MGM Domestic Television Distribution’s game show will not return this fall after three seasons in syndication.
The Scripps game show adds non-Scripps stations prior to its third season launch in September. Coverage rises to 70% with a new cable run on GSN factored in.
Former MTV VJ Bill Bellamy Bellamy, who has guest co-hosted shows such as CBS Television Distribution’s Rachael Ray and Entertainment Tonight, replaces Kevin Pereira.
The prime access game show is now in its second season on 13 Scripps stations, including ABC affiliates WXYZ Detroit and KNXV Phoenix.
The group owner’s execs say they are pleased with the ratings of the two home-grown shows it developed to replace syndication powerhouses Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Plus it gets to keep all the inventory in the new Let’s Ask America and The List.
First-run strips Let’s Ask America and The List, which debuted this week, are averaging a 1.9/4 and a 2.5/5, respectively, among metered market households, but are still down from lead-ins and year-ago time period averages.
Exclusives
Scripps To Launch Two New Shows In Sept.
By replacing Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy with home-grown shows, it will control all of the access ad positions. Plus, it hopes to syndicate Let’s Ask America and The List to non-Scripps stations as well to generate more revenue.
Beginning Sept. 17, Let’s Ask America and The List will move into access and early fringe lineups in seven markets. When contracts for syndicated shows expire in the remaining Scripps markets (Detroit, Denver, San Diego, Indianapolis, West Palm Beach, Fla., and Bakersfield, Calif.), the two new half-hours will move into those timeslots. The series will be made available outside of the Scripps markets through Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for a fall 2013 national launch.
