Buzzr ruminations

Game Show Garbage takes some time off from trashing game shows to discuss Buzzr and make a few 2019 predictions for the oldies diginet.

The article starts with an odd note: the only recent addition to Buzzr's schedule that "people would call remotely a dud" is the syndie What's My Line. That's news to me. I think the dud is Classic Concentration, a slow, rather boring show. There's no disputing tastes.

GSG then notes the obvious: Buzzr has moved to an online strategy instead of attempts to expand further on conventional TV. The site says that cord cutting and higher costs are responsible for the change in direction. The real explanation, of course, is that an (almost) all-oldies game show channel has little appeal outside a small group of hardcore nostalgia buffs. But I don't expect Game Show Garbage to be quite so blunt.

The predictions for Buzzr in 2019 include the acquisition of the thoroughly mediocre Shop Til You Drop and (gasp) Steve Harvey's Family Feud. GSG says the latter show will cause "utter dismay to a lot of traditionalists." That's putting it mildly.

In fact, I don't know if Harvey Feud is a slam dunk for Buzzr. GSN wouldn't like the diginet to get the show, and GSN is one of Fremantle's best customers.