Tuesday, January 20, 2015

FremantleMedia North America To Launch Buzzr TV On FOX O&O Stations

If you are a die-hard game show fan, you might want to check this out: FremantleMedia North America is planning to launch a digital multicast channel solely devoted to classic game shows called Buzzr TV. FOX owned-and-operated stations have picked up the Buzzr TV to air in 17 top markets beginning this summer. The deal was brokered for FremantleMedia by Debmar-Mercury distribution. Some of the vintage shows expected to air on the new channel could include Goodson-Todman classics like Match Game, What’s My Line?, To Tell The Truth and Password. Debmar-Mercury will shop the channel to other stations during the National Association of Television Program Executives confab, which runs through Thursday in Miami Beach. This seems like the perfect opportunity for FremantleMedia to enter into the multicast market, especially with the success Wiegel Broadcasting and Tribune Broadcasting have had with MeTV and Antenna TV.

To loosely quote Joe Biden, "this is a big freaking deal!" — well, to game show fans anyway. This will bring a sigh of relief to those viewers who would be fortunate enough to receive the network in their area and will no longer have to settle for GSN’s budget-saving schedule currently filled with endless blocks of Harvey’s Family Feud and GSN original programming. Considering FremantleMedia owns the world's largest library of game shows (containing over 40,000 episodes), viewers might also have a chance to see rarely-rebroadcasted gems including Say When!, ShowoffsMindreaders, Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour and the original Cullen version of The Price Is Right. Stay tuned for more details.

Source: Variety

1 comment:

  1. I wouldn't count on "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour".

    ReplyDelete