The Jerry Springer-hosted relationship show, in its second season on cable's GSN, is getting a 10-week syndication tryout by NBCU on 10 stations, including nine belonging to Sinclair and Weigel's WCIU Chicago.
NBCU Testing ‘Baggage’ For Syndication
Baggage, the Game Show Network dating show hosted by Jerry Springer, could be a new option for broadcast syndication, if all goes well in NBC Universal Television Distribution’s 10-week, 10-market test of the show, which began Monday.
The daily half-hour show, in its second season on GSN, is airing on nine Sinclair stations, including Tampa, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Birmingham and Las Vegas, and Weigel Broadcasting’s WCIU in Chicago.
NBCU had no comment on its plans for the show, but with few new first-run shows being offered for syndication this fall, the show has piqued the interest of its test broadcasters. “I’m a little excited about it,” says Bill Butler, Sinclair’s VP of promotion and programming.
Dating shows like Baggage and Excused, a first-run relationship show being pitched by CBS Television Distribution for the fall, could fill voids left by other genres, he says.
“Regular game shows aren’t very productive for us after a long string of giving them a good shot.”
Baggage, which features three contestants vying for a date who have to divulge their “baggage,” is being tested in afternoon, early and latenight time slots.
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“What they have said is that these programs are not so over the top that they would be objectionable, but that they would be entertainment appropriate,” Butler says.
In its first two days on air, the show averaged a 0.9 rating/2 share, down 10% from its lead-in and 25% from its year-ago time period average.
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