Game Show Network

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GSN, LLC (GSN)
Launched	December 1, 1994
Owned by	Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment (Game Show Network, LLC)
Slogan	Watch. Play. Win. (formerly The Network For Game & Get In The Game)
Headquarters	Culver City, California, U.S.
Website	Official Website
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 309
Dish Network	Channel 116
Cable
Time Warner Cable	Check Local Listings for channels
Comcast Cable	Check Local Listings for channels
IPTV over ADSL
TELUS TV	Channel 175

GSN (formerly known on-air as Game Show Network) is the only American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to live, interactive, original, and classic game show programming. The network also airs casino programming during the overnight and Sunday and Monday Nights. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994 at 7:00 p.m. The network is currently available in approximately 66 million homes, and is jointly-owned by Liberty Media and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early Beginnings 1.2 October 11, 1997 - April 18, 1998 1.3 1998-2000 1.4 A new era begins 1.5 2002 1.6 A new name and a new direction 1.7 Recent changes 1.8 Outlook 2 Logos 3 Programming 3.1 Original programming 3.2 Syndicated programming 4 Controversies 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early Beginnings

Game Show Network went on the air on December 1st, 1994 at 7:00pm. Before the network went on the air, there was a special 7 minute montage of everything that GSN had in their library. After that finished, Peter Tomarken came on the air and said "This is what you have been waiting for, This is The New Game Show Network"! During the first few minutes, many legendary Game Show hosts and panelists helped flip the switch for the network. On that first full day, GSN ran an episode of everything they had in their library. Rare shows included Fantasy and The Diamond Head Game. The first game show to air on December 1st, 1994 would be the premiere episode of Match Game '73.

[edit] October 11, 1997 - April 18, 1998

On October 11, 1997, the rights to Goodson-Todman library of shows expired, with the exception of The Price Is Right and the 1994-1995 season of Family Feud, which were both on a separate contract.^[1]

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

Beginning January 1998, ostensibly to pay for the rights to get the Goodson-Todman library back, GSN sold a few hours of its schedule to air paid programming in the early morning.

[edit] 1998-2000

After Game Show Network got the G/T library back, many fans say that the network was never the same. The network still continued to air The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game several times a day while many other classics were only aired once a day. The network was looking to be a goner soon because it was the slowest growing network on television. Many networks that debuted at the same time as GSN were in nearly 50% more house holds than GSN was. President and CEO of GSN, Michael Fleming and VP of Programming Jake Tauber decided to make a new slate of original programming. In 1999, the network would premiere a new version of The Gong Show titled Extreme Gong hosted by George Gray. Instead of Celebrities hitting the gong, viewers would be able to call in and if enough people called, the act would get gonged. The network also premiered two new game shows called Inquisition and Hollywood Showdown. Both shows would do well for the network and would be the first shows in the networks history to get second seasons. Extreme Gong, Burt Luddin's Love Buffett, and All new 3's a crowd would all not receive second seasons. Included in the new slate of Game Shows was a slate of interactive shows. None of those shows would last.

By the time the new millennium started, the network was still having problems with ratings and now money. The network would soon let the rights go to one of the most popular game shows ever, The Price is Right. Many fans were outraged when rumors went around that Michael Fleming had the contract on his desk but forgot to sign it. It is not known if that rumor is true. To this day, TPIR is not on the network and is not expected to be on anytime soon.

[edit] A new era begins

The new millennium was in its second year and Game Show Network was in its 6th year. The network was looking to be a goner due to very low ratings and money was just not there for the company. It was reported that the network lost millions in its first 6 years on the air. SONY productions wanted to fix this and sold half of their share of the network to Liberty Media. Once Media came into part of GSN, they had change on the mind. Right away, they fired CEO Michael Fleming and hired former president of TV Land and The Family Channel, Rich Cronin. At the time, the network was only seen in 25 million homes. That was very low for a network that had been around for 6 years. They wanted Cronin to double and even triple it within 5 years. Cronin was on the charge to get this Game Network on top. The first thing he did was Cancel all of the programming that was made under Fleming. He said in an interview "I see no future for any of these shows". The only show he wanted was Hollywood Showdown. He wanted to relaunch the show in 2002 and make it more hipper and funnier. A few weeks after Cronin took office, VP of Programming Jake Tabuer left to persue other options. Cronin announced that he was finding a new Senior Vice President and was hoping that this person would help to get 3 shows on air by 2002.

Aquisitions became a big part of Cronin's next step. Cronin aquired game shows Let's Make A Deal, Press Your Luck, The $1.98 Beauty Show, and Fear Factor clone Who Dares Wins. He would also open up the GSN Classic vault and begin to air Family feud with Ray Combs (returns June 29th for a one day marathon), Card Sharks with Bob Eubanks (this currently airs on weekends), and Match Game with Ross Schafer. The schedule was pretty much an all classic network. Many saw a bright future for Game Show Network.

[edit] 2002

In January of 2002, GSN aquired the FOX game show Greed. In April of 2002, GSN would premiere a new version of the classic game show Press Your Luck titled Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck. The show became the highest rated original ever for the network clocking in a .7 on its premiere night. On that same night, GSN would premiere classic game shows Win Lose or Draw and the classic Peter Marshall episodes of The Hollywood Squares. In June of 2002, GSN would premiere two more originals. They would be Russian Roulette and Friend or Foe. Both shows would also have successful debuts on the network. At this time, the network was flying high. They had high rated classics and high rated originals. In August of 2002, GSN would premiere two more originals. One would be Wintuition and the other would be Lingo. Lingo was the first game show on GSN to ever be shot in another country. The first 20 episodes of Lingo were so successful that GSN had to hurry and make new episodes of the show which would premiere in America in December of 2002.

[edit] 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 GSN 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.

[edit] 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 2008.) 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 today) 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 actor 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, the latter of which would be hosted by actor Patrick Duffy. 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. And in March, every contestant who got through to the show was entered to win a brand new car.^[2]

In April 2008, GSN gave its schedule a huge makeover. This makeover included the return of 2002-2003 game shows Russian Roulette and Friend or Foe?; and the advent of the new interactive game show Bingo America on March 31st. GSN cut down current game shows Camouflage & Chain Reaction, which went 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 & Weakest Link with George Gray were off the schedule altogether. As far as classics go, The Newlywed Game was taken off of the schedule for the first time ever. (It had been on the network since Game Show Network began, and was once its flagship show; it is not known whether it will return.) It was replaced by Love Connection while Bill Cullen's Blockbusters heads to a different slot. In May 2008, GSN will begin airing reruns of the current run of Family Feud with host, John O'Hurley. ^[3]

Since late April, GSN has been debuting different colors to their square logo. The network has stated that it will no longer use the Black and Blue logo used from 2004-2008. The only time the color logos shows up is during a credit crunch. The network has also stopped using the slogan "The Network For Games" & "Get in the Game" on all of their promos. It is not known if the network will change the slogan or go on without a slogan. The slogan "Watch. Play. Win." appears on the official website.

In May 26, 2008, Bingo America has been move to a new time slot at 6:00 p.m. and Chain Reaction has been move to a new time slot at 10:00 p.m.

Since late June, GSN logo has been change to the king of hearts.

In June 29, 2008, Ray Combs Family Feud coming back to GSN at 12:00 p.m.

In July 2008, Tattletales would be coming back on GSN.

In July, GSN will debut a new Game Show called Catch-21. The show is remake of the classic, Wink Martindale hosted game show Gambit. The show was given a pilot in 2001 and was called Casino, but the network decided not to go on with the show. It is a game show that combines the classic Quiz show with the Casino game of Twenty-One. A host has not been named yet, but more info is expected in the next month.

[edit] 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 providers Comcast and Charter Communications 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 companies, 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.^[4] However, ratings have dropped steadily for the network since 2004.^[5] David Goldhill, former president of Universal Television Group, was announced at the end of July as Cronin's replacement, effective August 1.^[6]

In May 2008, Senior Vice President of Programming Jamie Roberts announced he was stepping down to open his own Production company. He said he was thinking about this for a long time, and now was the right time. He will stay on the job until his replacement is found.

[edit] Logos

Game Show Network logo(Nicknamed "Winnie" among fans) used from December 1, 1994 to March 18, 1997	Game Show Network logo used from March 18, 1997 to March 15, 2004	Game Show Network logo used during 1997	Game Show Network logo used during 1998
Game Show Network logo after the Dark Period used from April 18, 1998 to December 2000	GSN The Network For Games logo used from March 15, 2004 to April 22, 2007, when it was replaced with the tagline "Get in the Game"

[edit] Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Game Show Network

[edit] Original programming

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, 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 has been 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 has produced six seasons of the show since its 2002 debut.

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 has since begun a second season. 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.

[edit] Syndicated programming

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, and Blockbusters, along with various versions of 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 Jeopardy!, Press Your Luck, Let's Make A Deal, The Newlywed Game and Love Connection, Tic Tac Dough, and Wheel Of Fortune, along with more recent fare like, 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.

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. Various versions of the show were broadcast, including those hosted by Barker, Bill Cullen and Tom Kennedy. 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." At least one Dennis James episode has aired on GSN. GSN's contract to air TPIR expired in April 2000 and hadn't been renewed as of now.

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 still continued to be aired occasionally as part of special events.

[edit] 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 shows'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 free plugs, parts of credits or whole closing credits. GSN also uses time-compression technology, 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.^[7] GSN has also been criticized for rerunning shows leased in a limited package or number of episodes (such as 450 episodes of Press Your Luck from 1984-1985 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.

[edit] See also

• Challenge, sort of a UK counterpart of GSN
• GameTV, sort of a Canadian counterpart of GSN
• List of channels on Virgin Television
• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official Site
• GSN Unofficial FAQs
• GSN's message board
• Showbiz Notes The making of a GSN pilot