Game Time For TV Networks

The game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire finally wraps-up its 18-night run Wednesday evening on ABC. And that network couldn't be happier with the results. In the crucial November ratings period, ABC is in position to be number one in the adult category for the first time in five years.

It's a hit formula that other networks are already trying to duplicate. The Fox network is enjoying improved ratings with its own multi-million dollar game show, called Greed.

And CBS is preparing Survivor for next year. Based on a Swedish program, Survivor will give a $1 million to the contestant who outlasts his rivals on a remote desert island.

Early Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel discussed TV's latest game-show phenomenon with Michael Schneider, a staff reporter who covers television for Daily Variety.

"Trends change. Last year it was young teen dramas. All of a sudden the game shows came out of nowhere ... Young kids are watching, teens are watching, and adults and old adults."

Plus, says Schneider, "It's cheap to produce. And advertisers love it because it's noncontroversial."

What's a hit game show worth to a network's bottom line?

"With Millionaire on ABC, depending on what they do, it could turn their fortunes around. If they decide to strip it, which is air it every day of the week, you could see ABC, which has been in the red the past few years, suddenly go into the black."

Which genre will pay the price as network executives look to fill slots with game shows?

"I think you'll see as many comedies and dramas as usual, but as those shows fail, some of the more salacious shows that the networks have relied on, I think they'll go to more friendly reality-type shows like game shows and CBS' Survivor, which you mentioned earlier."

In television, it's true that anything worth doing is worth doing to excess. Will we see an oversaturation of these things?

"The sincerest form of television is imitation and I think you'll see quite a few game shows," says Schneider. "NBC has revival of Twenty-One and a revival of The $64,000 Question so you haven't seen the last of them."

Back in the '50s, game shows did well in prime time before scandal brought about their demise. Is there anything in this run forcing these game shows to fade into obscurity?

"Like everything else, as soon as the viewers turn away, especially the younger viewers, the networks will quickly move on to the next genre."