[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'245644\' date=\'Aug 9 2010, 02:34 PM\']Well, it makes me wonder if people truly watch the show because its entertaining/fun, or because its out of habit/tradition.[/quote]
Potential advertiser: "Well, we were about to sign up for a huge campaign on your show, but we found out people tune you in every day for different reasons. We'd hate to have eyeballs that don't truly like the million dollar wedge."
I think it's fair to say that the show has expanded in all these ways because of the attention span of its viewers. This isn't a "kids these days!" fist-shaking-at-the-TV comment, but rather observations from watching the reruns. The earlier shows had contestants claw and scratch to solve "TAKE A HIKE" or "RICHARD DREYFUSS" for shopping money. When that was starting to wear thin, you saw prizes come on the wheel and a bonus round added. As that was getting same-old, you had the $10,000 wedge and the Jackpot round. And so on. The longer puzzles yield more money, more chances to pick up all the special schtuff, and when used properly, can balance out the gluts of money from the various added events.
In particular, those '88 shows GSN ran into the ground had me looking at my watch. Puzzle after puzzle with mostly cash on the wheel. In 2010, I can point to some things I don't care for (TV Title? Movie Title? Why?), but most of the basic appeal is still there. The way they use those SPIN IDs is a great way to go after that crowd that can actually sit through call-in shows every single hour and blitz the switchboard for a DVD player.
-Jason