It's a tough time for game shows

Steve Beverly would like to think that the remarkable success experienced by "Jeopardy!" in the past few months would translate into more game shows on network television. But he's far from certain one will lead to the other.

"One would think that there would be a halo effect of sorts with game shows," said Beverly, Web master of the tvgameshows.net site and professor of broadcasting at Union University in Tennessee. "Perhaps because this has kicked up the ratings for 'Jeopardy!' by 25--30 percent . . . that studio executives would realize there's an audience out there that would watch."

Beverly, who not only knows more about game shows than almost anybody but is a devoted follower of them as well, pointed out that no new game shows will be offered in syndication next season — the third year in a row that's happened.

"That's the longest drought in 40 years," he said.

Daytime TV used to be filled with game shows, but the only one still on a network is CBS's "Price Is Right." Syndicated shows (sold to individual stations in cities across the country) are down to but a handful — "Wheel of Fortune," "Family Feud," "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and "Jeopardy!"

A few shows are on the low-rated Pax network and cable's GSN (formerly known as the Game Show Network). But these are tough times for game shows and their fans.

"Ken Jennings on 'Jeopardy!' proves there's an audience out there that would watch . . . but I think the studios and stations are looking at this as a one-contestant fluke," Beverly said.

He said he's talked to veteran game-show producers who say studios and local stations are turning a deaf ear because game shows "don't skew young enough" — they tend to attract a high percentage of viewers outside the 18-49 demographic prized by advertisers.

But, Beverly points out, sometimes that search for younger viewers goes badly awry. He pointed to Sony's cancellation of the Donny Osmond-hosted "Pyramid" last season — a show the studio replaced on its syndication slate with "Life & Style."

The replacement is drawing only about a third the audience that "Pyramid" did.

"They threw away a show that still had legs and tried to get something young and hip," Beverly said. "And that's a disaster of a show, and nobody is watching."

WHAT MADE HIM A WINNER: Nobody watched Ken Jennings' run as "Jeopardy!" champion more closely than Beverly. And he doesn't buy the theory that Jennings' success was predicated on knowing when to push the button so he could answer the questions.

"It was a combination of the two," Beverly said. "And he's the right age. At 30, he not only has a deep knowledge of academic subjects, but he knows a broad amount of contemporary pop culture as well. "I think age probably had something to do with that," he said. "But I think age probably has something to do with his reflexes, too."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com