$ale of the Century discussion

[tyshaun1]

This struck me as I read the article that called $ale "NBC's hottest new game show." Were ratings sinking when the winner's board premiered? Did it make them go up? And did a drop in ratings prompt the Winner's Big Money Game? Both changes were brought on by the network, right?

To give you an idea, this list was right around the same time the Winners Board premiered. Notice the not great clearances for any game not named Price, Wheel, or Scrabble.

[Ian Wallis]

This struck me as I read the article that called $ale "NBC's hottest new game show." Were ratings sinking when the winner's board premiered? Did it make them go up? And did a drop in ratings prompt the Winner's Big Money Game? Both changes were brought on by the network, right?

To give you an idea, this list was right around the same time the Winners Board premiered. Notice the not great clearances for any game not named Price, Wheel, or Scrabble.

Wow - I love stuff like this.  I wish there was more of it around.

Interesting notes on this:

It looks as if Press Your Luck was just slightly beating Sale of the Century at this time, but if Sale had the same no. of stations it likely would have been ahead.

Super Password - just a few weeks after its premiere and it really wasn't doing that well.  The noon slot obviously didn't help.

Body Language with only 103 stations.  It's surprising how far the 4 PM slot had fallen by the mid-80s.  In my out-of-town TVGuides from the '70s, Tattletales was still listed at 4 PM in most of those editions for its first couple of years, but by around mid 1976 or so, more and more stations started tape-delaying it at 9:30 the next morning.  I guess that's why Goodson fought for the 10:30 slot for the Card Sharks revival - he knew it wouldn't do that well if it came on at 4.  IIRC, we've read that Press Your Luck had started to drop a fair bit by fall 1985 so CBS was probably more willing to move it by that point.

I guess most of us lamented the expansion of soap operas at the expense of game shows, but I guess when you look at the ratings, there was a good reason why they did it.

[ChrisLambert!]

Amused at how you can almost see the exact group of people that switch over to TPIR2 when Wheel ends.

[calliaume]

I guess that's why Goodson fought for the 10:30 slot for the Card Sharks revival - he knew it wouldn't do that well if it came on at 4.  IIRC, we've read that Press Your Luck had started to drop a fair bit by fall 1985 so CBS was probably more willing to move it by that point.

I guess most of us lamented the expansion of soap operas at the expense of game shows, but I guess when you look at the ratings, there was a good reason why they did it.

One other reason: airing Card Sharks on CBS in the morning allowed the syndicated version to air in individual markets from 4 PM onward, if memory serves—I think the same held true for Kennedy TPIR. WABC, for example, aired Rafferty Card Sharks at 4:30 PM after Jeopardy!, until the Oprah juggernaut allowed them to move her show to 4 PM and Jeopardy! to 7. (This was a huge deal at the time—all three NYC network stations had been airing network news at 7 PM for decades.)

I would still argue there would have been an audience for network game shows in the afternoon after 3 PM, not that it matters much now. The Rules o’ Daytime (air the games in the morning when wifey is doing the housework, air the soaps in the afternoon after she’s done with them) are long gone.

[danderson]

You can tell the 3 strongest shows for NBC were Wheel Of Fortune,Days of Our Lives and Another World, because they were cleared by 99 percent of the stations. I wonder if that a big difference in the ratings.

[PYLdude]

You can tell the 3 strongest shows for NBC were Wheel Of Fortune,Days of Our Lives and Another World, because they were cleared by 99 percent of the stations. I wonder if that a big difference in the ratings.

Well, if they were cleared by that many stations, I would say you just answered your own question.

[tyshaun1]

Interesting notes on this:

It looks as if Press Your Luck was just slightly beating Sale of the Century at this time, but if Sale had the same no. of stations it likely would have been ahead.

Not entirely true. If you look at the coverage percents, even though PYL has more stations, it had less coverage than $ale. Most likely because Press was cleared on more smaller market stations than $ale. For instance, I grew up in the Louisville market and PYL was never cleared for its entire run, whereas $ale ran at 10:30 on its NBC affiliate from the beginning. Tampa (where I live now) was similar, they cleared PYL from September 85 to January 86. I think that's why Republic tried to pimp out those reruns in 1987, since there were many instances of this across the country with the larger markets.

[Neumms]

The WBMG was prompted by a mandate from NBC that each of their games have a proper bonus round.

That's what I've always heard, I was just curious what prompted the mandate since it only affected one show. Maybe a new muckily-muck took over daytime.

[TLEberle]

Another thing is that Sale was blowing out cash jackpots. Now it’s hidden behind eleven wins plus risking a car and $13,000, and all of those prizes that are given a signal blast every day. This when couple with Scrabble chainsawing $15,500 off their grand prize adds up.

[BrandonFG]

That's what I've always heard, I was just curious what prompted the mandate since it only affected one show. Maybe a new muckily-muck took over daytime.

Scrabble too, although I think the Bonus Sprint came about a year or two after the Winner's Board.

[chrisholland03]

To realign - are we talking WBMG or are we talking Winner's Board? 

Winners Board appeared in late '84 and WBMG appeared in late '87. 

Travis is correct - the Winners Board was driven primarily to differentiate the daytime show from the upcoming syndicated shows, and to eliminate the relatively frequent payout of the cash jackpot.  For every lot winner during the daytime shopping era, they had 2 more contestants that bought the cash jackpot and walked.  It was an unintended consequence of the speed round.

WBMG was from an NBC edict that every show have a true bonus round.

[BrandonFG]

My bad. For some reason I thought the Board was the result of the edict, but WBMG makes more sense.

/So now the Bonus Sprint would happen a year earlier, not later than $ale

[vtown7]

Travis is correct - the Winners Board was driven primarily to differentiate the daytime show from the upcoming syndicated shows, and to eliminate the relatively frequent payout of the cash jackpot.  For every lot winner during the daytime shopping era, they had 2 more contestants that bought the cash jackpot and walked.  It was an unintended consequence of the speed round.

I am still convinced all these years later that the Syndicated shopping era with its cash jackpot only at the lot level was the definitive $ale format.  Would love for this to come back one day in this format.

R.

[chrisholland03]

Travis is correct - the Winners Board was driven primarily to differentiate the daytime show from the upcoming syndicated shows, and to eliminate the relatively frequent payout of the cash jackpot.  For every lot winner during the daytime shopping era, they had 2 more contestants that bought the cash jackpot and walked.  It was an unintended consequence of the speed round.

I am still convinced all these years later that the Syndicated shopping era with its cash jackpot only at the lot level was the definitive $ale format.  Would love for this to come back one day in this format.

R.

I agree wholeheartedly.  It was true to the original format, resolved the cash jackpot dilemma, and put the pacing of a lot win in the hands of the contestants (Alice Conkright).

[tvmitch]

Travis is correct - the Winners Board was driven primarily to differentiate the daytime show from the upcoming syndicated shows, and to eliminate the relatively frequent payout of the cash jackpot.  For every lot winner during the daytime shopping era, they had 2 more contestants that bought the cash jackpot and walked.  It was an unintended consequence of the speed round.

I am still convinced all these years later that the Syndicated shopping era with its cash jackpot only at the lot level was the definitive $ale format.  Would love for this to come back one day in this format.

R.

I agree wholeheartedly.  It was true to the original format, resolved the cash jackpot dilemma, and put the pacing of a lot win in the hands of the contestants (Alice Conkright).

I'll add that I loved the addition of a bonus round to Temptation (Australia), where the contestant had to earn their way towards a large cash pot. It was a fun way of closing out the show, while keeping the basics of the shopping format in place.

Edited: Australia