GSN’s “Dancing With the Stars” Debut Fails to Crack Top 15; Debuts at 325,000 Viewers
Good news for fans of traditional game shows today, but not-so-good news for GSN. The much-advertised debut of the off network reruns of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, for all intents and purposes, tanked in its debut showing. No episode managed to crack the top 15 most watched programs of the network. GSN’s usual standby off network reruns of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Family Feud, and Deal or No Deal managed to rate higher. Not only that their originals Baggage, The Newlywed Game, Catch 21, and Whammy! to either rank higher or not far behind the expensive acquisition. Even the abused The $100,000 Pyramid did better.
Here’s the rundown of the highly advertised debut episodes for January 21st and January 22nd in order from most watched to least watched, identified by their rankings for the week.
17: Saturday, January 21st; 6PM to 8PM; 325K viewers
32: Saturday, January 21st; 8PM to 10PM; 304K viewers
53: Saturday, January 21st; 10PM to 11PM; 283K viewers
125: Saturday, January 21st; 11PM to 1AM; 213K viewers
147: Saturday, January 21st; 1AM to 3AM; 192K viewers
154: Sunday, January 22nd; 1AM to 3AM; 185K viewers
166: Sunday, January 22nd; 5PM to 6PM; 174K viewers
181: Sunday, January 22nd; 3PM to 5PM; 165K viewers
200: Saturday, January 21st; 3AM to 4AM; 136K viewers
The full day average for Dancing With the Stars on its debut date of January 21st was 242,000 viewers. Not counting the same-day reruns after that, from 6PM to 11PM, the average was 304,000 viewers. This tumbled to 174,000 average on Sunday, January 22nd.
Needless to say this can not have gone the way they wanted or expected, and it’s probably the way many of you were hoping. For the record, as I originally said months ago, I still don’t think it was that horrible of a gamble given that it does fit in their target demographic and, on paper, the acquisition made sense. It made a lot more sense than The Amazing Race did. However, as we’ve also repeatedly stated, this stuff never works for them and people watch GSN for, shockingly, game shows. Who would have thought?
So what now? I expect to see the unbelievable rerun schedule it’s under right now if it doesn’t perk up in the next cycle of reruns. Given how it lost over 100,000 viewers from Saturday to Sunday I wouldn’t count on it. It really probably would behoove them to actually renew things the people are watching like Newlywed Game and Baggage and Catch 21 which, for reasons I still don’t understand, they seem to want to ignore despite it being consistently popular. The fact that The $100,000 Pyramid is also consistently a top performer for GSN I’d be looking at possibly bringing that back, but there we are. Victory for game show fans.
Source : The Voice of TV
The only way this will be declared a true victory for game show fans is if they fire David Goldhill. Until he’s thrown out, nothing at GSN is going to change for the better. Nothing.
I know people there and they agree with your sentiment. No one likes working for him. He has no idea what he’s doing and his tenure has been marred by one failure after another. What cable network runs expensive ads for reruns? Think about it. You’ll see marketing for original shows, but what a horrible idea it was was to say, “Hey, come watch reruns of shows that you already know the outcome of.” Another expensive disaster on Goldhill’s watch. Add it to Late Night Liars, Big Saturday Night, The Game Show Awards, Hidden Agenda, whatever that Wink Martindale show was, Love Triangle, Carnie Wilson loses weight, Drew Carey’s show that was original 20 years ago, destroying poker, and other things. Since Goldhill got there, there has been one successful show (Baggage) and even that’s getting old.
From the moment it was announced that GSN was going to air re-runs of Dancing, we all knew right away that it was both a waste of time and money. The fact that they acquired 10 seasons of Dancing, without seeing how successful it would be, only goes to show how ridiculous and absurd this acquisition was.
When ABC or NBC premieres a new game show, what do they do? They produce 6 to 10 episodes of it. Then, if it tanks in the ratings, they don’t continue making new episodes. They don’t go, “Well, let’s go ahead and produce 100 episodes of this game show and then if it fails, we’ll drop it.” And it’s clearly the more intelligent way to go.
GSN should have only picked up 1 or 2 seasons of Dancing, to test the ratings. Picking up 10 seasons all at once, severely dented their 2012 budget, and they’re getting the same levels of ratings that $100K Pyramid is getting, and I can assure you that airing re-runs of $100K Pyramid costs far less money than what they spent on acquiring Dancing.
The fact that GSN continues to shell out money in creating commercials promoting Dancing with the Stars, and commercials trying to ease the transition of Dancing being added to the schedule by showing people dancing on traditional game shows, is also ridiculous, because it’s even more money being thrown down the drain.
As I said before, the same thing that happened to Improv-A-Ganza and High Stakes Poker last year will happen to Dancing this year. The ratings will continue to fall, but GSN will ignore them and keep Dancing on the schedule. After a few months of low ratings, they’ll decide to cut back the airings to once or twice a week. Then by September, it will be off the schedule. Until then, we’ll have to deal with this nonsense of a non-game-show program being on the schedule for the next 8 months…
You nailed it, Scott. They basically bought it blindly, assuming the viewers would immediately flock to it. And I felt the ads you mentioned where they showed dancing on game shows were an insult to the shows that were in it. They didn’t dance on them because they had to; they did just to have fun! Alas, you’re right; GSN won’t give this up easily, and we’ll be stuck with this…until the next programming disaster they’ll hype in the fall.
“The fact that GSN continues to shell out money in creating commercials … trying to ease the transition of Dancing being added to the schedule by showing people dancing on traditional game shows, is also ridiculous, because it’s even more money being thrown down the drain.”
And the funniest part is that at least one of those commercials showed a clip of THE GONG SHOW, which they don’t even air!
Yes, that was even stupider on GSN’s part, showing a clip from a game show that they don’t even air…
And then showing commercials with their new slogan “For the Love of the Game”, saying that “Whether we’re dancing, dating or dealing…” Stop right there. GSN, stop trying to generalize every type of show as a “game” show, because Dancing with the Stars is NOT a game show.
And even worse, they’re trying to build suspense with commercials such as, “This week on Dancing with the Stars… only 4 points separates who goes on and who goes home.” Come on. We all know the results GSN. We’re talking about repeats here; not new episodes.
Trying to build suspense with a show that everyone already knows the results to, is like what NBC did, showing next week’s contestant of Who’s Still Standing winning $70,000+ and then trying to get people to watch the entire hour of the episode anyway, in hopes of attracting viewers who would think the contestant would continue on for more money.
Indeed; those ads are just as bad. I know their tendency is to beat anything they like into the ground, but these show how desperate they are to justify the purchase (as if they’re admitting it doesn’t belong on the network). Never a good sign when you have to basically say things to cover your mistake.
See, I knew that’s what I thought. My prediction is that in just a week or two, there will be no more DWTS on GSN.
I’m still waiting for GSN to just die already. We’re long past the point of no return.
“It made a lot more sense than The Amazing Race did”? I disagree, TAR at least has some semblance of a game, especially since contestants’ performance are judged objectively instead of subjective voting. Either it or The Mole has to be by far the closest any reality show comes to being a game show. I’m not sure about demographics, but in terms of genre, TAR and The Mole both fit in the lineup a hundred times better than DWTS ever will.
The question for both shows is if you’ve seen them, do you want to see them again? And if you haven’t, do you want to for the first time? I bet there are more “yes” answers for Amazing Race than for Dancing With the Stars, but not a lot of interest for either one.
On a side-note, I like The Mole and ABC should not have cancelled it.
Well no doubt on the heels of this ratings slam-dunk, Amy will be looking to pick up the complete run of “The Bachelor(ette)”.
Or better yet, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. I’m sorry if I mentioned it.
I agree to get rid of DWTS. But I wish GSN would go back to the heart of GSN and bring back some classic game shows that a lot of people like me look forward to. GSN can survive this impasse but if I had a job there I’d make sure to have a better mix of classics and new game shows (love the classics that are on now but we need more of them).
As much as I’d love to revel in this failure, I hesitate to do so. Yes, it is a victory for good taste (and for actual game show fans), but you mentioned that GSN’s leadership consistently reaches and fails with programs that don’t connect with the viewers for whatever reason. I have to agree with insaneben; until there’s sweeping changes at the top (and Amy doesn’t count), you can expect continued reaches and failings.
Back in the days of Mall Masters and DJ Games being GSN originals, they got higher ratings off Match Game reruns, then 20-28 years old, than those originals. 25 year old $100K Pyramid reruns are doing better then DWTS.
That just proves once again that people want GSN to stand for GAME SHOW Network, not RSN (REALITY SHOW Network!) I’m surprised that this farce of a network hasn’t gone off the air by now!
To GSN, I quote the immortal chortle of Nelson Muntz:
“HA HA!”
I’m torn. I’m glad to see a show that doesn’t belong on the channel is doing poorly, but I also want GSN to do well.
That’s true, but GSN bet the house on this show. Now they have to live with the consequences.
They didn’t bet the house. They spent a lot of money, far more than they should have. But this will go down as another expensive mistake and they’ll move on. Remember GSN Radio? Or American Derby? Or How Much is Enough? If GSN had a hit, they wouldn’t know what to do, but they are very experienced in dealing with expensive failures.
Great just one more reason for the GSN forums to boast about being right. Jerks. Well I watched. Sucks this had to happen but no doubt there gonna be a wave of pain rippling through the headquarters.
They need a good ORIGINAL show. A US adaptation of The Chase would be perfect for GSN.
A-men! A-Men!! A-MEN!!!
The biggest problem would be to find good Chasers, who can do as well as the ones on the UK show (who win about three-quarters of the time).
Heck, I’d do it myself if they offered me union scale plus two per cent of every dollar I managed to keep the Contestants from winining!
To find good chasers requires finding enough people who are smart enough to handle the demand.
Even then, there would probably be some serious dumbing down of a lot of questions so the chasers would feel like they had a chance.
Yes, it’s that bad in the U.S.
I think it’s funny that you say they need an ORIGINAL show, like one that aired elsewhere!
If the Blockbusters Cullen losing noise sounds, it meant that the ad hype meant they turned away from watching Cops, SNL and playing either Angry Birds or Halo: reach. Why did GSN deserve to do this? Back in the day, you tuned in to Game Show Saturday Night. It was one show and ran all night long until the infomercials came in at 3 am. Now it’s not the same. Family Feud was okay, but DWTS…..pfffft. Why did ad hype dropped ratings like a waterfall?
Why don’t we just combine a lot of these together.
GSN Presents …
Carnie Wilson Dancing with the Cats!
I’m sure some of you can come up with even better.
Think Like a Cat Dancing with the Hidden Agenda and Instant Recall of How Much is Enough of Big Saturday Night featuring Carnie Wilson: Unstapled.
I agree with Quartrguy about bringing some UK game shows to the USA. Love to be on the Bank Job or the Chase or Secret Fortune (which USA is waiting for CBS to get a time slot for it with Donny Osmond as the slated host) or Pointless. We need to bring them here and have someone not butcher them, like Million Dollar Money Drop & Minute to Win it did. Any ideas for hosts for the US versions of the UK shows?
My thoughts?
The Bank Job – Mark L. Wahlberg
The Chase – Ken Jennings (Yes, I went there)
Pointless – Chuck Woolery
I wonder if there’s a bank in LA that would be willing to host a game show…? Probably not…
CBS is going to take a verbal beating from me if they don’t follow through with their intention to create a U.S. season of Secret Fortune. Give me a break already. The producers are raring to go, but CBS is holding them back because they don’t want to axe one of their time slots airing 2 Broke Girls or CSI or whatnot.
If CBS is going to keep them on hold, the producers should pitch the idea to ABC or NBC instead. Then if one of those networks pick it up, it will be a kick to the face of the CBS programming department for continuously delaying development of a great game show!
Before I’d drop a ton of money on American versions of British shows, I’d try to simply buy the rights to AIR the British shows. Then if one or two become popular, they could make a US version.
I’ve heard so many people saying that GSN should simply die a slow painful death. That shouldn’t happen. Yes, they should bring classics back on their schedule and create more originals (a good many which are hits). BUT I INSIST THEY GET RID OF THE REALITY SHOWS. The one thing I’ve never tuned into GSN for is reality shows.
Well, the 6:00-11:00 block did very well. It did do better than Feud did in the last published week, but the repeats suck. Apparently the PDF’s say it’s being cutdown in February with that absurd block ending at 1:00am, then a week later, ending at 11:00pm. That was published before the show even debuted.
And for the Goldhill comment, yeah there’s been a lot of crap, but there’s been some good. And he’s a nice guy. I’ve emailed him before (and he responded, it said nothing about older shows being removed, or any secret information.) I even got a package of GSN stuff. Nice guy. Just some stuff that doesn’t work.
(Same John from previous 2 posts) Quartrguy, I like your choices for each one!! Those sound awesome! The only bank I’d think about for the Bank Job is “Chase” lol!
Did anyone ever report how the black and white overnight ratings were? Did viewership go up?
I would still love for GSN to make new versions of old game shows: Concentration, Sale of the Century, etc.
I can’t believe I’m going to go there, but hell Bingo America on GSN did better!
However, I could also go with a 15 to 1 and Perfection… If they really want to stretch, Sodoku (the BBC show) could work as well.
To tell the truth, I hope GSN needs to be partnerly shared with Challenge TV, MTV Networks, NBC Universal, CBS Television Disturbution, and FremantleMedia by splitting into 2 different channels(1 network for classic game shows, 1 network for modern game shows) showcasing only every real Game Show airing in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. GSN Modern and GSN Classic can work perfectly well with no rerun abuse.
Just on a sidebar…how well did flashback friday do? Was it as well as it seems to indicate from the Pyramid ratings?
I miss flashback friday already and thats even with the pre car (guest panel, educated guess question, really ugly dealer uniforms) season of eubanks card sharks.
My point is…not it would happen…but say you had the choice of DWTS or say classic concentration or 80s TPIR…and you had to go by RATINGS…which of the 3 would you choose…given the original squares turning into a small disaster back in the early oughts under bob Boden, I’d say no to concentration (since only trebek’s version stays whole) but Barker Price again vs DWTS…that would be a tough call….and im going by who today would watch it…I think there’d be some interest.
GSN needs to figure out just what exactly their target demo is. They have always had a serious mental conflict when it comes to this issue. When they want to attract young people, they make it happen by greenlighting “Baggage”, yet they are conflicted over angering the senior-center crowd. So then they stick on DWTS and it doesn’t pull in anyone under 65. Make up your minds, GSN. Run those wonderfully kitschy 70s shows with a “tounge in cheek” attitude that still gets your younger crowd, while appeasing the Hoveround crowd. It’s not hard. TV Land has made a huge success of it!
Second week did even worse than the first week! Smells like another GSN Epic Fail unless things miraculously turn around.
GSN is now a trashy channel, repeats of DWTS are such not you’ll see on that channel, How about if Sony and FremantleMedia could come up with a ”Antenna” or ”MeTV” for traditional game shows to be seen on ”over-the-air” digital TV, that will keep fans of traditional game shows happy!!
Intersting idea, but how would Sony and Fremantle monetize a free digital channel? So far, they get such tiny viewership their is no chance of any ad sales revenue.
The GSN has become a joke. Constant all night reruns of the same show on a given night is ridiculous. Dancing With The Stars is a joke. DWS is NOT a game show, or has anyone at the GSN realized this? The run them over and over on the weekends; who the heck is going to watch? Bring back the GAME shows; I used to love it when they had regular game shows in primetime and then the black and white old What’s My Line, etc. on late at night. As much as I love Drew Carey his Improvaganza show was not a game show either and we hardly watched it. Another complaint, as long as I’m at it, is the New Newlywed Game with Sheri Shephard. It is very risque and I do not like to see a grown woman ask extremely personal questions about a couple’s sex life (thinly disguised) and giggle and make rude comments on the answers. Baggage isn’t far behind with Jerry Springer salivating and making stupid comments regarding the contestants answers. Anyway, just to let GSN know – we don’t watch your channel anymore except for an occasional look at Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader on Sunday nights, if we haven’t seen it before. More than likely these episodes were run the previous Sunday night. Ridiculous! They need to replace the program director and fast, before they lose all their viewers!
An episodic show like Pyramid makes sense because you probably don’t remember who won that specific episode 20+ years ago, so it’s fresh to watch it again.
But a show like DWTS is all about which single celebrity makes it to the end. You may not remember each episode, but you may remember the one celebrity who won the season, which basically defeats the purpose of watching the entire season.
I love GSN and didn’t mind them airing DWTS, but it would’ve been better if they showed the older episodes instead of those from a year ago that we just basically saw on ABC. But I didn’t understand back-to-back airings of the same episodes.
STOP Dancing With Stars…NOT A GAME SHOW…..go back to GAME SHOWS…
No one cares about DWTS…..Thank you