Isn't there a barter aspect to most syndicated acquisitions? That allows the station to keep 100% of the revenues from the local ad avail spots in the show.

The network show might not make that kind of arrangement offer.
[/quote]

Way back when (the 70's at least) CBS gave a minute of local avails in the 10 or 10:30 show. IIRC, it usually came in the first break of the show. If your station didn't sell it, you'd see network-fed PSAs. Maybe they could make that sort of deal again.

DjohnsonCB · « **Reply #24 on:** March 30, 2009, 02:24:22 PM »

My guess is that they'll wind up expanding The Bold And The Beautiful to an hour, maybe put it in the old GL slot, and give the 12:30 Central half hour to the stations, whereupon some may choose to expand their noon news to an hour without wiping anything out.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #25 on:** March 30, 2009, 02:46:18 PM »

The comments on that page make my head hurt. The posters are worse than your worst fanboi (game show, SciFi, or otherwise).

NickintheATL · « **Reply #26 on:** March 30, 2009, 03:17:18 PM »

[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' post=\'211515\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 02:24 PM\']
My guess is that they'll wind up expanding The Bold And The Beautiful to an hour, maybe put it in the old GL slot, and give the 12:30 Central half hour to the stations, whereupon some may choose to expand their noon news to an hour without wiping anything out.
[/quote]

Well, for years 1:00-1:30 Eastern was local (until 2/5/80 to be precise, when Y&R expanded to an hour at the sacrifice of Love of Life.)

Seems like a possibility to me.

My vote is that they won't change anything else and that they will try something new. I mean, giving up is too easy, in my opinion.

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'211516\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 02:46 PM\']
The comments on that page make my head hurt. The posters are worse than your worst fanboi (game show, SciFi, or otherwise).
[/quote]

There are people on that page saying they won't buy P&G products if they cancel the show? Imagine what fans of "The Doctors" would be like today if they stopped buying Colgate/Palmolive products then? :-D

/This includes you $50,000 Pyramid fans too...

chad1m · « **Reply #27 on:** March 30, 2009, 04:23:33 PM »

May I suggest a daytime run of Million (divided by four or ten) Dollar Password?

CarShark · « **Reply #28 on:** March 30, 2009, 05:31:49 PM »

[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'211527\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 04:23 PM\']
May I suggest a daytime run of Million (divided by four or ten) Dollar Password?
[/quote]Sure, you can. I'm not surprised that you're the first one to mention it.

Changing from soap to game show cuts programming costs by half? I thought soaps were pretty low-budget themselves. Must be the expansive casts.

The stereotypical fan reaction was encapsulated well by the third poster.

[quote name=\'bonnie\' date=\'some time\']I don't care about the business model[/quote]
Just a complete divorce from reality.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #29 on:** March 30, 2009, 06:30:42 PM »

[quote name=\'CarShark\' post=\'211533\' date=\'Mar 30 2009, 05:31 PM\']
Changing from soap to game show cuts programming costs by half? I thought soaps were pretty low-budget themselves. Must be the expansive casts.
[/quote]
I'm sure constantly changing sets and wardrobe is even more expensive. However, the large casts makes sense as well.