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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

1994-1997: Early Years

Game Show Network started up at 7:00 PM on December, 1, 1994 - its first aired game show being Match Game '73. 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, and would also use live interstitial programming to wrap around the shows. In the first few months, GSN's commercials consisted of PDA's, GSN promos, and commercials related to Sony (their owners). Once the network became bigger, commercials were added to the network as they were able to gain sponsors.

1997-1998: The Dark Period

From October 11, 1997 to April 18, 1998 the network's Goodson-Todman library rights expired, with the exceptions of The Price is Right (despite a lack of Goodson-Todman games, the network never aired any episodes of the 1970s syndicated version) and the 1994-1995 season of Family Feud, which were both on a separate contract. This was referred to by fans as the first "Dark Period".

With the other Goodson-Todman shows gone, lesser-known Sony properties such as Juvenile Jury, The Diamond Head Game, the 1976-1977 Break The Bank, and the Bill Cullen-hosted games Chain Reaction and Pass The Buck all found their ways onto the schedule.

Game Show Network also aired a kids' game show block at this time, highlighted by Joker! Joker! Joker!, Jep!, and Wheel of Fortune 2000 - kids' adaptations of The Joker's Wild, 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.

1998-2003: New Originals

On April 18, 1998, Game Show Network bought back the rights to the Goodson-Todman library. Some fans of the network state that from this point onward, the network was never the same. Game show Network would begin to eliminate many things that fans of the network said made GSN different from other cable networks. This would include adding Paid Programming to overnights in 1998 and also in late 1998, GSN would eliminate all of its Live on-air talent. GSN would replace the live shows with in-show ads like Win TV.

In 1999, the network would begin a slate of New Original programming. These shows included Inquizition, All New 3's a Crowd, and Hollywood Showdown. They would also create unpopular originals like Extreme Gong (a remake of the classic Gong Show) and Burt Luddin's Love Buffet.

In 2000, the network would face another setback when they would lose the right to air The Price is Right. Many fans believed that this was the final blow for the network.

In 2001, the network would see a massive change in both leadership and programming. Liberty Media would acquire half of the network and change the leadership of the network. President Michael Fleming and Vice President Jake Tauber would both be fired from their positions. Former FOX Family president Rich Cronin would be the new man in charge. He and incoming vice president Bob Boden would embark on the biggest original programming slate since the networks inception. Shows like Whammy! (remake of Press Your Luck), Russian Roulette, and Friend or Foe? would become GSN's biggest originals.

2003-2008: New Name, New Direction

In Summer 2003, Game Show Network began airing GSN Video Games, the first program to air on the 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 PM, 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 24, 2008.

Within a year after GSN's revamp, GSN has primarily began returning its focus to studio-based game shows.

2008-Present: Recent changes

On February 25, 2008, GSN went back into live television games by debuting 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.

In July 2008, GSN debuted a new game show called Catch 21, a 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 and 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 October, a second season of Bingo America premiered with former Family Feud host Richard Karn as the new host, replacing Patrick Duffy, and Diane Mizota as the co-host.

On November 6, GSN updated its logo for the first time in four and a half years since its 2004 revamp, and began using a new slogan "Play every day".

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

On November 15, a new game show entitled Think Like a Cat, sponsored by Meow Mix cat food, debuted on GSN. The host is Chuck Woolery.

On April 6, 2009, a new version of The Newlywed Game premiered with former Wilson Phillips singer Carnie Wilson as the host.

Also on April 6, 2009, the second season of Catch 21 premiered with new episodes with a new time at 6:30 PM (5:30 Central) instead of 7:30 PM (6:30 Central). Alfonso Ribeiro and Mikki Padilla both returned to their duties as host and card dealer.

On March 30, 2009, GSN removed Blockbusters, Card Sharks, Child's Play, Press Your Luck, What's My Line?, and To Tell the Truth from its lineup and was replaced by Tom Bergeron's version of Hollywood Squares, Match Game PM, Password, The $25,000 Pyramid, and The $100,000 Pyramid.

In September 2009, GSN will return Bingo America to the lineup with a third season.

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.

On May 18, 2009, GSN removed Ray Combs version of Family Feud from the 10:30AM Eastern (9:30AM Central) schedule and was replaced with The $25,000 Pyramid.

The 2009 Game Show Awards will debut on June 6, 2009 at 8PM.

Deal or No Deal and 1 vs. 100 will be on the GSN schedule in June. You can see Deal or No Deal Monday through Friday at 7PM starting June 1 replacing Lingo and Pyramid. It will rerun weekdays at 11PM replacing Lingo, Saturdays and Sundays at 2PM replacing Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and 8PM on Saturdays replacing Family Feud. 1 vs. 100 will air Saturdays and Sundays at 1PM starting on June 6 replacing Lingo, 6PM on Saturdays replacing Pyramid, and Saturdays at 2AM replacing Dog Eat Dog.

Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck will air weekdays at 11AM starting June 1 replacing Let's Make a Deal. Pyramid will replace The Weakest Link at 4PM weekdays, and the syndicated version of Millionaire will air weekends at noon replacing Let’s Make a Deal. Starting Saturday June 13, a new show 2oQ will debut at 8PM. Also, The Money List starts the same night at 9:30PM.

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 adult-oriented game shows (as opposed to the children/teen game shows aired on Nick GAS, a similar network owned by Viacom), 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 (8:00-11:00 PM) 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. However, ratings have dropped steadily for the network since 2004. David Goldhill, former president of Universal Television Group, was announced at the end of July as Cronin's replacement, effective August 1.

Logos

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• Game Show Network logo used from December 1, 1994 to March 17, 1997. Game Show Network logo used from December 1, 1994 to March 17, 1997.
• Game Show Network logo used from March 18, 1997 to March 15, 2004. Game Show Network logo used from March 18, 1997 to March 15, 2004.
• GSN "The Network For Games" logo used in various versions from March 15, 2004 to November 6, 2008. GSN "The Network For Games" logo used in various versions from March 15, 2004 to November 6, 2008.
• GSN "Play Every Day" logo used since November 6, 2008.

Programming

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, 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 on 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. 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. GSN also relaunched a live interactive call-in interstitial series by premiering GSN Live, which airs during commercial breaks between 12 PM and 6 PM Eastern Monday through Friday. Originally the series took place over a three hour span, with KNBC sports anchor and NBC Sports contributor Fred Roggin and actress Heidi Bohay hosting the interstitial segments. Later in the year GSN expanded the series to the six hours it has now, with Roggin moving to the 3 PM to 6 PM block with Kelly Packard while Alfonso Ribeiro replaced him earlier in the day. Packard was forced to leave her position shortly after taking it, and Roggin has hosted with a guest host since.

Specials

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 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.

During the Summer of 2006, the network began a special seven-week run of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time.

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.

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.

In November 2008, GSN and Meow Mix presented 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 Match Game, the original Richard Dawson, Ray Combs, Richard Karn, and the John O'Hurley versions of Family Feud, and the various incarnations of Password. From the network's inception in 1994 until 1997, and again from 1998 until March 30, 2009, GSN licensed the entire Mark Goodson-Bill Todman library.

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 31, 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; other shows, including Choose Up Sides, The Name's the Same, and the Bud Collyer-hosted primetime version of To Tell the Truth have been featured, with the latter currently airing following What's My Line?. GSN cancelled Black and White Overnight, effective March 31, 2009.

GSN, in addition to its Goodson-Todman library, features other shows from other companies:

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 (Warner Bros. Television Distribution), 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? (from Disney-ABC Domestic Television) and have added more episodes since, including the Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire spin-off in the spring of 2005 and the Meredith Vieira-hosted syndicated series beginning in fall 2008.

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.

The Price is Right

The Price is Right, Goodson-Todman's longest-running game show, did not appear on GSN until December 1996. Episodes 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 - despite this precaution, episodes with furs and puppies offered did get aired, and although the former was by mistake it ended up happening with three different episodes.

The show originally appeared on GSN in occasional pre-emptions of regularly scheduled series such as Match Game or Family Feud and earned a regular spot less than a year before the network's "dark period".

Various versions of the show were broadcast - specifically those hosted by Barker, Bill Cullen, and Tom Kennedy (plus one episode sub-hosted by 1972-1977 nighttime host Dennis James, aired on the day of his death in 1997). In December 1996, Price began airing regularly on the schedule, with half-hour Barker shows in the morning and hour-long episodes in the afternoon and evening, Kennedy shows in late night, and the Cullen version as part of what was then billed as "Sentimental Sunday". No Doug Davidson or nighttime James/Barker episodes were ever aired during this time - the former was due to seperate ownership, the latter due to both Barker's fur ban and an apparent dismay by GSN since less than 50 episodes from the entire run could be legally aired.

GSN's contract to air Price expired in April 2000 and has not been renewed to this day. 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 franchise; therefore, GSN would have to pay royalties to both CBS and Fremantle to gain the rights to the show.

References in Popular Culture

GSN has been used in various jokes and satires throughout its lifetime, not surprisingly through game show spoofs.

The most notable is Saturday Night Live, as the network licensed its graphics for usage by the show in March 2002, February 2004, and May 2006; in the first two cases, the network's logo was positioned in its usual top-right corner position. The third instance began with the transitions used by the network in 2006, while the logo itself was placed in the bottom-left corner.

MADtv has also done spoofs using the GSN logo and "original airdates", however these did not use the "genuine" logo for unexplained reasons.

See also

• Challenge
• Nickelodeon GAS
• GameTV
• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels

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.

External links

• Official Site
• GSN Unofficial FAQs
• Showbiz Notes The making of a GSN pilot

• American television networks
• Sony Pictures Television
• Television channels and stations established in 1994
• Liberty Media subsidiaries
• Sony subsidiaries