interesting find at tvgameshows.net

[adamjk]

Q: What has happened to all of the documentaries GSN said it was going to produce?

A: The network has taken such a radically different direction with its content, those documentaries are probably not going to surface in prolific numbers and that is a shame. The video games doc did not draw nearly the audience of the Press Your Luck special (which is still GSN's highest-rated program in history). We do know the idea we proposed here of doing a series of Sports Century-style profile documentaries of game show legends was indeed pitched to the network and met with a resounding thud. In their quest to reach that pivotal 18-34 age bracket, you will not hear them mention anything upbeat about classic games, save for the one overnight hour and mornings.

As I said, I found that in the FAQ section of the site. It's a shame, they didn't approve that. Maybe they could have helped their ratings some had they done that.

[aaron sica]

As long as they have at least SOME classic games on (whether it be overnights, mornings, whatever), that's ok to me. I don't do too terribly much complaining about GSN - I don't figure what the point is, considering they don't listen to their fans.

[adamjk]

Oh, I agree with you on the point no doubt Aaron. It just would have been cool to see a profile on someone like Bob Barker, or Gene Rayburn, etc.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Jul 14 2004, 03:13 PM\']As long as they have at least SOME classic games on (whether it be overnights, mornings, whatever), that's ok to me. I don't do too terribly much complaining about GSN - I don't figure what the point is, considering they don't listen to their fans.[/quote]
And you can say that about almost any specialty cable channel.  People at Sci-Fi complain about them not being listened to (and you'd think that prime geek audience would fall in the right demos), classic animation fans complain about CN running "Scooby-Doo" over and over again, classic TV fans complaint about TV Land and NAN, how-to fans complain that HGTV's been infected by the "Trading Spaces" needle, the brainy complain that the once-intellectual Learning Channel has become the makeover-obsessed TLC, classic movie fans complained about AMC's makeover (and of course, their ratings are now higher than at any measured time before the makeover).

As long as advertisers are willing to pay premium rates for when a channel reaches a narrow demo slice that doesn't even watch television a lot, the cable channels are going to go for extra bases in that narrow demo instead of a base hit with a wider audience demographically.  And both the advertisers and cable networks have become so entrenched in their views that I don't know what it's going to take to change their ways.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Jul 14 2004, 03:15 PM\'] Oh, I agree with you on the point no doubt Aaron. It just would have been cool to see a profile on someone like Bob Barker, or Gene Rayburn, etc. [/quote]
 "The Biography Channel" has a pretty firm lock on such things.

[Jimmy Owen]

The Catch-22 is that a new net has to serve a niche to be considered by cable companies and once the net is on the system, the net finds they have to abandon that niche to succeed.  All the nets eventually lean toward becoming general entertainment networks.  The best time to watch a cable net is at its launch.

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Jul 14 2004, 12:25 PM\'] [quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Jul 14 2004, 03:15 PM\'] Oh, I agree with you on the point no doubt Aaron. It just would have been cool to see a profile on someone like Bob Barker, or Gene Rayburn, etc. [/quote]
"The Biography Channel" has a pretty firm lock on such things. [/quote]
The concept pitched repeatedly to GSN over the years was also along the lines of the interstitial programming TCM does. Short form features that run the gamut from straightforward bios to intercutting between various game show noteables all talking about a common subject, show, producer or host.

It could have been real cool. But even though the fact was clearly pointed-out that many of the best interview subjects had limited time on Earth, nobody at GSN thought it was programming relevant to their goal of reaching the money demos.


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Jul 14 2004, 03:25 PM\'] [quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Jul 14 2004, 03:15 PM\'] Oh, I agree with you on the point no doubt Aaron. It just would have been cool to see a profile on someone like Bob Barker, or Gene Rayburn, etc. [/quote]
"The Biography Channel" has a pretty firm lock on such things. [/quote]
 Generally, I'd agree, but even *that* channel seems to be losing purpose. Biography channel has become nothing more than the dumping ground for A&E reruns. Then again, I *do* enjoy watching Night Court. :-)

ObGameShow: Night Court co-star Richard Moll did Crosswits86 and "choked" a contestant.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Jul 14 2004, 03:54 PM\'] The best time to watch a cable net is at its launch. [/quote]
Most of the time, that would be the case.  But consider the case of ESPN2, which was at first designed to be more of a younger demo version (fewer mainstream sports) of ESPN -- and the few mainstream sports telecasts they had used hipper graphics (lower case), announcers were dressed more casually, etc.  Even as ESPN2 became a spillover channel for ESPN/ABC leftovers, the lower case graphics still remained (it was a little jarring on a marquee event like the U.S Figure Skating Championships to see those kinds of graphics -- not that I really cared one way or the other, but the difference was notable).  Eventually, ESPN2 was rebranded to be more like ESPN in terms of presentation and events (while ESPN is trying to evolve to a more "entertainment" type of format with sports still as the focal point).

Isn't this funny--ESPN feels that going younger didn't work for ESPN2, so they actually skewed a little older to make ESPN2 more attractive.  Quite the opposite direction of other channels, no?

OK, now tell me why I'm wrong.  

Doug

[JasonA1]

The big point to make about Mark's reply back there was that in my house (and at least a dozen others I know) all of those channels are watched more in those homes than ever before. My teen friends watch "Adult Swim" - my dad loves "Twilight Zone" reruns - my mother and sisters watch TLC's endless parade of shows - I love AMC now - and...well, TV Land never grabbed me in the first place. But obviously changes like this are only to actually, y'know, make green. We can't fault GSN for that. I get along with the channel just fine, personally.

-Jason

[Ian Wallis]

The concept pitched repeatedly to GSN over the years was also along the lines of the interstitial programming TCM does.

It may not be exactly the same thing, but one thing I really enjoyed on GSN when it first started were shows like "Club AM" and "Prime Games" (they were sort of interstitials).  When a show went to a break, Dave and Laura would come on and talk a little about what just happened on the show, go to a commercial, go back to the show and the whole thing would repeat.  

I think those were some of the best days of GSN - they were more "personable" back then.  At least you saw some faces of the people working there and they tried to involve their viewers - it wasn't just one show after another airing with no viewer involvement.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jul 15 2004, 09:08 AM\'] I think those were some of the best days of GSN - they were more "personable" back then.  At least you saw some faces of the people working there and they tried to involve their viewers - it wasn't just one show after another airing with no viewer involvement. [/quote]
 When I would get tapes of GSN's programming in trades, "Club AM" and "Prime Games" were the first things I would zip past with the fast-forward button - I just wanted to see the shows.

Close to two years later, when we got DISH Network and GSN, I found the two segments very interesting and was sorry to see them go.

[starcade]

They won't.

The classics will go by the wayside, esp. if the almighty 18-34 demo is what they're after.

GSN has become unwatchable.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'starcade\' date=\'Jul 15 2004, 09:10 PM\'] They won't.

The classics will go by the wayside, esp. if the almighty 18-34 demo is what they're after.

GSN has become unwatchable. [/quote]
 I respectfully disagree...

I think, even if it's .00000000000000001% of the schedule, they will have classics or *a classic* on. Just as Cartoon Network, with all of its own cartoons, still finds room for Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo, GSN will always have some sort of classic game show on, even if it's for a grand total of 1/2 hour, an hour, or even 2 hours per day.

They'll always be there, just not prominent.