Saw a story in MultiChannel about GSN's new programming guy, Ian Valentine. Mostly the same as I've seen elsewhere, but there was a reference to GSN's numbers since the March 15 changeover:
"Since the March name change, primetime ratings have remained flat at a 0.5 through May, after suffering a 20% drop from 2002 to 2003.
"'I think that [GSN president] Rich Cronin began to point a new direction for the channel with the name change and the new slate of programming that I find exciting and challenging,' Valentine said. 'My job is to look at what’s working, and to find new stuff that might work to begin to broaden the appeal of the channel beyond just an audience that likes game shows to a much larger audience that enjoys competition, games and play-alongs.'
"While classic game shows will continue to remain a daytime staple, Valentine said the network will employ more original and acquired reality and gaming shows in primetime and during late night."
That 0.5 number is better than the numbers GSN generally got in April and May last year (each line shows the week, the prime time household rating, the number of households in prime time, and the rank in the top 40 ad-supported cablers):
04/01/03-04/06/03 Out of top 40, less than 215,000 hh
04/07/03-04/13/03 0.5 267,000 35
04/14/03-04/20/03 0.4 216,000 38
04/21/03-04/27/03 0.4 213,000 38
04/28/03-05/04/03 0.4 229,000 35
05/05/03-05/11/03 0.3 177,000 40
05/12/03-05/18/03 0.4 208,000 37
05/19/03-05/25/03 0.3 172,000 40
I got these numbers from the old CableWorld site. Unfortunately, that site no longer publishes weekly stats for free.
So the new stuff isn't killing GSN's household ratings. The demos may be getting a little younger. At least every ad on the network is no longer plugging arthritis meds. And the network has picked up a few new advertisers like Coke and Burger King.
