DVC-Landbaron
What Would Walt Do?
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2000
Just picked this up from another site. I tried to link it, but the stupid thing wouldn't work!! So... I copied it instead. Here's the story from Moneycentral:
And I thought this attraction was the one to save DCA? Hmmmm. Maybe I was mistaken.
Seems as though "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" may not be back next season. The show has worn out its welcome. I wonder why? Can anybody say saturation?!?! Good old Ei$ner & company really killed this cash cow pretty fast, didnt they?Future of 'Millionaire' up in the air ABC
November 28, 2001 2:02:00 PM ET
LOS ANGELES, Nov 28 (Reuters) - "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," the monster game show hit that spawned imitators and propelled ABC to No. 1 in the ratings overnight, could be yanked from the air as soon as next fall, a top network official said on Wednesday.
Lloyd Braun, co-chairman of ABC Entertainment Television Group, characterized the status of "Millionaire" next fall as "unsure."
"I'd like to think that there'll be a place on our schedule for that show" next fall, he told reporters during a conference call to discuss the network's progress so far in the current season. "But at the same time, I'm not going to tell you there will be any guarantees. ... We cannot say with certainty that 'Millionaire' is going to be on the fall schedule."
Braun's words marked the latest development in the unraveling of a game show once feared by other networks for its ability to dominate prime-time television.
The Regis Philbin-hosted show rocketed to prominence after its launch in August 1999, propelling ABC to No. 1 in the ratings as the network carried episodes three and four times each week.
As recently as February, "Millionaire" was still finishing in the top 20 each week for most or all of its editions among total viewers, although the ratings were less stellar for younger audiences.
As the numbers fell, ABC reduced the show to two episodes per week on its current fall schedule. In the most recent week ended Nov. 25, one of the show's two editions finished 40th in the ratings overall for total viewers, while another edition finished 72nd. The nearly 10 million people who watched the show on Nov. 19 was about half the show's average audience for the same time last year.
And I thought this attraction was the one to save DCA? Hmmmm. Maybe I was mistaken.