The Game Show Forum > Game Show Channels & Networks
Bland Ambition
CaseyAbell:
GSN's prime time household ratings aren't looking too depressed. They were up 22% year-to-year in January:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...aced_by__monk_1
Cable in general had a great month, and GSN didn't get left out. The steady diet of Millionaire, Lingo and MG seems to have worked. The buzz over Super Millionaire will only help February's numbers.
Sure, the demos may not be the greatest, though GSN bragged that Millionaire has done well in 25-54. Major question: will the "pitch the niche" folks use the ratings upturn to argue against non-trad stuff? Probably, and I gotta think that any non-traditional shows which hurt GSN's household count will be quickly down for the count.
With four solid performers in syndication - WoF, Jeopardy, Millionaire and Feud - and ABC dabbling in prime time gamers again, the rumors of game show depression seem greatly exaggerated.
ilb4ever2000:
--- Quote ---It's funny, I was thinking about that about a week or two ago, that we may be heading into a "Great Game Show Depression".
--- End quote ---
Game shows are still a lot better off now than they were in, say, 1996.
BrandonFG:
[quote name=\'ilb4ever2000\' date=\'Jan 30 2004, 03:42 PM\']
--- Quote ---It's funny, I was thinking about that about a week or two ago, that we may be heading into a "Great Game Show Depression".
--- End quote ---
Game shows are still a lot better off now than they were in, say, 1996. [/quote]
Nah...I think 96 was when things started to pick back up, at least in syndication. I'd say the period between 1993-95, when every supporting actor from a TV show had their own talk show...remember Tempestt Bledsoe? Gabrielle Carteris? We still have four or five names in syndication (five if "Street Smarts" returns), so there's honestly no real depression to worry about. And I think that in the next 2 or 3 years, people will tire of reality shows, just like they tired of million dollar game shows, "Friends" clones, and trash talk.
Don Howard:
[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jan 30 2004, 03:51 PM\'] [quote name=\'ilb4ever2000\' date=\'Jan 30 2004, 03:42 PM\']
--- Quote ---It's funny, I was thinking about that about a week or two ago, that we may be heading into a "Great Game Show Depression".
--- End quote ---
Game shows are still a lot better off now than they were in, say, 1996. [/quote]
Nah...I think 96 was when things started to pick back up, at least in syndication. I'd say the period between 1993-95, when every supporting actor from a TV show had their own talk show...remember Tempestt Bledsoe? Gabrielle Carteris? We still have four or five names in syndication (five if "Street Smarts" returns), so there's honestly no real depression to worry about. And I think that in the next 2 or 3 years, people will tire of reality shows, just like they tired of million dollar game shows, "Friends" clones, and trash talk. [/quote]
And 1996 saw the inaugural appearance of Debt, heralded by Wink Martindale as "the return of the game show".
Tony:
Okay, so I was perhaps overstating the "Game Show Great Depression." Perhaps I should explain my reasoning:
The Big Three are no longer at the top of their game quality-wise (well, maybe TPIR still is) and are slowly dropping ratings-wise as well. I remember reading from somewhere that the ABC station group had struggled with the decision to renew WOF and J! to 2008 because of their low demographic ratings (and I'm no happier than any of you about how the advertising community - and thus the TV industry - is a slave to demographics). And, of course, there is the question of whether or not TPIR will survive if/when Barker retires/passes away.
GSN, while still airing some of their existing game shows in daytime, seems to be no longer interested in acquiring any new ones, either library product or originals. I'm almost afraid that the 2-hour game show block dreamed up by "1978-Jeopardy" may actually be the future of GSN, just as the almost non-existence of music videos is the present of MTV.
As for the other syndicated shows produced in recent years, only few seem to be "getting it right" as far as quality goes, and even fewer are doing so while not pandering to "hipness."
All of which is to say, I don't feel as excited about watching the current crop of game shows as I did watching previous crops (and I'm only 27).
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version