Buzzr Q2 2024

[Sodboy13]

Vulture reports the initial Buzzr payload is 200 episodes from 1984-85, with two airing daily from 2pm until 4pm. And starting the same day, 48 episodes from 1985-86 will be getting added to the Barker Era channel's inventory.

[TimK2003]

It looks like it will indeed be Barker Price as a permanent part of the schedule. Buzzr has taken the "Price Is Right Shuffle" promo that ran when the Pluto channel launched, removed all of the Pluto references, and added a bunch of Buzzr logos. Which implies that they'll probably be airing the season 11 episodes that Pluto's Barker Era channel launched with.

I wouldn't be surprised if CBS looked at the Buzzr numbers for the Pluto, etc...Bob & Drew channels, compared Buzzr airtimes that were simultaneous with the CBS airtimes (including Nighttime), and determined that the 24/7 Buzzr channels had little to no effect on the more important CBS ratings.   

To appease any remaining CBS concerns, the Buzzr, Bob and Drew channels could also run regular CBS promos for both the daytime and nighttime shows, touting "The newest episodes are on CBS -- check your local listings for times".

[BillCullen1]

There are those who would say "It's snowing in Hell now" but I think this eventually had to happen. Let the Barker fans rejoice.

[Nick]

There are those who would say "It's snowing in Hell now" but I think this eventually had to happen. Let the Barker fans rejoice.

I'm not sure why it's to be considered an eventuality.  When there's already a round-the-clock streaming channel of the Barker era, adding the same rotation of episodes to a a digital subchannel seems a bit moot.  It's not the same kind of thrill as if GSN had gotten back the rights to Price twenty years ago.  Makes me wonder what happened that this is now permitted (and I wouldn't think Barker's demise would have anything to do with it).

Now, if they would finally release the first ten seasons of the show and the '70s syndicated version, furs and all, that would be something noteworthy.

[JasonA1]

It's not the same kind of thrill as if GSN had gotten back the rights to Price twenty years ago.  Makes me wonder what happened that this is now permitted (and I wouldn't think Barker's demise would have anything to do with it).

Now, if they would finally release the first ten seasons of the show and the '70s syndicated version, furs and all, that would be something noteworthy.

Piggybacking off another of your posts...if you're wondering why you're getting vitriol from some members, it's because of posts like the above. It reads incredibly ungrateful. I don't think it was your intention, but it comes across as "big deal, call me when [XYZ] happens."

Just to share my own point of view: I finally got GSN years after Price is Right was out of rotation. The Pluto channel was a wonder to me, and I didn't expect them to refresh the episodes at all after the initial drop. But look what we got instead! At a time when major league streamers are "sunsetting" shows we've heard of (over concerns of residuals, etc.), we're seeing growth and progress in our little corner of the industry. If the ready-to-air Barker episodes do well on Buzzr, there's greater potential they expand the library further. It's all a cause to celebrate, from my seat.

-Jason

[Nick]

Piggybacking off another of your posts...if you're wondering why you're getting vitriol from some members, it's because of posts like the above. It reads incredibly ungrateful. I don't think it was your intention, but it comes across as "big deal, call me when [XYZ] happens."

Fair enough.  You are correct that wasn't my intention.  My point was that the Pluto channel has gone far and above what we ever expected could happen.  This... Well, it's good news, sure, but it doesn't have the same pizzazz it would have had at another time considering that the streaming channel already exists.

At a time when major league streamers are "sunsetting" shows we've heard of (over concerns of residuals, etc.), we're seeing growth and progress in our little corner of the industry.

I would think residuals would be a big part of it, or perhaps I should say game shows are succeeding in streaming due to the lack of residuals... or is that the case anymore?  I seem to recall it being that when GSN launched back in the day, the hosts, celebrity players, etc. weren't automatically entitled to residuals for reruns of their appearances, but some payouts did happen as a goodwill gesture (and thanks to Wostbrock).

[JasonA1]

I would think residuals would be a big part of it, or perhaps I should say game shows are succeeding in streaming due to the lack of residuals... or is that the case anymore.

After Suits did so well for Netflix, I imagine game shows are also benefitting from having tons of product that's set to air from the minute you say go. They have to be screened for content, sure, but that can be folded into the process of digitizing them, closed captioning, etc.

-Jason

[aaron sica]

Here's my take on the "why is it going to be on Buzzr when it's already on Pluto, Roku, Freevee, etc."

I would venture to say about 99% of the people in here (with obvious exceptions) are pretty tech savvy and can access the FAST services with no problems. So to us, it looks like a bit of duplication being on Buzzr when it can be viewed other places.

The keywords here being "to us". There's an older set of viewers out there who know how to access Buzzr, whether it be OTA or with their cable/satellite, but wouldn't know Hulu from Netflix. THESE are the people who will benefit from it.

[MSTieScott]

This... Well, it's good news, sure, but it doesn't have the same pizzazz it would have had at another time considering that the streaming channel already exists.

As others have pointed out, Buzzr has a higher profile than Pluto. If these "reruns" do well, then that will encourage Buzzr to convert more episodes at a faster pace than the Pluto channel has.

And if these episodes do well for Buzzr, then maybe the network will consider branching out. Two straight hours of season one episodes on the Pluto channel felt monotonous by the end of each day's run, but two half-hour episodes a day feels reasonable. I wouldn't expect the fur episodes or any other hosts' versions (although Buzzr has surprised me before, and I'd love to be wrong), but none of that would have a chance of happening without this trial run.

[Dbacksfan12]

Only because I’m curious…has it ever been confirmed one way or the other if there’s clearance issues with the James, Kennedy, and/or Davidson runs? 

[TLEberle]

I remember watching at least one Nighttime PIR starring Tom Kennedy when our home got GSN way back in the late 90s, and I don't think they'd bother slotting a program with 175 shows if they couldn't show most of them.

Davidson's PIR had just eighty and furs were totally out of fashion so I can't imagine the issue beyond rights issues.

[MSTieScott]

Davidson's PIR had just eighty and furs were totally out of fashion so I can't imagine the issue beyond rights issues.

When GSN stopped airing TPIR, Davidson's version was just a few months more than five years old -- there was no nostalgia yet for it. After that, I assume that whatever contractual reasons that kept Barker's version off the air extended to any version of The Price Is Right with "come on down" and pricing games.

Today, I would think the reason we haven't seen Davidson's version is the same reason no one has bothered to reair Chuck Henry's Now You See It or Michael Burger's Match Game: why bother when there's a better version that can be viewed instead?

But Buzzr has surprised us in the past, so who knows. I can't think of any special theme weeks that an episode of non-Barker Price would naturally be a part of (it's Buzzr's salute to Burton Richardson!), but stranger things have happened.

[aaron sica]

But Buzzr has surprised us in the past, so who knows. I can't think of any special theme weeks that an episode of non-Barker Price would naturally be a part of (it's Buzzr's salute to Burton Richardson!), but stranger things have happened.

Right! How many of us thought we'd ever see MG/HS and Whew! air anywhere? I know I didn't. The "surprises" also recalled me back to the days when GSN first added Price.........It would just show up randomly on the schedule. What a great thing to have right after I got GSN (it was when DISH Network added it). I'd be tuning in for the 7pm MG episode of "Prime Games", only to be treated to an hour-long episode of Price.

[bclark71]

I was thinking exactly the same thing, and you stated it perfectly.

Case in point, my parents.  They enjoyed seeing Barker TPIR when they were at my house, but they are not streamers.  They do, however, watch BUZZR on their cable service, so this is perfect for them.

There's an older set of viewers out there who know how to access Buzzr, whether it be OTA or with their cable/satellite, but wouldn't know Hulu from Netflix. THESE are the people who will benefit from it.

[Ian Wallis]

Right! How many of us thought we'd ever see MG/HS and Whew! air anywhere? I know I didn't. The "surprises" also recalled me back to the days when GSN first added Price.........It would just show up randomly on the schedule. What a great thing to have right after I got GSN (it was when DISH Network added it). I'd be tuning in for the 7pm MG episode of "Prime Games", only to be treated to an hour-long episode of Price.

I remember those days.  GSN had their second major schedule change in Dec 1996, and Price was one of the additions.  I remember seeing random episodes at least a couple of weeks before that and they were mostly unannounced IIRC.  I guess they were excited that they finally had the rights and wanted to tease us ahead of the schedule change!  Those were the days