Game Show Network and Sony Pictures Make Programming a Win-Win in Upfront

The Game Show Network wants to make everyone a winner this upfront season. Today, GSN and Sony Pictures Television announce offerings for their second combined upfront, including options in live viewing, integrations and syndicated programming. Among the highlights, GSN touts its original programming slate, branded entertainment opportunities in long-running game shows such as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune and positions in popular syndicated shows. According to GSN, as a top 20 cable network, it's a "prolific producer of content," with more than 275 hours of shows on deck for 2023 (up 26% year over year). Helping those numbers, the company said it would remain committed to delivering high-quality programming in the year ahead with four new strip series, Split Second, Blank Slate, Riddiculous and Hey Yahoo, all set to debut. Game Show Network, Sony Pictures TV Team Up for First Joint Upfront Premiering in April and hosted by John Michael Higgins, Split Second asks three contestants to decide in a split second which of three general interest trivia questions they can answer. Meanwhile, Hey Yahoo! features two teams of three players, each competing to guess what millions of people are searching for on Yahoo Search. The other two new series, Riddiculous, a trivia game based on a U.K. version, and Blank Slate, which is based on the board game USAopoly, will premiere in the fall. “Game Show Network delivers live viewing levels that rival both sports and news,” Stuart Zimmerman, executive vice president, ad sales for Sony Pictures Television and Game Show Network, said in a statement. “The benefit to our advertisers is that game shows as a genre have over a 90% commerical retention when viewing commercials, and Game Show Network is the destination for game show viewers.” In addition to the new shows, the company said its rounding out its schedule with Master Minds, which enters its fifth season, improving its time period by 33% in women 25-54, according to the company, and Switch, which enters its second season by improving its time period by 20% in P2+. There are also short-form ad options in everything from established game shows to Sony's syndicated fare, including Craig Ferguson’s late-night return in a TV-focused talk show called Channel Surf; hit series such as The Good Doctor or S.W.A.T.; and comedies, including Seinfeld, The Goldbergs and King of Queens, among others. GSN and Sony Pictures Television first teamed up for an upfront presentation in 2022, following Zimmerman adding GSN to his purview. In its first combined upfront, the company had projected 350 hours of content for 2022, though the total didn't appear to reach that number in the end. However, with a 26% increase in content year over year in 2023, it seems there will be plenty of opportunities for partners to get involved.