“Celebrity Name Game” To Be Cancelled After Three Seasons

According to Deadline Hollywood, the Courteney Cox/David Arquette-executive produced game show will not be renewed once this season concludes. Jennifer Mullin, Co-CEO of FremantleMedia North America, states: “We’ve had a wonderful time producing Celebrity Name Game and we are exceptionally proud of its three seasons in syndication. While we are not renewing in syndication at this time, it is a format we believe in. We are thankful to our loyal audience, our celebrity guests, the incredibly talented Craig Ferguson, our partners at Debmar–Mercury and Coquette, and our crew — whose passion for this series has been unparalleled.” 

Playing Catch Up: News Updates From The Past Week

Because I haven’t had much time to regularly post updates on the TBIR Facebook and main page, today’s article is dedicated to briefly covering some of the more prominent game show news stories from the past week including FremantleMedia’s BUZZR facing a trademark suit, BBC unsurprisingly renewing Pointless, Australia’s Seven Network ordering a new game show from ITV Studios and The Price Is Right heading for Nigeria.

BUZZR Increases Reach To 60% Of Households

Thanks to the addition of Boston’s WLVI channels 56.2 over the air, 291 on Comcast and 465 on FiOS in November, BUZZR has now cleared in all of the top 10 markets and is now available in 60% of U.S. households with more projected to come throughout the year. Since the dawn of the FremantleMedia North America-owned classic game show subchannel, distributed by Debmar-Mercury, BUZZR has more than doubled its market reach within the six months it has been on the air. "We are excited to have expanded the network so rapidly and are fortunate to have a phenomenal group of broadcast and station partners", said Ron Garfield, BUZZR’s EVP and general manager. Garfield continues by stating, "We have worked together to build BUZZR into a place where a truly multigenerational audience can come together for a fun, entertaining and nostalgic trip through some of the best game shows ever made." Since the network’s debut, game show viewers have been treated to even more episodes of classic game shows within the Goodson-Todman library including unearthed unsold pilots during “Lost & Found” week.

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #79

This week's quick update article will cover some of the latest game show news headlines from the past few days in 200 characters or less including updates featured on the TBIR Facebook page. Today's news updates include a brand new YouTube game show featuring contestants competing for the title of "Biggest Fan of The Hunger Games", BUZZR's Betty White-filled holiday marathon, The CNN Quiz Show returning tonight and game show renewals and ratings.

STAY TUNED: BUZZR's "Lost And Found" Block To Premiere September 7

For those of you who have FremantleMedia's digital channel, BUZZR, available on your local station, you are in for a treat within the next few weeks. Starting September 7, the channel will be airing a special "Lost and Found" block dedicated to exhibiting rarely seen game shows and pilots from Fremantle's vault. According to the promo (shown below), some of the unearthed shows to be aired could include Star Words, Body Talk, TKO and Double Dare (no, not the Nickelodeon version).

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.