European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse shows the wrong answer for network Toby Daniel Cerone los Angeles times the category is dying Breeds. The clue a a once popular form of daytime television that has All but disappeared from the done to forget to phrase your answer in the form of a question. If you said a what Are game shows a you re Correct. Next month Abc will bid Farewell to wheel of Fortune and classic concentration its last two game shows. Earlier this summer Abc cashed in its remaining game show the match game. That leaves just two survivors for next season the Price is right and family feud both on lbs. In the 35 years that i have been on television i have seen game shows behave just like the Stock Market a said longtime Price is right Host Bob Barker. A right now the Market is Down was morning network schedules once filled with buzzers Bells whistles and lights Are fast becoming the territory of talk shows news and information a a it a like a Hurricane came and wiped them All away a said Mark Goodson whose company produces the Price is right and family feud. A part of this is the attitude networks have toward game shows and part of it is economics a said Bob Lloyd senior vice president of sales and marketing for Reg Grundy productions which produced scrabble and Sale of the Century. The attitude is that game shows skew old and networks Are looking for younger audiences a he said. A the economics is that networks can do reality shows in-1 t ten staffs and do them cheaper than they can buy game the trend toward reality programming docs not signal the end of game shows. They Are still popular in syndication and new ones Are being developed for Cable to audiences. The few game shows still on the air Are among the most successful programs on television. The Price is right the longest running game show in consecutive years in to history after 19 straight years is the no. 2 program on daytime television behind the Young and the restless. And the two top syndicated shows for the 1990-91 season were wheel of Fortune and jeopardy both from Merv Griffin productions. A i can to look at the Success of Price is right and the audience it continues to draw and say the form is dead a said Lucy Johnson vice presi sent of daytime programming for lbs. A program Quot forms go in cycles and they fall in fashion and out of in dropping their game shows Abc and Abc claim they arc merely following the trend toward reality programming. Abc dropped match game to extend the Magazine style Home show from 60 to 90 minutes. On Abc fewer than 75 percent of the networks affiliate stations air Fortune and concentration choosing instead to broadcast syndicated talk shows. To that end Abc has hired entertainment to nights John Tesh to Host a new morning interview show one on one beginning sept. 9. One area in which game shows have enjoyed increasing popularity is on Cable. Mtg enjoyed Success with Remote control and is planning two More game shows. The children Schannel Nickelodeon pits kids against parents in family double dare. Usa network runs an afternoon Block of game show reruns. And lifetime the Cable Channel for women revived supermarket sweep and developed a companion game show shop till you drop. Are you ready for the game show Channel if los Angeles television programming consultant Dick Block has his Way the Cable service will be on line by 1992. Pat Sajak and Vanna White of wheel of 1,1991 sunday Page 11
