GSN bounces around

I had barely heard of Bounce TV. It's one of those digital subchannels occupying less than choice space on the spectrum.

But in the 500-channel universe, even subchannels need programming. Bounce has found a somewhat unlikely vendor in GSN. The subchannel had already acquired old eps of Sherri Shepherd's Newlywed Game from our little game show network. Now comes news that Bounce has also picked up reruns of American Bible Challenge and Catch 21.

Bounce targets African-American viewers, so the pickups are understandable. I doubt GSN is getting huge dollars in the deals, but the subchannel's execs sound enthusiastic about the performance of Sherriwed since its acquisition. So why not buy a few more shows? Messrs. Foxworthy and Ribeiro will debut on Bounce later this summer.

It's still a little odd for me to think of GSN peddling shows to other outlets. After all, GSN began as a depository for old game shows, not as a source of original programming for other channels. But it can't hurt GSN to get their shows out to new audiences, even on subchannels.