Family Feud gets upgrades

[dzinkin]

Upgrades for Feud

By Paige Albiniak
Broadcasting & Cable
8/25/2003
 
Tribune's veteran game show Family Feud is being rewarded for good ratings with upgrades and new stations. Last year, the show's household rating increased 10%, from 2.1 from 2.3, according to Nielsen. In the daytime demos, its ratings rose 11% among women 18-34, 11% among women 18-49 and 10% among women 25-54.

\"We told everybody we were going to make this show better,\" says Steve Mulderrig, Tribune Entertainment senior vice president of domestic and cable sales, \"and the proof is in the ratings.\"

In New York, Family Feud is moving from Viacom's WWOR-TV, where it was double-run from 3 to 4 p.m., to Fox's WNYW(TV) in the same time slots. In Los Angeles, Young's independent KCAL(TV) will double-run it at 6:30 and 7 p.m., instead of just at 6:30 p.m.

Additional upgrades are in Atlanta; Charleston, S.C.; Detroit; Indianapolis; New Orleans; Norfolk, Va.; Seattle; Tucson, Ariz.; Washington; and West Palm Beach, Fla. The show will premiere this fall in Columbus, Ohio; El Paso, Texas; Lexington, Ky.; Little Rock, Ark.; Memphis, Tenn.; St. Louis; and Wilmington, Del. The new stations will boost clearances from 166 markets covering 93% of the country last season to 185 markets covering 97%.

Tribune attributes the show's recent success to host Richard Karn, once of ABC's Home Improvement, who replaced Louis Anderson last fall.

Tribune and FremantleMedia North America, which produces Family Feud, also have worked to give the show a younger, more contemporary feel. Karn asks competing families such questions as \"name a reason it's good to be Jennifer Lopez,\" or \"name a food women crave when they're pregnant.\"

\"There a contemporary feel to it, a female relatability to it, and it's very family-friendly,\" says Donna Harrison, Tribune senior vice president of unscripted and reality programming.

Family Feud has had several lives on TV, starting on ABC in 1976 and moving into simultaneous syndication from 1977 to 1985. It returned from 1988 through 1995 and came back a third time in 1999.

Stations pay a cash license fee and retain 51/2 minutes of ad time, while Tribune keeps 90 seconds to sell nationally.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Aug 27 2003, 04:21 PM\'] Upgrades for Feud

 [/quote]
 Somewhere, Louie Anderson is eating a plate of crow (among other things).

I had no clue that Feud made a rise in the ratings. I'm glad to read that...I think it has a fairly good chance of maybe seeing a 6th season, and matching the Combs run, but let's see 03-04 first. :-)

[daveromanjr]

I think if the feud can keep the momentum it currently has, it will have a good chance of meeting, or perhaps even beating, the Combs' run.

[combsisthebest]

Does anyone know where I can find a complete list of stations that have Family Feud this season? I want to see if any of my local affiliates picked it up this season.

[HSquares2003]

I tried familyfeud.com, but it appears the \"old\" listings are still there.

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Aug 27 2003, 04:21 PM\']Tribune and FremantleMedia North America, which produces Family Feud, also have worked to give the show a younger, more contemporary feel. Karn asks competing families such questions as \"name a reason it's good to be Jennifer Lopez,\" or \"name a food women crave when they're pregnant.\"[/quote]
I wonder if Ms. Albiniak meant for those two sentences to be related. Because, if she did, A) there're certainly no more \"contemporary\" questions that there were during Louie's run, and B) saying the latter question gives the show a \"younger, more contemporary feel\" would be rather sad.

[SteveRep]

In DC, is moving from 1:00 to 3:00 an \"upgrade\"? Looks like a lateral move to me.

[Darkbandit]

Wonder if FF will still be shown at 10 am on Ch 36 in Charleston, or move to another station and be double run.

[Robert Hutchinson]

There'd be more younger viewers able to watch at 3, wouldn't there?

[Brandon Brooks]

[quote name=\'SteveRep\' date=\'Aug 27 2003, 10:56 PM\'] In DC, is moving from 1:00 to 3:00 an "upgrade"? Looks like a lateral move to me. [/quote]
 No, that's an upgrade.  The later you go, the more viewers you have during that hour when more people are getting off of work and coming home from school.

Brandon Brooks

[TV Favorites]

In my area, it appears that Feud is getting an upgrade for the double run episode.  Originally, we got the first run at 10am and the second at 3:30am.  Now it appears they will run at 10am and 2pm.

[ChuckNet]

In New York, Family Feud is moving from Viacom's WWOR-TV, where it was double-run from 3 to 4 p.m., to Fox's WNYW(TV) in the same time slots.

This makes the 2nd time it's moved to Ch. 5...last time they did so was early in the 01-02 season, and it returned to Ch. 9 for the current season.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious \"Chuckie Baby\")

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Aug 28 2003, 10:44 AM\']

In New York, Family Feud is moving from Viacom's WWOR-TV, where it was double-run from 3 to 4 p.m., to Fox's WNYW(TV) in the same time slots.

This makes the 2nd time it's moved to Ch. 5...last time they did so was early in the 01-02 season, and it returned to Ch. 9 for the current season.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby") [/quote]
 That's also a misleading statement. On WWOR, Feud aired at 3 pm and again at 4, with Pyramid in between at 3:30 and a second ep. at 4:30.

[tyshaun1]

Oddly enough, Family Feud gets a double run here in Lexington from 2 to 3 PM, albeit on a lowly UPN affliliate, and it's been this way since it debuted in '99. So why we are listed as a new market is beyond me.......

Tyshaun

[HSquares2003]

IIRC, Columbus, OH has had it for a good while now also.