just a "what if?" I want to toss out. What if GSN is responsible for Buzzr only having access to such a small number of shows?
Fact: GSN has had a contract leasing (I guess is the word) shows from Fremantle for a number of years.
Fact: Buzzr is a competitior to GSN.
What if GSN said to Fremantle, "hey, we don't like this. Even though we don't use much of your library, who has more viewers? Who has been a long time customer? Who has contractual exclusivity (which is a possibility) to your episodes anyway? Look, let this little channel start up, but only lease them 50 episodes or else we sue you for breach of contract."
Fact (I guess): Buzzr is frustrated over their lack of access to the free mantle episodes, this is the only scenario I can see making sense.
Buzzr and GSN are not in any true competition: Buzzr is an over-the-air diginet that is not found on a lot of cable or satellite systems. GSN is a cable-only network that cannot be picked up by rabbit ears over the air.
Perhaps if and when Buzzr gets picked up by DirecTV and Dish and/or when most neighborhood cable systems carry the local Buzzr affiliate (if a local market would even get a local Buzzr affiliate) would there be possible competition.
At that point, I would think GSN would drop all of their Fremantle leases and increase the amount of their own GSN product, past and present, and ratchet up airing the libraries of Bob Stewart, Barry & Enright, Barris and other shows that are owned by Columbia Tri-Star/Sony. Any leasing costs would likely be less that what they are paying Fremantle now.
Fremantle can do whatever they want with their shows, and if they want to have a specific series seen across 2 or more different OTA/Cable networks simultaneously, that's their prerogative (see: Feud, Harvey).
