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Author Topic: Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!  (Read 6674 times)

xavier45

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« on: December 15, 2010, 11:22:32 PM »
For the first time in about 6 years, GSN is going to be airing 20 hours a day instead of the 19 it has been for a while now. Starting on December 27th, an hour of Match Game will take over the 8:00am and 8:30am slots replacing Paid Programming. The rest of the schedule will stay the same afterwards. Weekends will stay the same as well, starting at 9:00am.

Source: Buzzerblog
« Last Edit: December 15, 2010, 11:47:34 PM by xavier45 »

Winkfan

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2010, 05:14:54 PM »
Quote
For the first time in about 6 years, GSN is going to be airing 20 hours a day instead of the 19 it has been for a while now. Starting on December 27th, an hour of Match Game will take over the 8:00am and 8:30am slots replacing Paid Programming. The rest of the schedule will stay the same afterwards.

While it is good news, they'll be running the later MG '74 episodes during the 8-9am slot to begin with; and on the first week in January, it's back to the beginning of MG '74 in the 11:00am-Noon slot.

They should have put the 1979-82 syndicated MG in the 8-9am slot instead; and it also wouldn't have hurt to keep going with the remainder of MG '75 as well.

Cordially,
Tammy
« Last Edit: January 08, 2014, 10:43:19 PM by Winkfan »
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parliboy

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2010, 06:42:38 PM »
So, "In The Biz" type-people, is this change due to a healthier GSN, or a weaker infomercial market?
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Chelsea Thrasher

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2010, 10:44:27 PM »
[quote name=\'parliboy\' post=\'252638\' date=\'Dec 16 2010, 05:42 PM\']So, "In The Biz" type-people, is this change due to a healthier GSN, or a weaker infomercial market?[/quote]

There seems to be a slow move, at least amongst the  cable networks, away from infomercials as a revenue source. Hallmark Channel, for example, has gone entirely infomercial-free within the last few months. Other networks seem to be experimenting with reducing the infomercial offerings as well.

The prolonged recession has resulted in viewers having 1)a far shorter patience for sitting through program-length commercials in the first place, and 2)a substantially lower willingness to buy products offered in said commercials. Less money spent on the products means less money in the company's pockets, which means less money in the station's pockets. Double bonus: Infomercials have also suffered due to the wide-scale proliferation of both DVRs and Electronic Program Guides, which allow viewers to easily skip past stations offering infomercials.  In the past, one of their main sources of viewers (and customers) was people who either channel surfed onto an infomercial or left the TV on that station after the end of normal programming.  

Plus, from the network side, infomercials also ding the ratings of the shows that follow them on the schedule.  Family Feud with Richard Dawson, for example, has had times where it's struggled to draw 75,000 viewers as the lead-off at 9a, a sad sight lower than in just about any other slot.  Even the Combs-hosted version could draw 100K at 10a. Those dinged ratings mean a hard time selling ad slots - typically speaking to fill those lower-tier ad slots you have to accept cheap spots from direct response companies.  

The combined effects means it now makes more financial sense for GSN to run normal programming at 8AM - and if the results are positive, other slots could follow.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2010, 10:46:32 PM by Seth Thrasher »

Matt Ottinger

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2010, 11:04:17 PM »
[quote name=\'Seth Thrasher\' post=\'252646\' date=\'Dec 16 2010, 10:44 PM\']The combined effects means it now makes more financial sense for GSN to run normal programming at 8AM - and if the results are positive, other slots could follow.[/quote]
Excellent analysis and explanation Seth, thanks.  I wonder if any of this could have anything to do with them testing the waters with the black & white shows these two weeks.  Surely those shows draw more viewers than infomercials.

Meanwhile, for the next two weeks I turn on my television set to find it tuned to GSN from the overnight recording, so once again (albeit temporarily) I am more inclined to sample the rest of the programming.  Caught a couple of old Lingos already, they're running the Mexican-themed week.  I have to bet I'm not the only person who does that.
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NickS

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2010, 12:13:18 AM »
[quote name=\'Seth Thrasher\' post=\'252646\' date=\'Dec 16 2010, 09:44 PM\']The prolonged recession has resulted in viewers having 1)a far shorter patience for sitting through program-length commercials in the first place, and 2)a substantially lower willingness to buy products offered in said commercials. Less money spent on the products means less money in the company's pockets, which means less money in the station's pockets.[/quote]

One question - and I think it's fair - do you know if the infomercials are per inquiry (read: network makes money on infomercial for each sale of an item in the program) or a flat fee?  If it's the former, then it's a spot-on observation.  If it's the latter, then you have a double-edged sword for a network... sure money and losing ratings or making viewers happy and risking a lower rate?

/insert "Money or Mob" pun here

Chelsea Thrasher

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2010, 07:44:54 PM »
[quote name=\'TeppanYaki\' post=\'252652\' date=\'Dec 16 2010, 11:13 PM\']One question - and I think it's fair - do you know if the infomercials are per inquiry (read: network makes money on infomercial for each sale of an item in the program) or a flat fee?  If it's the former, then it's a spot-on observation.[/quote]

I'm not entirely sure how GSN negotiates it's deals for airtime during the paid programming hours.

With regards to the effects that paid programming can have on ratings, I point you to the thread discussing the most recent GSN ratings. Specifically, the GSN marathon. The marathon, which featured episodes from the 2005-07 time period, featured the following ratings:

213 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 9:00am- 9:30am 96
164 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 9:30am-10:00am 219
91 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 10:00am-10:30am 336
90 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 10:30am-11:00am 337
146 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 11:00am-11:30am 252
136 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 11:30am-12:00pm 266
93 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 12:00pm-12:30pm 332
66 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 12:30pm- 1:00pm 373
13 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 1:00pm- 1:30pm 522
9 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 1:30pm- 2:00pm 540
2 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 2:00pm- 2:30pm 672
19 WHEEL OF FORTUNE Fri 2:30pm- 3:00pm 497

Wheel of Fortune, a show that blew anything and everything on the schedule out of the water by 1 PM couldn't draw more than 100K viewers in the 9 AM slot. It also drew 120K below it's morning average at 9:30, before settling into a nice rhythm at 10 AM. (The 11 AM hour can be explained in three words: "Price is Right").  

By adding programming at 8, the network can probably expect the ratings for 9 AM to move noticeably higher.  It also shows that the ratings troubles Dawson Feud has had the second half of this year have more to do with the scheduling near paid programming than the aging of the reruns. (For what it's worth,it's my understanding that Lingo in that same slot is now performing worse than Dawson did)

JacksonBrowne1980

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2010, 03:15:47 PM »
all we need is to get rif of the 4 am hour of paid programming and get rid of the poker, and bring back more classics, i think DonD should be removesd as well as 1 vs. 100 (both versions)  and baggage and bring back more classics and get rid of the 5-7 am paid programming and replace it with classic game shows and get some sectors of GSN
« Last Edit: December 19, 2010, 09:43:34 PM by JacksonBrowne1980 »
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mmb5

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2010, 03:38:22 PM »
[quote name=\'JacksonBrowne1980\' post=\'252785\' date=\'Dec 19 2010, 03:15 PM\']i think DonD should be removesd as well as 1 vs. 1900 (both versions)[/quote]
1 vs. 1900?  How many contestant coordinators were there?
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Matt Ottinger

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2010, 04:02:37 PM »
[quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'252787\' date=\'Dec 19 2010, 03:38 PM\']1 vs. 1900?  How many contestant coordinators were there?[/quote]
Two.
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TLEberle

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2010, 06:42:49 PM »
[quote name=\'JacksonBrowne1980\' post=\'252785\' date=\'Dec 19 2010, 12:15 PM\']all we need is to get rif of the 4 am hour of paid programming ... and get rid of the 5-7 am paid programming and replace it with classic game shows and get some sectors of GSN[/quote]You willing to front the money?
Travis L. Eberle

Steve Gavazzi

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #11 on: December 19, 2010, 06:55:39 PM »
I just wanna know why getting rid of one hour of paid programming and getting rid of the next two hours of it are two separate items.  Also, the 7-8 hour is okay?

JacksonBrowne1980

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #12 on: December 19, 2010, 07:18:17 PM »
GSN SHould Be 24/7 Game Shows
Erik "Taz" Mokracek

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J.R.

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #13 on: December 19, 2010, 07:47:10 PM »
[quote name=\'JacksonBrowne1980\' post=\'252803\' date=\'Dec 19 2010, 06:18 PM\']GSN SHould Be 24/7 Game Shows[/quote]
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dale_grass

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Goodbye 8:00am Paid Programming!
« Reply #14 on: December 19, 2010, 10:41:10 PM »
[quote name=\'JacksonBrowne1980\' post=\'252785\' date=\'Dec 19 2010, 03:15 PM\']all we need is to get rif of the 4 am hour of paid programming and get rid of the poker, and bring back more classics, i think DonD should be removesd as well as 1 vs. 100 (both versions)  and baggage and bring back more classics and get rid of the 5-7 am paid programming and replace it with classic game shows and get some sectors of GSN[/quote]
Geez, you could at least make room in your dream schedule for classics.

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