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I'll be at the press conference tomorrow, and it is official after hearing Rich Cronin and others speak: GSN has picked up The Amazing Race. Hopefully this will do better than their last few reality shows, which it should. The Amazing Race VS American Dream Derby: not a lot of competition. You can read the story, which there isn't a ton to it, at Buzzer! in the link in my sig if you choose to do so.
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Now the rest of the world will come to hate Wil and Tara as much as I did!
To everyone else: Welcome to the bandwagon.
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Marc Berman posted the same report (http://\"http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp\") at Mediaweek, with the same lack of details. It'll be interesting to see how GSN programs the show. Prime time slots are a given, but will the show get Monday-Friday exposure?
OLN is lavishing time on Survivor - 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM Monday-Thursday. Amazing Race can't get that much. If I had to guess, I'd pick 10:00 PM Monday-Thursday, which would displace a couple Dogs (no pun intended) and a couple blackjack shows.
This might make for a semi-compatible lead-in on Wednesday and Thursday with the remaining Dogs. Otherwise the show sort of looks lonely on GSN's current super-traditional game show schedule. Hope it doesn't get lost in the ratings race.
EDIT: Ah, just realized that can't be right because the pool show is getting Monday 10:00 PM and Dodgeball takes Tuesday 10:00 PM. Which leaves Wednesday and Thursday 10:00 PM. Or maybe Monday-Thursday 9:00 PM with the incompatible Millionaire lead-in, but everything can't work perfectly. We'll find out soon enough, I guess.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Jun 8 2005, 10:58 AM\']Marc Berman posted the same report (http://\"http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newsletters/proginsider/index.jsp\") at Mediaweek, with the same lack of details. It'll be interesting to see how GSN programs the show. Prime time slots are a given, but will the show get Monday-Friday exposure?
OLN is lavishing time on Survivor - 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM Monday-Thursday. Amazing Race can't get that much.
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I would assume that they're airing the same episode in both time slots, not two different episodes, since I think they're still a one-feed channel.
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Yep, it's probably the same episode in both time slots, though the Multichannel story didn't make it clear. Down the road OLN said it might expand the time slots even further, with stunts like "best villains" marathons. I can well believe this after seeing OLN o.d. on Lance Armstrong.
By the way, the story also said that Fox Reality and GSN were both in the hunt for Survivor (jeesh, the unintended puns pile up when I discuss reality shows). I commented on the GSN board that I was surprised Fox Reality just didn't blow everybody away with massive bids to get both shows. That would have given the network immediate credibility. Short-term pain, long-term gain. But maybe they've decided to go cheaper for now.
EDIT: A Variety story (http://\"http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=upsell_article&articleID=VR1117923928&categoryID=14&cs=1\") (I had to sit through an ad for) says the Survivor license fetched more than $10 million from OLN. I can see why GSN, with yearly revenues of about $90 million, didn't make the deal. In Cableworld's April prime time ratings (http://\"http://www.cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=052305&file=aprilratings.htm\"), OLN got a whopping 0.2 and 120K household average. Ranked 48th out of 49 listed networks. Where does this operation get $10 million? (Rhetorical question. Its parent Comcast decided to go for broke.)
Oh well, I can understand why Fox Reality didn't want to venture quite so much. Variety didn't give any numbers for the Amazing Race deal.
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Promo during Rafferty CS said the show will debut July 11, Nightly at 9 PM
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Exactly correct. The Amazing Race will be the lead in for their new summer programming starting Monday, July 11th, at 9PM EST. It will rerun at midnight and will run 7 days a week. Starting in July, they will have seasons 1-5. In September, they will pick up seasons 6 and 7. After that year, they will receive the 8th season. This will be the biggest marketing campaign in GSN's history. The story is so long that I can't post it here. Read Buzzer! in my link below to see the full story, where we better have posted it first.
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I see in the blog that this acquisition has brought about a better relationship between CBS and GSN. Maybe CBS will loosen up the strings on Price is Right now.
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I'd think a good idea would be for GSN to have a weekly "Amazing Race" talk show much like CBS.com does with Survivor and Big Brother. It would tie in with the current season and run alongside that. You could do interviews with the eliminated teams and do a preview and wrap-up show. Unlike Survivor, which has a reunion show, TAR never did one that wasn't just segments on The Early Show.
Another big treasure that could be tapped by GSN is the clips that go on CBS.com that were cut out from the race for time but are interesting in themselves.
Anyhoo, here's the GSN press release
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/pr.cgi?id=20050608gsn01 (http://\"http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/pr.cgi?id=20050608gsn01\")
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I just saw a promo on Rafferty's "CS" this afternoon. This is gonna be big for the promo acts like that not since they got thr G/T library they've gotten a show this HUGE! I'm sure they even paid big $$$ for the voiceover guy (Don LaFontaine). I hope it is a success it might actuallly make GSN more a household name then it is now. Who knows?
Although, I'm just afraid that if that is a hit over time GSN could become RSN (REALITY Show Network). So for those who want to tape your favorite classic "traditional" game show, do it now! I fear that for this network "The Game Show Apocalypse" could come when we least expect it. I'm not sure but you all, but I'm getting prepared.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled forum already in progress.
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[quote name=\'gamed121683\' date=\'Jun 8 2005, 06:22 PM\']I fear that for this network "The Game Show Apocalypse" could come when we least expect it. I'm not sure but you all, but I'm getting prepared.
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Can't be any worse than another rerun of "Celebrity Blackjack". This is coming from someone who likes blackjack and poker a LOT.
I say, bring in the Amazing Race, grab whomever you can with it, and take it from there. If GSN was going to get one reality show, they picked up the best one of the bunch. At least it isn't another season of "Fake-a-Date". Count your blessings.
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[quote name=\'gamed121683\' date=\'Jun 8 2005, 04:22 PM\']I'm sure they even paid big $$$ for the voiceover guy (Don LaFontaine).
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I'm sure they, um, didn't.
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Amazing Race is a great show, especially the early seasons (they get progressively worse).
I highly suggest those who haven't seen it to give it a chance, especially if you love travel.
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According to this Variety story (http://\"http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=upsell_article&articleID=VR1117924114&categoryID=14&cs=1\") (which you pay for by viewing a Microsoft ad that at least offers a nice looking actress as the wife) GSN shelled out $6 million for the show. So I can understand why they're going wild on exposure, a seven-day strip at 9:00 with a repeat at 12:00 except Fridays.
That price tag is a substantial piece of GSN's annual revenue. This show better produce, or it will make the horseracing fiasco look like a blip. Rich Cronin diplomatically described the acquisition as "more expensive than we expected but worth every cent."
That's 600,000,000 cents, Rich. I guess competition from Fox Reality and other possible suitors drove the price up. Variety mentions other pricey deals for reality reruns on cable.
The lead-in from Millionaire still looks problematic. GSN's weeknight schedule starting at 6:00 PM: WBSM, Lingo, Millionaire, Amazing Race. One of these things is not like the others. The network must figure that Amazing Race will generate its own audience rather that relying on the lead-in from very traditional game shows. In fact, the lead-in for the entire day is traditional game shows until Amazing Race at 9:00.
By the way, I assume the whole Casino Night lineup will get pushed back an hour on Friday. GSN still has a lot of poker shows to air. (Yep, just checked the previous GSN press release. The new poker series goes in at 10:00.)
Never seen much of Amazing Race, so I'll drop by to check what an entire series is like. Good luck to GSN on a substantial commitment.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 07:44 AM\']That's 600,000,000 cents, Rich. I guess competition from Fox Reality and other possible suitors drove the price up. Variety mentions other pricey deals for reality reruns on cable.
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Even though the name of the other channel is Fox Reality, I think GSN is a better outlet for The Amazing Race than Fox. Fox Reality is not available in a lot of markets yet, so why would CBS send it's hottest show to a channel where it would be seen by fewer people, when it has a chance to send it to a channel that has clearance in far more outlets. If Fox Reality was a bit more established, or were available in more areas, we might have seen Fox pick up the check.
[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 07:44 AM\'] The network must figure that Amazing Race will generate its own audience rather that relying on the lead-in from very traditional game shows. In fact, the lead-in for the entire day is traditional game shows until Amazing Race at 9:00.
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The Amazing Race, IMHO, should fare better in drawing an audience in reruns than Survivor did on CBS. Simply put, a lot of people missed the first 4-5 seasons of the Race..it'll be like a new season to them. CBS ran Survivor right after Hatch won, and everyone knew the ending. No one cared about watching Sonja and her ukulele getting kicked off again. GSN might has well have bought brand new seasons of The Amazing Race, because to a lot of viewers, that's exactly what it will look like.
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The Prof and Variety both said that Fox Reality was bidding for Amazing Race, and I believe them. There has to be some reason the price went so high. That six million tag is about 7% of GSN's entire annual revenue. This is a major commitment.
The only way Fox Reality could get into a lot of households fast is to outbid for big properties like Survivor and Amazing Race. It took $16 million to snag the shows, which of course would be big money for a just-launched network. But the deep pockets of News Corp. could have afforded the deals. If Fox Reality had landed both shows, its safe to say that the effect on its household availability would have been positive (to put it mildly).
But OLN and GSN made the decisions to bid high. Both networks seem over the moon about the acquisitions. The OLN site (http://\"http://www.olntv.com/\") looks like one big Survivor ad.
GSN sure hopes that Amazing Race draws big. They're betting at least some of the lead-in audience from Millionaire sticks around, plus new viewers not entranced by traditional game shows. With six million bucks committed, they better be right. This is a network that's never turned a full-year profit, after all.
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They have it leased through 2009. Are you sure that isn't 6 million total? If that's the case, they can split it out over 4 years.
Either way I predict it will really boost primetime ratings for a year or 2, then it is going to become a viewer's nightmare.
Like I posted on other boards, there are 110 episodes. There are 4 years to air them. Aired every day they will go through each and every season not once, not twice, but THREE times a year. Are you really going to be watching the 5th or 6th rerun through? They're going to end up with 12 or 13 reruns!
And since they paid such a high price, this damn show is going to be stuck airing 7 days a week in primetime all the way through 2009. Basically taking up a huge chunk of the schedule. If people thought that one season of Wheel / Jeo were rerun to death, at least it isn't easy to remember game show results. Reality rerun to death.... that's going to be a nightmare.
Another thing that sucks for game show fans is because they spent so much money on this, don't look for any new game shows or game show libraries for a loooong time.
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If GSN has proven anything, rerun abuse means nothing if a show gets new viewers. Dog Eat Dog was on forever on a weekly spot, and it's still on at least twice a week with 3 or 4 new episodes. Yet, DED still gets good ratings. Just FYI, don't be totally shocked if GSN makes their own version, but I digress. Russian Roulette ran through at least 15 times, even in the low period of GSN about two or three years ago, and it STILL got a .3. Lingo still had higher ratings. This show is a bit different than the othe reality shows they have done. You can pick up in the middle of the show and not be totally confused, which is very easy to happen on The Mole or American Crap Derby. It'll do good; it's the most game show like of the reality shows, besides The Mole.
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Yeah it's good for the network, but bad for loyal viewers. Loyal viewers will watch it for a year at the most, then have nothing to watch from 9-10 every night through 2009. That isn't something to celebrate if you're a loyal viewer. I wish they had only leased it for a year or 2. But CBS probably forced them to lease it through 2009 so they would get more money.
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[quote name=\'gamed121683\' date=\'Jun 8 2005, 07:22 PM\']Although, I'm just afraid that if that is a hit over time GSN could become RSN (REALITY Show Network). So for those who want to tape your favorite classic "traditional" game show, do it now! I fear that for this network "The Game Show Apocalypse" could come when we least expect it. I'm not sure but you all, but I'm getting prepared. [/quote]
Wow, it's been WEEKS since someone's mentioned the latest "game show apocalypse". I'd sorta missed it.
Now that I see the price tag, I've gotta think that this is a huge mistake for GSN economically. With obvious exceptions such as TV Land, a cable network rises and falls on the strength of their original programming, not on some cool rerun they bought. OLN needs the attention that Survivor will bring them, but for a (slightly) more established operation like GSN, Race is just one more off-network repeat. Those six big ones could have gone a long way toward developing better new shows.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 01:39 PM\']Those six big ones could have gone a long way toward developing better new shows.
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But this will (probably) get better ratings and more publicity than developing originals ever could.
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Yep, the six-million-dollar men (and women) on Amazing Race didn't come cheap. Of course, I'm only relying on Variety. Rich Cronin didn't run the agreement past me before signing.
Even amortizing the money over four years means it's a significant commitment of resources for a mid-sized (at best) cabler. Yes, GSN has two deep-pocketed parents, but even the most long-suffering corporate parent would like to see a profit sooner or later.
I don't know that originals would have been a much better bet, though. The network never made a full-year profit with them, either. At least this deal gets GSN some visibility and maybe some interest from system operators put off by the network's reputation for a retirement-home audience.
GSN has to start growing its household availability again - not to mention its household delivery - or real bad things could happen, like a genuine (if only in business terms) apocalypse. I doubt that another series of Russian Roulette would have thrilled the system operators or the Great Unwashed Cable Audience. Sure, I'd like to see more Russian Roulette. But I'm a game show freak, and most teevee watchers aren't.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jun 9 2005, 12:39 PM\']
Now that I see the price tag, I've gotta think that this is a huge mistake for GSN economically. With obvious exceptions such as TV Land, a cable network rises and falls on the strength of their original programming, not on some cool rerun they bought. OLN needs the attention that Survivor will bring them, but for a (slightly) more established operation like GSN, Race is just one more off-network repeat. Those six big ones could have gone a long way toward developing better new shows.
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I see your point, and to be honest, I'd rather see more original shows from GSN. However, on GSN's side, they are picking up one of the hottest reality shows on TV right now. Not to mention the aforementioned fact that they are seasons that a majority of Race viewers did not see. Promote the hell out of it, and if GSN has any kind of quality salespeople working, you could see a strong increase in ad revenue.
It's a gamble, no doubt, but it's a gamble I'm glad GSN is taking.
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Zap2it's writers may be peeking at this thread, because their take (http://\"http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|95748|1|,00.html\") echoes much of what's been chatted about here. They think Amazing Race may be a better bet than Survivor because fewer people have seen it, which does sound familiar.
It's true that Survivor's first season bombed - by CBS standards - when it was rerun quickly (against the Olympics, no less). But a bomb by CBS standards would be just fine for OLN or GSN. I've seen little of Survivor and less of Amazing Race, and that might give me something in common with most of OLN's and GSN's audiences.
On the famous other hand, ABC isn't doing giant numbers for its Desperate Housewives reruns, which could signal that reality (more accurately, multi-episode serials) truly doesn't repeat well.
OLN and GSN have pushed big bets out there. Talk about casino programming.
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No, the writer was at the same press conference I was at, as was the professor and InTouch, among others. Boy, my fingers were really tired from typing as fast as I could during that press call, though.
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[quote name=\'davewalls\' date=\'Jun 8 2005, 07:17 PM\'][quote name=\'gamed121683\' date=\'Jun 8 2005, 06:22 PM\']I fear that for this network "The Game Show Apocalypse" could come when we least expect it. I'm not sure but you all, but I'm getting prepared.
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Can't be any worse than another rerun of "Celebrity Blackjack". This is coming from someone who likes blackjack and poker a LOT.
I say, bring in the Amazing Race, grab whomever you can with it, and take it from there. If GSN was going to get one reality show, they picked up the best one of the bunch. [snapback]88342[/snapback]
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I agree. This looks a heck of a lot better on the schudule than 'Star Search,' 'Vegas Weddings' and 'Average Joe,' all of which launched a year ago.