Caught the first 10-15 minutes of "Candy Crush". Like most of the posters, I didn't care for it. No play-along factor, over-caffeinated contestants, etc.
When I got to work Monday morning, I overheard a few co-workers talking about the show. One comment caught my ear ...
"Candy Crush, the TV show, is the end result of trying to introduce e-sports to your grandma."
E-sports is a growing market. TBS airs a popular "E-League" show, Deadspin has a decent percentage of article devoted to the e-sports field. ESPN appears to be going all-in with e-sports on its website, with a section solely devoted to e-sports. It's captured the interest of the younger demographic that's moved away from traditional TV.
It makes sense for a major network to capitalize on the e-sports phenomena, especially in a lower-risk summer timeslot. But there's no way in heck you can sell, say, "League of Legends" or "Overwatch" to the masses. So you turn to a popular app that the whole family can play, and try to present it on-air in similar fashion to an e-sports event. And it fell flat on its face.