TV Guide's Michael Logan featured a short item in his soaps column [July 26-Aug 1 issue] entitled \"Teen Idol\", but it's about Bob Barker.
Seems that The Price is Right is not only the top-rated daytime game show among total viewers, but, according to that article, it's also the top-rated show among 12-17 year-olds. That's right, middle- and high-school-aged kids on their summer breaks from school are more likely to be watching Price than soap operas.
As the article explains, \"Most of the soaps are trying--and failing--to woo these young viewers by flooding the screen with sexy kids in salacious situations. Barker, who turns 80 in December, lures 'em with good, clean fun. Food for thought?\"
You can make of this what you will, but might we be seeing a trend toward more daytime game shows, which would be cheaper to produce than soaps, and would have the potential of attracting those summer vacation teens without the sleaziness? If network programmers were to get out of their perceptions of game shows, maybe this trend could happen.
