Several folks have alerted me that GSN (formerly Game Show Network) has reruns of What's My Line? and I've Got A Secret back in their late night lineup next week and at least the week after. These come and go from time to time and I'm curious as to the thinking here…
Are they contractually obligated to run these X weeks per year or lose the package? It would not be unprecedented for a TV network to keep paying for a show they no longer want to broadcast. Stations do that all the time, especially with a show that like these old Goodson-Todman programs, probably cost them little more than pocket change. For years, one Los Angeles TV station kept paying for (but not airing) the Roach Laurel & Hardy features. An assistant to the Station Manager told me they had no plans to run them — they didn't fit into current programming concepts — but "You never know when we might change our thinking and wish we had them." A more likely thought process was that they didn't want some other station to get the library and maybe figure out how to schedule and promote it into a success.
Or does GSN have some advertiser who wants them on, figuring it's the perfect demographic to sell scooters to seniors or some other such sales campaign? For the right sponsor, it might be cheaper and more effective than paying to run infomercials.
Or did someone at GSN just say, "Hey, let's give those another shot. They're so damned cheap that if we can get nineteen people to tune in, we can make money"?
I don't know why they're back…nor do I know where GSN is starting in the run or how long they'll leave them on this time. All I know is I have my TiVo set so I can watch whatever they put on for as long as they leave them on this time.