And Price wins...

[tommycharles]

Quiet Saturday Goes to CBS
Fast National ratings for Saturday, April 24, 2004

A lineup of original shows gave CBS a ratings win Saturday over movies
on ABC and NBC and FOX's crime shows.

CBS averaged a 5.4 rating/10 share for the night, overcoming FOX's
4.5/9. NBC was third at 4.2/8, and ABC trailed at 2.7/5.

FOX led among adults 18-49 with a 2.7 rating. NBC and CBS tied for
second at 1.8, while ABC came in at 1.5 in the demographic.

A prime-time "Price Is Right" special, 5.1/11, gave CBS the lead at 8
p.m. An hour's worth of "Cops" on FOX was second at 4.0/8. NBC was
third with the movie "Space Cowboys," 3.3/7, which beat ABC's movie
offering, "Almost Famous."

Ratings information is taken from fast national data. All numbers are
preliminary and subject to change.

Not the best rating for a Price special, but it did out do COPS by a full point, which has to count for something.

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'tommycharles\' date=\'Apr 25 2004, 11:26 PM\']

A prime-time "Price Is Right" special, 5.1/11, gave CBS the lead at 8 p.m.  An hour's worth of "Cops" on FOX was second at 4.0/8. ...
Not the best rating for a Price special, but it did out do COPS by a full point, which has to count for something.

The good news is, that's likely good enough for CBS to keep making these specials.  The bad news, off-topic as it may be, is that even though The District remains Saturday's top draw, TV Guide reports that Team Eye will probably cancel it next month anyway.  Word is that they plan to move away from high-cost scripted programming on low-yield Saturday nights.  However, if I was Les Moonves, I'd stay with six MDS's a season tops, three at a time.

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Apr 25 2004, 10:56 PM\']
The good news is, that's likely good enough for CBS to keep making these specials.  The bad news, off-topic as it may be, is that even though The District remains Saturday's top draw, TV Guide reports that Team Eye will probably cancel it next month anyway.  Word is that they plan to move away from high-cost scripted programming on low-yield Saturday nights.  However, if I was Les Moonves, I'd stay with six MDS's a season tops, three at a time. [/quote]
 And if *I* were Les Moonves, I'd have made sure Letterman followed up on his promise of a 10th Aniversary prime time special. But that, again, is off topic.

I don't think a regular sat. night game show would be all that out of place on the Eye net, but Price isn't the one.

[rugrats1]

I don't think a regular sat. night game show would be all that out of place on the Eye net, but Price isn't the one.

And besides -- would Bob and the gang be able to handle the MDSs on a weekly basis, rather than the occasional appearances that is occuring now?

[DrJWJustice]

[quote name=\'rugrats1\' date=\'Apr 25 2004, 11:34 PM\']

I don't think a regular sat. night game show would be all that out of place on the Eye net, but Price isn't the one.

And besides -- would Bob and the gang be able to handle the MDSs on a weekly basis, rather than the occasional appearances that is occuring now? [/quote]
 I dunno -- probably not.  Look the value of those prizes that were on the show.  I mean, it's not every day that you see a Dodge Viper in a Showcase!!!  (What I wouldn't give to be behind the while of one of those!).  I'm with the group that says do these MDS specials every now and then, kinda like ABC's doing Super Millionaire two or three times per year for $10 million as the top prize, while the daily syndie show goes for $1 million as its top prize.  

I'm just WAITING for Chris Lemon to drop in with his patented Mo' Money Syndrome argument -- and this is one case when I would actually agree with him on it.

[NickintheATL]

As would I... am I the only one left who has ideas for shows with average payouts of less than $10,000-$20,000 per day?

Obviously so... but then again I'm a cheap man.... unlike Bob Stewart who is even cheaper, hehe <ducks vigorously>

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Apr 25 2004, 11:01 PM\'] I'm just WAITING for Chris Lemon to drop in with his patented Mo' Money Syndrome argument -- and this is one case when I would actually agree with him on it. [/quote]
 Obviously I don't need to, because some of you folks are finally learning.

[Matt Ottinger]

In the Cullen era they were doing five weekday shows and one higher-stakes prime time edition each week.  I don't think the audience would tire of a weekly prime time show, especially on low-rent Saturdays.  The ratings have certainly justified the specials, and I bet a weekly show wouldn't see that much of a drop-off.

The overriding concern for all of this, of course, is how much longer Barker wants to keep going.  But his ego would certainly be served by being a prime-time star this late in his career.  If Moonves wants a cost-efficient way of staying in the network TV game on Saturdays, he could do a lot worse than a weekly TPIR.

[HYHYBT]

[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 01:01 AM\'] I dunno -- probably not.  Look the value of those prizes that were on the show.  I mean, it's not every day that you see a Dodge Viper in a Showcase!!! [/quote]
 No, but just imagine the winning streak that would lead to if they did!

[CarShark]

[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 01:01 AM\'] I'm just WAITING for Chris Lemon to drop in with his patented Mo' Money Syndrome argument -- and this is one case when I would actually agree with him on it. [/quote]
 I must have missed something vital, because I always thought that "Mo' Money Syndrome" was when a crappy show tried to impress people by throwing "mo' money" at it. I guess not.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'STYDfan\' date=\'Apr 28 2004, 08:26 AM\'] I must have missed something vital, because I always thought that "Mo' Money Syndrome" was when a crappy show tried to impress people by throwing "mo' money" at it. I guess not. [/quote]
 "Mo' Money Syndrome", as I understand it, doesn't have anything to do with whether the game it refers to is crappy or not.  It's just the general, mistaken belief that if you give away bigger prizes, that automatically makes your game better.

It's also been used to critique fictional "proposals" that have no concept of the limitations of a prize budget.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Apr 28 2004, 06:57 AM\'] [quote name=\'STYDfan\' date=\'Apr 28 2004, 08:26 AM\'] I must have missed something vital, because I always thought that "Mo' Money Syndrome" was when a crappy show tried to impress people by throwing "mo' money" at it. I guess not. [/quote]
"Mo' Money Syndrome", as I understand it, doesn't have anything to do with whether the game it refers to is crappy or not.  It's just the general, mistaken belief that if you give away bigger prizes, that automatically makes your game better.

It's also been used to critique fictional "proposals" that have no concept of the limitations of a prize budget. [/quote]
 Matt has it prezactly right.

[tvwxman]

more money thrown at a mediocre product...

why can't I get "Mo Money Syndrome" written into my next contract at work?

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Apr 28 2004, 10:32 AM\'] [quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Apr 28 2004, 06:57 AM\'] [quote name=\'STYDfan\' date=\'Apr 28 2004, 08:26 AM\'] I must have missed something vital, because I always thought that "Mo' Money Syndrome" was when a crappy show tried to impress people by throwing "mo' money" at it. I guess not. [/quote]
"Mo' Money Syndrome", as I understand it, doesn't have anything to do with whether the game it refers to is crappy or not.  It's just the general, mistaken belief that if you give away bigger prizes, that automatically makes your game better.

It's also been used to critique fictional "proposals" that have no concept of the limitations of a prize budget. [/quote]
Matt has it prezactly right. [/quote]
 You mean the $2,000,000 Bargain Hunters wouldn't be a hit?

[byrd62]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 07:41 AM\']In the Cullen era they were doing five weekday shows and one higher-stakes prime time edition each week.  I don't think the audience would tire of a weekly prime time show, especially on low-rent Saturdays.  The ratings have certainly justified the specials, and I bet a weekly show wouldn't see that much of a drop-off.

The overriding concern for all of this, of course, is how much longer Barker wants to keep going.  But his ego would certainly be served by being a prime-time star this late in his career.  If Moonves wants a cost-efficient way of staying in the network TV game on Saturdays, he could do a lot worse than a weekly TPIR.[/quote]
Maybe CBS would want to do Saturday night Price is Right for 25 episodes between September and May, with reality show Big Brother serving as a summer replacement.

Of course, 25 episodes of a Saturday night Price could, for the sake of Bob's health, come at the expense of 5 weeks' worth of daytime episodes [i.e., 5 more weeks of daytime reruns].

Also, I don't think all of these episodes have to be "Million Dollar Spectaculars" [except during sweeps weeks, which all the networks play to these days], but that shouldn't stop it from offering higher-stakes cash [$100,000 "Plinko"] and prizes [like a Dodge Viper].