More dancing, more arguing

The endless yapping over GSN's acquisition of Dancing With the Stars continues. BuzzerBlog's Alex Davis among many others has waded in. Some more of my chatter from the GSN Schedule board...

Alex Davis: I frankly, don't watch the network.

I guess Alex means he doesn't watch GSN that much. He apparently was one of the few people who liked and watched Improv-a-Ganza and Late Night Liars. But those were demo experiments designed to lure folks like Alex. They didn't work. In fact, the only demo experiment that succeeded for a long time on GSN was High Stakes Poker. And that show is just about gone now.

As for a Dancing With the Stars talk show, I think it's a far-fetched idea at best. GSN's audience does skew in Dancing's direction, but that doesn't necessarily mean they like talk shows. They like competition. That's why they tune in to GSN instead of The View.

I do agree that DWTS is a much better demo bet for GSN than Amazing Race, and a way better bet than a freaking, flipping disaster like Late Night Liars, which was one of the worst waste products ever excreted by any network anywhere. Of course, that doesn't guarantee success, but Dancing's got a much better shot with GSN's core audience.

Is Dancing a game show? Sorry, I gave up on those metaphysical discussions long ago. I will say that it's a competition show which is at least closely related to traditional game shows.

By the way, I like how Alex has now softened his description of GSN's audience to "middle-aged ladies." He has been more blunt in the past (wink).

Another poster: This will last like The Amazing Race. It will work initially but quickly go to pot once all the first run reruns of this show are used up.

I think the much better demo targeting will keep the numbers higher than with Amazing Race. I agree that if GSN abuses the show too ridiculously, the numbers will soften quick.