Could It Be? COULD IT REALLY BE?!?

[Don Howard]

Alex Trebek is wondering. Stosh Beverly is wondering. Who else is wondering? Could David Madden (Reuben Kincaid rules!!) be the next Ken Jennings? Good grief with this kind of speculation. He's won three games. Count 'em. Three. Not exactly an uncommon feat. For cryin' out loud comparing a 3-game winner to someone who bumped off 74 sets of competitors. Missin' those 10 shares that badly, eh?

[Sonic Whammy]

Hey, I would love it personally if this kid goes for a nice long streak. After all, he's originally from Ridgewood, which is about 10-15 minutes away from me in Saddle Brook, and where my Tae Kwon Do school is. I'm sure northern New Jersey could use some game show fame. :-)

Of course, if Millionaire picks me this season, I could do the same for Bergen County, but I think David has the better shot right now.

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jul 8 2005, 09:28 AM\']... He's won three games. Count 'em. Three. ...

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Yawn.  I didn't start watching Ken's run until after he won number 8.  And now that we've brought it up, I have a feeling we're going to jinx him.

[OntarioQuizzer]

Well, it can't be THAT bad yet, as I've not been asked to track stats yet...

...something which I was asked to keep an eye out for after Tom McCudden debuted with a $40,600 game back in December, by the way (Of course, he lost the next day)

[uncamark]

Also, remember:  We are in July sweeps.  The least important of the sweeps periods, but still sweeps.  Trebek knows the air dates and if he thinks he's got something to hype, he's going to do it.

[Ian Wallis]

Also, remember: We are in July sweeps. The least important of the sweeps periods, but still sweeps.

In recent years I've wondered about the validity of the July sweeps period - especially for most syndicated shows.  For a show like "Jeopardy", which reguarly airs original episodes right into July I can see it being beneficial.  But take "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".  They've been in reruns for a few weeks, but I'm pretty sure this week's episodes are new as I can't recall seeing them before.  I know they ran new episodes in July 2004.  For the average fan out there, I'd be willing to bet they have no idea "WWTBAM" is new this week.  There's been no fanfare and very little promotion that I've seen.  Most people probably assume the show's in reruns until the fall.  Same could have been said for Bergeron's "Squares" when they aired originals in July.  It almost seems pointless to hold new episodes to July when I doubt they'd see an obvious spike in ratings.  Maybe they should have stated on their last new show in May, that "we'll be back with new episodes on July 4th - be sure to tune in then".

Any thoughts?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jul 8 2005, 12:18 PM\']In recent years I've wondered about the validity of the July sweeps period - especially for most syndicated shows.
[/quote]
It used to be that the February and July/August sweeps were minor compared to the November and May ones. Certainly we didn't worry about them much at the TV station. But the vibe I get now is that with a lot of shows debuting mid-season, and with summer series like Dancing With The Stars and Survivior (and, yes, Kajillionaire) becoming mega-hits, the whole business of sweeps is starting to become a year-round thing.

I'd like to hear Connecti-Matt's and/or Randy's opinion on this, though.

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 8 2005, 02:28 PM\']
I'd like to hear Connecti-Matt's and/or Randy's opinion on this, though.

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Thank you.

Mah Two Cents : Sweeps Suck.

We get the overnight numbers EVERY DAY. We put out 100% effort EVERY DAY. I don't mail in forecasts in April, but focus harder in May. I'd be crucified for that.

The difference between us and the networks is we do a show 52 weeks a year, and they feel that they can only contract shows for , at the most, 26 eps a year (soaps/gs/news is a bit different, cause they're cheaper)..... So if they can only get 26 eps of Raymond a year, they better program em when the overall Nielsen numbers are being crunched to determine advertising rates for the next few weeks....

The hit shows you see are not on because of July sweeps, they're on (usually) because they weren't ready for prime time in the fall, or there wasn't a lot of confidence in them....so as a result, you're seeing them in the season that isn't supoosedly watched as much.

Thanks (seriously) to Fox for realizing there was money to be made (tho not as much as the other seasons) in the summer....and forcing the other nets to at least make a half hearted attempt to program for the summer...

Oh, and another reason Sweeps Suck : I don't get vacation time during the 4 months. The bosses feel that if the Nielsen families are watching, they better be watching their "A team" of talent.

[Fedya]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Jul 8 2005, 02:58 PM\']Oh, and another reason Sweeps Suck : I don't get vacation time during the 4 months. The bosses feel that if the Nielsen families are watching, they better be watching their "A team" of talent.

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On the other hand, it also means you're the best of their weather forecasters.  :-)  (Or at least, best-looking.)

It could be worse: Some day, they'll be able to put a Max Headroom-type face to the Doppler Three Billion radar system, and we won't have any more human weather forecasters.  As it is, the National Weather Service radio that the local PBS station plays in the SAP channel when there's no DVS or foreign-language broadcast has been synthesized for years.  They've never been able to get "Schenectady" right....

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Fedya\' date=\'Jul 8 2005, 10:04 PM\']
They've never been able to get "Schenectady" right....

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Neither could Hal Shear.

[NickintheATL]

[quote name=\'Fedya\' date=\'Jul 8 2005, 11:04 PM\']It could be worse: Some day, they'll be able to put a Max Headroom-type face to the Doppler Three Billion radar system, and we won't have any more human weather forecasters.  As it is, the National Weather Service radio that the local PBS station plays in the SAP channel when there's no DVS or foreign-language broadcast has been synthesized for years.  They've never been able to get "Schenectady" right....
[/quote]

But don't you think it's fun to listen to the weather band just to see what the sythesized voice botches up on pronounciations? Gotta love modern technology :-)

[pianogeek]

At first, I thought you're talking about the automated voice guy who does the local forecasts on The Weather Channel and WeatherScan on some cable markets today.

But boy I miss the old days in the 80's...

"Stay tuned for more weather coverage on...The Weather Channel."

[quote name=\'NicholasM79\' date=\'Jul 9 2005, 10:50 AM\'][quote name=\'Fedya\' date=\'Jul 8 2005, 11:04 PM\']It could be worse: Some day, they'll be able to put a Max Headroom-type face to the Doppler Three Billion radar system, and we won't have any more human weather forecasters.  As it is, the National Weather Service radio that the local PBS station plays in the SAP channel when there's no DVS or foreign-language broadcast has been synthesized for years.  They've never been able to get "Schenectady" right....
[/quote]

But don't you think it's fun to listen to the weather band just to see what the sythesized voice botches up on pronounciations? Gotta love modern technology :-)

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[Don Howard]

Hmmmm. Perhaps I was a bit premature. The potential certainly is there, isn't it? Love that starting at the $800 box system.

[gameshowhost1]

I predict a long run for young David Madden.  He's another of our former National Academic Tournament players, just like Brad Rutter.  Brad & I moderated games together at this year's NAA tourney and he is still the same nice guy, albeit 2 million dollars richer than last year's national tourney.

I'm proud to announce that my High Q show that I moderated from 1984-1998 is returning to the campus of Marshall University this fall on cable access.  We're shooting a pilot soon to shop it to other cable systems here in the tri state of WV, OH & KY.  It should debut this fall as The All New High Q

[MSTieScott]

Since it does look like he could be around for a while...

Is it just me, or does anybody else find him not as rootable-for as Ken Jennings? He takes categories out of order, which I imagine would upset at least some viewers (I know it always irks me), and he usually makes tiny Daily Double wagers, which doesn't make for compelling television.

There's no denying that he knows a wide range of trivia, and he's certainly playing the game successfully, but I find him a lot less fun to watch than Ken. It'll be interesting to see, if he continues to win, whether the show sees another word-of-mouth increase, or whether it takes more than a winning streak to create buzz.

--
Scott Robinson

(You've just answered the $1,600 and $2,000 questions in the category correctly, you have a $10,000-some lead, and the Daily Double is in the $800 box. A $900 wager?!?)