Our local CW affiliate has Family Feud and Millionaire in a two hour block; I don\'t think it is so dire for game shows as all that. Hollywood Squares marked out six years; what\'s to say The Pyramid (I don\'t think I\'ve ever gone so far out of my way to make sure that a definite article is included in something) couldn\'t stake out the same?
For every Feud, Millionaire, and H2, there\'s been the Temptations, Donnymids, Merv Griffin\'s Clusterfricks, Trivial Pursuits, Card Sharks 2001s, To Tell the Truths, Weakest Links, and insert designated failure here.
Feud is in an okay position right now, but once Millionaire bites the dust in the not-too-distant future (don\'t know if it can go much further than the 11 years it\'s already been on, can it?) is there a guarantee that the stations that carry it will replace it with a game show if one might be in the pipe? You\'ve got the double run airing together on your CW affiliate, but in my market it\'s in the post-news, pre-Chew slot on our ABC O&O. (the second half of the double run, FTR, still airs in late night after Nightline) Who\'s to say that in your case the station won\'t try to add another talker or episode of a talker, or in my case extend the news to cover the bottom of the hour?
Dire might be a little strong but not conducive to growth wouldn\'t be too much of a stretch IMO.
FTR, ETA: if anything, it would be our MyNetwork affiliate that picked up The Pyramid, but they\'ve decided that talk show reairings and Judge Joe Brown is what makes their afternoon (they moved Feud to 5:00 opposite the news). Although I\'m pretty certain now that Jeremy Kyle is leaving American airwaves they COULD find a spot for it...