Massive update on the ratings page today. Power of 10 is continuing to show that you don’t need a huge winner every show to be exciting. Wins of $10,000 are just as fun and exciting as million wins. GSN’s July ratings came in as well, and they aren’t too pretty. GSN’s main issue, in my eyes, is primetime. Daytime is fine, but primetime is an absolute disaster area. GSN needs a more stable line of originals. The cheap daytime shows like Lingo in primetime are not cutting it. Look back to how things were in 2001-2002, when ratings were very high. It apparently worked then; it can work again when game shows are actually a hot item. Also, don’t be afraid to throw some classics in primetime. You can’t tell me that Family Feud and Match Game can get any lower ratings than Dog Eat Dog, Weakest Link, or really overrun originals like Chain Reaction.
27
Aug
07
Posts
Any reports on ratings for “Grand Slam”?
Just wondering, because, I recall some posts on here thinking the move to only airing the game once a week on Saturday nights was a “positive sign” for the show. I actually thought it was the reverse. If they’d changed it to once a week Sunday nights, then I’d agree, but, Saturday night is where most networks “dump” shows, because it is the lowest watched night of the week (and in the summer even more so). So, the move to all Saturday night’s signaled to me the ratings weren’t that great, and they were trying to just burn the show up on Saturday nights.
I am tired of seeing Weakest Link and dog eat dog. There weren’t that many episodes of those two shows to even re-run any way. I’ve seen clips of the same Dog eat Dog’s all the time, you get to know every moment of some episodes by heart epically when the show is not on par.
I really do wish that GSN puts in a classic in primetime. I really can’t figure out why classics are banned in primetime. They used to do great when they were there, but now they are only put to daytime and late overnight.
Well, at least GSN is putting ‘Millionaire’ back at 8 PM starting September 10. It may not be the ratings savior it was in 2003-04, but certainly it has to be doing better than ‘Weakest Link’, ‘Dog Eat Dog’, or ‘Greed’. I think it’s no coincidence that GSN’s prime time average slid from .4 to .3 the same month that it was pulled. It would be great if GSN could get some back episodes of the syndie version, but who knows what kinds of strings they’d have to pull with Disney?
They’re also placing the new season of ‘That’s the Question’ at 9 PM - it’ll be interesting to see how that works out. And oh yeah, ‘Family Feud’ is going into prime time, but of course it’s Karn’s version. I guess it must be getting pretty decent ratings. Hopefully now they’ll acquire John O’Hurley’s first season and put that in prime time.
And yes, putting classics in prime time couldn’t hurt considering how bad things have gotten. I know you’ve reported that their most popular classics get ratings around the .25 to .3 range, and it’s apparent that ‘Weakest Link’ et. al. aren’t doing any better than that.
Here’s the thing…People expect big payouts on gameshows nowadays. When they see a gameshow with a top prize of $10,000,000, do you think that Chain Reaction with a $5000 bonus round is going to get many people to watch? Especially on a cable network? On a broadcast network, $50,000 on the Singing Bee works. But, unless you have something to draw people to your show, you’ve got nothing. Chain Reaction, Lingo, That’s the Question…all OK shows, but none pay enough to get attention from the casual viewer. The networks, while bringing gameshows to the forefront again, and syndication game shows starting to flourish again, GSN is not fullfilling any kind of hole anymore. The best gameshow ideas are going to syndication and networks to make more money. GSN is getting the rest, and that does not make for good ratings.
Whammy would have ended up in syndication if it were being proposed today, and so would Russian Roulette. Those were the best shows, IMHO, that GSN produced back in its heyday. They averaged about…what…a .7? GSN can barely get a blip with its newest shows. At least Lingo is still around. That’s the only good show left on the network.
BTW- What’s with them showing Whammy! two times daily?