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Game Show Network

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"GSN" redirects here. For other uses, see GSN (disambiguation).
Game Show Network, LLC (GSN)
HeadquartersCulver City, California, U.S.
Ownership
OwnerLiberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment
(Game Show Network, LLC)

GSN (formerly known on-air as Game Show Network) is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its slogan is "Play Every Day". The network is currently available in approximately 68 million homes, and is jointly-owned by Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

History

The early years and the "Dark Period"

Game Show Network started up at 7:00 PM on December, 1, 1994. From 1994 to about 1997, it aired not just post-1972 game shows, but aired pre-1972 classics too. Most shows were from the Mark Goodson-Bill Todman library. It aired them in a 24-hour cycle.

From October 11, 1997 - April 18, 1998, Game Show Network's Goodson-Todman library rights expired, with the exceptions of The Price Is Right and the 1994-1995 season of Family Feud, which were both on a separate contract. This was referred to by fans as the "Dark Period".

With the other Goodson-Todman shows gone, lesser-known Sony properties such as Juvenile Jury, The Diamond Head Game, the 1976 Break The Bank, and the Bill Cullen-hosted Chain Reaction all found their ways onto the schedule. Game Show Network also aired a kids' game show block at this time, highlighted by Jep! and Wheel of Fortune 2000—kids' adaptations of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Some of the shows that premiered during the dark period remained on the schedule even after the Goodson-Todman shows returned.

Beginning January 1998, ostensibly to pay for the rights to get the Goodson-Todman library back, Game Show Network gave away a few hours of its schedule to air paid programming in the early morning, a common practice among other basic cable channels, a practice Game Show Network continues today. The Dark Period ended at 8 AM on Saturday, April 18, 1998 with Goodson-Todman's Child's Play.

A new name and a new direction

In the summer of 2003, Game Show Network began airing GSN Video Games, the first program to air on Game Show Network that had nothing to do with traditional game shows. Although the show--a repackaging of somewhat dated British video game review shows (mostly Gamer.tv)--was short-lived and considered a disaster, it was a sign of the network's change of format from Game Show Network's "all game shows, all the time" to what eventually became "GSN: The Network for Games."

On March 15, 2004, at 10:00 p.m. ET, GSN stopped using the name "Game Show Network" on-air and introduced the tagline "The Network for Games," a move in line with the network expanding its programming to include the genre of reality television and various other competitions. (However, the entity's corporate name remained Game Show Network, LLC.) The newly renamed GSN also introduced the original series World Series of Blackjack, Celebrity Blackjack, Extreme Dodgeball, Poker Royale, and the short-lived Fake-a-Date, Vegas Weddings Unveiled and Ballbreakers. GSN also added reruns of The Mole, Average Joe, Arsenio Hall's Star Search, Kenny vs. Spenny, and Spy TV--all of which were eventually removed from the schedule (though Kenny vs. Spenny was picked up for new episodes by Comedy Central in 2007). Traditional game shows Win Ben Stein's Money and Street Smarts were also acquired around this time and aired in various time slots, though neither was regularly programmed as of mid-March 2008.

Blackjack and Poker Royale signified the beginnings of GSN's attempts to cash in on the TV poker-craze at the time. In 2006, GSN introduced High Stakes Poker, a poker show with a private-game format among professional players, and also programmed additional series of World Series of Blackjack and a spinoff, Celebrity Blackjack. One of the most popular shows from the initial TV poker boom, the World Poker Tour, was slated to move from the Travel Channel to GSN on March 24th, 2008.

Recent changes

After generally unsuccessful efforts at expanding its programming, GSN has largely returned to traditional studio-based game shows. On April 4, 2005 the network introduced a new daytime lineup featuring several older game shows that had not been seen on GSN for some time, including the two most recent versions of Password (Password Plus and Super Password), the 1990-91 version of To Tell the Truth, and the Bill Rafferty-hosted versions of two series, Blockbusters, and Card Sharks. Also in the spring of 2005, GSN acquired approximately 100 more episodes of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (except the August 1999 and 2002 episodes), including the Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire specials.

Although the network has mostly abandoned reality programs, GSN acquired the rights to The Amazing Race in 2005 for a reported $50,000 per episode. The network first programmed the series extensively in prime time during the summer of 2005, then cut back the show’s exposure. (Reruns of The Amazing Race have left GSN for Fox Reality as of today) In 2006, GSN also programmed a series of documentaries, Anything to Win, about non-game-show competitions.

The network has run blocks of classic game shows on Saturday nights, and for the first few months of 2006 programmed back-to-back episodes of Match Game at 11:00 PM Eastern in a block billed as That '70s Hour (a pun on That '70s Show), which showed the clapperboard before each episode, including the original date of taping and production number, as well as Match Game trivia and brief clips of an interview with host Gene Rayburn produced shortly before his death. On July 18, 2006, the network began a special seven-week run of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time in the 10:00 PM hour, Tuesday through Thursday. In November 2006, GSN started a series of eight documentaries about game shows, beginning with a program on Match Game titled Match Game: Behind The Blanks. Other subjects included game show producer Chuck Barris, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, a "Top Ten" countdown of game show hosts, memorable game show moments, women who have featured prominently on game shows, celebrities and how they impacted game shows, and an insider's guide to winning on a TV game show. One particularly interesting subject was the installments of Press Your Luck in which Michael Larson won more than $100,000 in cash and prizes by memorizing the sequences of the board then used, which was the subject of Big Bucks: The "Press Your Luck" Scandal. Peter Tomarken, who had then hosted Press Your Luck, hosted and narrated this documentary in 2003. The documentary became Game show Network's most watched show ever (a title it still holds) scoring a 1.7 at one time during the show.

The Richard Karn-hosted seasons of Family Feud began appearing on the GSN schedule in March 2007, and the 1971-77 syndicated version of Let's Make a Deal returned to the network's lineup on June 4, 2007. The most recent (2000-02) remake of To Tell the Truth airs on weekday afternoons. Double Dare and Body Language returned to late-night slots in 2007. After Playmania was canceled in October of 2007, GSN aired Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Trivia Trap, and Now You See It in its place.

In January 2008, GSN debuted a new original, How Much Is Enough?, hosted by former L.A. Law co-star Corbin Bernsen. The network also brought back such Game Shows as the 1994-1995 season of Wheel of Fortune and the 1979-1980 season of Tic Tac Dough. In January, GSN replaced reruns of The Amazing Race with reruns of B&W classics What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret. GSN has also went on with promoting their schedule in blocks. The blocks include 9-3pm as "The Men of GSN," 3-7pm as "Find time for a great time," and the Tuesday-Friday Primetime block as "The heroes of GSN," this last being a parody of Heroes, the TV series program created by Tim Kring. GSN also started promoting the overnight B&W shows for the first time in 7 years. And weekends continue to be "Weekend Fun." During the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, GSN promoted Match Game and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? with the tagline "You Can't Write This Stuff." In March the network was slated to premiere both the poker show World Poker Tour and a new interactive game show, Bingo America, which would be hosted by Patrick Duffy and Crystal Wallasch as the co-host. Viewers would be able to play along with Bingo America's in-studio contestants for cash and prizes.

On February 25, 2008, GSN debuted a brand new live interactive call-in show called GSN Live, hosted by actress Heidi Bohay and KNBC Channel 4 Los Angeles, sports anchor/director, Fred Roggin. The show was formatted to be like the old Game Show Network show Club A.M., and aired weekdays from 12pm-3pm Eastern/9am-12pm Pacific between the current GSN classic line-up. The show took calls from viewers, interviewed classic game-show hosts, took viewers behind the scenes of Game Shows, and played 3 interactive games during the show. People who successfully got through to the games were enabled to win anything from jewelry to GSN merchandise. In March, every contestant who got through to the show was entered to win a brand new car.[1]

In April, GSN gave its schedule a huge makeover. This makeover included the return on 2002-2003 game shows Russian Roulette and Friend or Foe?. GSN also premiered the new Interactive Game Show Bingo America on March 31st. GSN also cut down current game show Camouflage, Chain Reaction, which goes from twice a day to 2 times a week. How Much Is Enough?, That's the Question, I've Got a Secret with Bil Dwyer, and Weakest Link with George Gray was taken off the schedule altogether. As far as Classics go, The Newlywed Game was taken off of the schedule for the first time ever. The show had been on the network since Game Show Network began, and was once its flagship show. But after many runs, the show took a rest. It is not known if it will return. It had been replaced by Love Connection while Bill Cullen's Blockbusters heads in to 9:30am (ET)-12:30pm (PT).

Since late April, GSN has been debuting different colors to their square logo. The network has stated that it would no longer use the Black and Blue logo used from 2004-2008. The only time the logo shows up is during a credit crunch. The network also stopped using the slogan "The Network For Games" & "Get in the Game" on all of their promos. The network used the slogan "Watch. Play. Win." on the official website, most recently the slogan was changed to "Catch a Game."

In May, GSN began airing reruns of the current Family Feud with host John O'Hurley. The show airs weeknights at 9:30 pm Eastern.

In June, Lingo replaced Whammy! at 6:30 p.m. and Whammy! has been moved to 10:30 p.m.

On July 21st, Ray Combs' version of Family Feud returned to the schedule once again along with George Gray's Weakest Link and Donny Osmond's Pyramid.

In July, GSN debuted a new Game Show called Catch 21. The show is remake of the Wink Martindale-hosted game show Gambit, which combines the classic quiz show with the casino game of blackjack. Alfonso Ribeiro is the host of the new show and his co-host & dealer is Mikki Padilla; original producer Merrill Heatter will return in the same capacity. The pilot for Catch 21 (taped several years before) was called simply "Casino."

In August, Whammy! replaced Bingo America at 7:00 p.m.

In September, Bob Goen's That's the Question returned to the schedule along with Anne Robinson's Weakest Link. Body Language and Double Dare were removed from rotation as of Saturday, September 27, 2008.

In October, Bingo America returned to the schedule with former Family Feud host Richard Karn as the new host and Diane Mizota as the co-host.

On November 6, 2008, GSN updated its logo for the first time in four and a half years and sports a new slogan "Play every day".

On November 10, 2008, GSN began airing the syndicated version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? hosted by Meredith Vieira.

On November 13, 2008, Trivia Trap moved out of rotation and was replaced with the pre-celebrity run of the Monty Hall era episodes of Beat the Clock.

In November 15, 2008, a new game show entitled Think Like a Cat, sponsored by Meow Mix cat food, is scheduled to debut on GSN. The host will be Chuck Woolery.[2]

On November 15, 2008, Camouflage moved out of rotation and was replaced with syndicated version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? hosted by Meredith Vieira.

On December 3, 2008, The Name's The Same moved out of rotation and was replaced with To Tell The Truth.

Coupled with some of these changes is an aggressive marketing campaign; GSN sent Ribiero on a promotional tour to local television stations to promote Catch 21, while they partnered with the ABC Television Network to create Play It Again! Game Show Reunion Week, a series of one-off episodes of classic game shows for the network's morning show, Good Morning America, in exchange for promotion of the September 2008 Play It Back programming blocks, which will feature marathons of game shows from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

GSN has also been using its old name "Game Show Network" in the past year. On press releases and on their new GSN Radio, the network is referred to as "GSN, The Game Show Network". It is not known if GSN will start using the name on television any time soon.

Outlook

Despite the forays into reality series, made-for-TV sports, and documentaries, GSN's programming has always remained mostly game shows. As the only U.S. cable/satellite network largely devoted to game shows for adults, GSN is a prototypical niche operation. It remains to be seen whether such a concentrated focus is commercially viable in the long run. Currently, GSN is available in slightly over half of all U.S. households; it also is available from most Canadian cable and satellite providers. The network's financial performance and household availability have improved in recent years, although it suffered setbacks in 2007 when major cable provider Comcast moved GSN from basic cable to digital packages in many markets. As of January, 2008, GSN primetime (8-11pm) was placed at #47 of the top 50 cable networks, up from 50th in the previous survey.

In July, 2007, GSN President Rich Cronin announced his departure from the network. In a statement he said: "I am honored to have led a great team of creative business people in pioneering interactive television games and in growing GSN so dramatically." During Cronin's six-year tenure, the network expanded its U.S. household availability from 31 million to 64 million.[3] However, ratings have dropped steadily for the network since 2004.[4] David Goldhill, former president of Universal Television Group, was announced at the end of July as Cronin's replacement, effective August 1.[5]

Logos

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Game Show Network

Original programming

File:PrimeGames.jpg
Prime Games Opening with "Winnie"(GSN old logo).

GSN has also produced several original series. In the channel's early days, Club A.M. was a three-hour block consisting of five classic game shows, surrounded by thirty minutes' worth of interstitial trivia, interviews with game show producers, personalities, contestants and fans, and interactive call-in games, all hosted by Laura Chambers and Steve Day (which was also rerun in late night, with some new segments, under the title Late Night Games). Prime Games was a similarly formatted show aired weeknights and hosted by Peter Tomarken. Wide World of Games was a Saturday night block of four shows built around a common theme.

After a few years, these shows were replaced by Game TV, a half-hour interview show hosted by Nancy Sullivan and Dave Nemeth; Game World, which showed highlights of current game shows from around the world; and standalone 30-minute call-in games like Super Decades and Trivia Track. Later, the channel attempted a Gong Show remake called Extreme Gong, hosted by George Gray, in which the viewers could phone in their votes as to whether to 'gong' acts off the air; and Throut And Neck, where viewers controlled video game characters with their phones. The network also programmed Burt Luddin's Love Buffet, a combination of scripted scenes and a "game show within the show." But all these efforts were eventually canceled and removed from the network's schedule.

Traditional game show offerings since 2000 have included Hollywood Showdown, All New 3's a Crowd, Mall Masters, Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck, Friend or Foe? (a game based around the Prisoner's Dilemma), Russian Roulette, WinTuition, Cram, and National Lampoon's Funny Money. The most successful GSN original game show was Lingo, a Chuck Woolery-hosted remake of a 1980s Canadian format in which teams guess five-letter words in a combination of Jotto/Mastermind and bingo. The network produced six seasons of the show from 2001-2008.

Originals debuting in 2006 included PlayMania, a late-night call-in game that expanded from two to (at one point) six nights per week but was cancelled effective October 31, 2007, and a remake of Chain Reaction, which had long finished its second season and a renewal for a third season has not been announced as reruns from both seasons 1 and 2 currently air on the network. That's the Question, Starface, and a revival of I've Got a Secret also debuted in 2006; That's The Question began a second season on September 10, 2007, but the other two shows were not renewed. In 2007, the network debuted two new specials: the National Vocabulary Championship, with a show airing on April 15, 2007 showcasing the first year of the event, and a broadcast of the Cat Fanciers' Association International Cat Show, Catminster. Also debuting in July 2007 were Camouflage, remade as a word game, and Without Prejudice?, a remake of a British show where five people decided which contestant would win $25,000 based in part on their responses to questioning. Debuting on August 4, 2007 was Grand Slam, a game show involving big winners from other shows, including Ken Jennings, John Carpenter and Brad Rutter.

For 2008, a US version of a BBC game called How Much Is Enough? debuted on January 8, hosted by actor Corbin Bernsen, and then in April, Bingo America made its debut with Patrick Duffy of Dallas and Step by Step fame as host, while on July 21, as somewhat of a tie-in with the movie 21, Merrill Heatter returned to quiz show producing with Catch 21 hosted by actor-singer-dancer Alfonso Ribeiro, with actress Mikki Padilla as the dealer. Also introducing this year was GSN Live, originally presented by longtime KNBC sports anchor Fred Roggin and actress Heidi Bohay, but since then, Ribeiro and Kelly Packard of the 2003 version of the Ripley's Believe it or Not TV show join the GSN Live team, with Ribeiro and Bohay doing the morning shift, while Roggin and Packard do the afternoon shift. Plus, in November, GSN and Meow Mix will premiere a special entitled Think Like a Cat, hosted by Chuck Woolery, with a top prize of $1,000,000, one of the few times a game show on cable TV has $1,000,000 as a grand prize.

Syndicated programming

GSN's rerun programming comes primarily from two sources: FremantleMedia and GSN parent company Sony.

From Fremantle, the network licenses the Mark Goodson-Bill Todman game show library , which includes titles such as Match Game, Family Feud, Card Sharks, Trivia Trap, Now You See It, Double Dare, Body Language, Blockbusters, Password Plus and Super Password.

In the beginning of the network, GSN regularly showcased vintage Goodson-Todman game and panel shows from the 1950s and 1960s--many of which were either originally broadcast or only preserved in black-and-white--such as What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth, Beat the Clock, and others. These classic shows made up much of the channel's lineup at the outset, but have been gradually cut back in prominence since the late '90s. On October 1, 2006, only What's My Line? had a regular spot on the schedule, late Sunday/early Monday at 3:00 AM Eastern; it was followed by a selection from various 1950s-1970s Goodson-Todman shows, usually another panel game. On December 31st, GSN reinstated the Black and White Overnight to 7 days a week at 3am-4am, showcasing What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret in the block.

GSN, in addition to its Goodson-Todman library, features other shows such as Press Your Luck, Let's Make a Deal (both of which are included in the Goodson-Todman license from FremantleMedia, although made by other companies), The Newlywed Game and Love Connection, Tic Tac Dough, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune, along with more recent fare such as the 2000 version of Twenty-One and Dog Eat Dog. In October 2003 GSN acquired the rerun rights to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and added more episodes (including the Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire spin-off) in the spring of 2005. Most of these shows are owned by Sony.

The Price Is Right, Goodson-Todman's longest-running game show, did not appear on GSN until December 1996. Episodes of TPIR that featured fur coats, or other animal-related prizes were not aired, following Bob Barker's animal-rights wishes; therefore, the show's GSN premiere was delayed almost two years in order to remove such episodes from the rotation. The show originally appeared on GSN in occasional preemptions of regularly scheduled series such as Match Game or Family Feud, and earned a regular spot during the network's "dark period." Various versions of the show were broadcast, including those hosted by Barker, Bill Cullen and Tom Kennedy (plus one episode sub-hosted by Dennis James that aired on the day of James's death in 1997). In December 1996, TPIR began airing regularly on the schedule, with half-hour Barker eps in the morning and hour-long episodes in the afternoon and evening, Kennedy eps in late night, and Cullen eps a part of what was then billed as "Sentimental Sunday." GSN's contract to air TPIR expired in April 2000 and had not been renewed as of today. Most Price reruns are held not entirely by FremantleMedia, but also through CBS Television Distribution, as CBS is currently a part owner of the American Price is Right franchise; GSN would have to pay both CBS and Fremantle to gain the rights to the show.

Among the most well-known classic game shows previously aired regularly on the network, other than Price: The Joker's Wild, Tattletales, Hollywood Squares, The Dating Game, and various versions of Pyramid. Some of these shows still continued to be aired occasionally as part of special events, such as Dick Clark's Pyramid in honor of New Year's Rockin' Eve on December 31.

Controversies

GSN has raised the ire of some classic game show fans by cutting portions of the end-show credits from the shows it airs to allow for more promotions and commercials. These credits often contained mini-commercials, voiced over by the show's announcers, for the "parting gifts" given to contestants, which could be free advertising for any of the products which might still exist. Occasionally GSN has left in fee plugs, parts of credits or whole closing credits. GSN also uses time-compression, unofficially called "speed-ups" by viewers, that slightly speeds up the video and audio in their programs, mainly for the purpose of including more commercials in their broadcasts. Other basic cable channels also employ this practice.[6] GSN has also been criticized for rerunning shows leased in a limited package or number of episodes (such as 440 episodes of Press Your Luck with an original airdate between February 20, 1984 and November 15, 1985 or a single season of Sony-owned game shows such as Jeopardy! or The Newlywed Game) too often, a practice dubbed "rerun abuse" by viewers.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ GSN Rewards Viewers With New Opportunities to Win With 'GSN LIVE,' Weekdays Beginning Monday, Feb. 25
  2. ^ "Meow Mix(R) Brand Offers $1 Million Prize in Game Show on GSN Where Cats and Their Humans Compete as a Team, Feline Charities Benefit" (Press release). Del Monte Foods. 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  3. ^ Kimberly Nordyke (2007-07-11). "Game over for Cronin as winning GSN chief". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-07-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "GSN Preside". Broadcasting & Cable. 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2007-07-11. Only the introduction to the article is available at this site.
  5. ^ "David Goldhill Named President and Chief Executive Officer, GSN". TV Barn. 2007-07-25. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  6. ^ These comments from JumptheShark.com are typical of complaints on several other web forums: "The practice of squeezing or condensing the closing credits of a show, just to fit in an extra commercial, irritates me to no end. GSN's practice of doing so is no exception, esp. since 1) they show the same commercials over and over again, and 2) most of the stuff they promote is garbage anyways...Yes, I know that this is an age-old complaint, but the time-compression is too annoying. I was watching the Hatfield-McCoy special yesterday and was forced to change the channel about three minutes into the show. Why? Because hearing the theme music speed up too quickly and having Richard Dawson sound like he was on caffeine was just unwatchable."
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