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If GSN is diversifying, how about poker?

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dickoon:
One of my Friends on my LiveJournal thingamajigger pointed to an announcement of a forthcoming "Casino and Gaming Channel" set to be launched next year.

Given that GSN has indicated its intention to diversify a little from pure game shows with the inception of its video games block, do you think it is at all likely that they might consider including casino gaming programming in the network? If you are prepared to accept that the commercial reality that GSN cannot be purely game shows, (a) would you personally be more interested in watching casino gaming television than video game television and (b) do you think casino gaming television would be a better fit with the GSN brand than video gaming television? My own view is that if people are playing poker on TV in a made-for-TV competition, then it's near enough a game show for all intents and purposes in the first place, dammit, but my opinions on this matter are famously, proudly liberal. *waves game show pinko flag* [*]

Quoting the CNN article, The new channel, being announced Monday, will target the young male crowd, age 21 to 34.  Please can someone remind me which crowd GSN targets? I believe that traditionally game shows skew old, female and domestic, but I also suspect that "young male", or at least "young", is the audience that GSN are trying to go for to a limited extent with their recent original productions. Perhaps we might see poker shows on GSN yet if the new channel proves a success. (Then again, ESPN are set to be broadcasting Scrabble at some point in the future - and I'm referring to the game you've played all your life, only exactly like that. Plus they're covering chess for a week in November, too.)

By way of comparison, Challenge ? in the UK have moved moderately heavily into poker recently, what with broadcasts of Celebrity Poker Club (which, as far as I can tell, is Celebrity Poker Showdown - Showdown + Club) and the (possibly UK exclusive?) rights to the Travel Channel's World Poker Tour. Not sure how well the poker shows are doing for Challenge yet, but the way has been paved by Channel 4's Late Night Poker and has proved that there's at least some demand in this country.

I'm sure that one of the Internet poker room operators would only be too thrilled to run another poker room branded with a TV channel's logos and heavily promoted on-screen, but I'm not sure how the other advertisers would take to it.

Obligatory nostalgic crypticism: CROOOOCKPOOOOTS!

Cash me in,
Chris



[*] It's like a Plinko flag, but somehow much more Christmassy.

PeterMarshallFan:
Oh, please no. GSN would find some way to make an innocent game of cards as edgy as possible.

Sorry, if it ain't a new Dealer's Choice, I pass.

dickoon:
[quote name=\'PeterMarshallFan\' date=\'Oct 28 2003, 02:36 AM\'] GSN would find some way to make an innocent game of cards as edgy as possible. [/quote]
 The fact that there's a real money buy-in which contestants stand to lose makes the action just as edgy as the show needs. No need to add any further physical element to it at all. That said, I maintain there's nothing wrong with a bit of edginess, though where to draw the line is an interesting and personal question.

Extending this topic in a natural way, Challenge ? were looking to do a relatively straight quiz show, Stake Out, where contestants had a cash buy-in. There have been allegations made that this may not actually have happened in real life for all episodes as was portrayed on screen. I have heard nothing to suggest that the purported £1,000 buy-in on Channel 4's Grand Slam was anything other than as displayed on-screen. Interestingly, opinion is broadly that the £1,000 buy-in and winner-takes-all (ho-HO!) structure of Grand Slam did not make the game any better.

PMF, given the commercial reality that GSN has decided it needs to diversify, what would you try instead?

ObDiversification: Challenge ? in the UK are also showing "Celebrity TV Bloopers". Not what you or I would call core on-topic material but I guess you could make an apologist's leap to a justification by pointing out that it's hosted by Dick Clark... :-/

Hooray for the Pay Cards / Dealer's Choice / Card Sharks block,
Chris

PS One thought that a lot of you may enjoy is that this Casino and Gaming Network is probably relatively likely to be the first network to be interested in showing the USA network's Strip Poker apart from USA itself, which I suppose reduces the chance of it appearing on GSN.

zachhoran:
[quote name=\'dickoon\' date=\'Oct 27 2003, 08:28 PM\'] Perhaps we might see poker shows on GSN yet if the new channel proves a success. (Then again, ESPN are set to be broadcasting Scrabble at some point in the future - and I'm referring to the game you've played all your life, only exactly like that. Plus they're covering chess for a week in November, too.)
 [/quote]
 GSN did do a pilot for a Blackjack-esque game a couple of years ago or so, but the pilot did not sell. The title escapes me now, but ROn Pearson hosted it.

Brandon Brooks:
[quote name=\'dickoon\' date=\'Oct 27 2003, 09:41 PM\'] That said, I maintain there's nothing wrong with a bit of edginess, though where to draw the line is an interesting and personal question. [/quote]
 Anyone up for some Strip Poker?

No?

I'm not either.

Brandon Brooks

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