I'm not sure the point trying to be made here. Isn't the strategy to see if they can replicate the show's success on GSN in a broader arena? I recall one of the articles about GSN's overall slate touting how much day-to-day engagement they get with their strategy of leaning into 5-a-week shows. Did I miss what you were driving at?
I think the point is : doesn't a station want to air successful shows that get higher ratings so that they can charge more money and turn a bigger profit?
Airing 2 year old reruns of a cable game show isn't going to accomplish that. And instead, the local tv station becomes a little more homogenized (and irrelevant) in a 5000 channel universe.
Call me curmudgeonly, but I can't imagine the producers are thinking that People Puzzler is going to be a cash cow. Instead , they're going to make a little money on syndie rights and then next year, the next batch of cheap programming will be slotted. Or, the 6th double run of the day of Feud on that channel.