GSN upping the TV stakes

By Liz Benston

Monday, Jan. 17, 2005 | 10:48 a.m.

Starting this week, television viewers nationwide will begin seeing ads promoting a new roster of gambling-related programming with the tagline "Friday night is casino night."

The advertiser isn't a casino or other gambling venue.

It's the Game Show Network, a cable channel that began airing classic game shows a decade ago but in the past couple of years has developed gambling tournaments taped in Las Vegas casinos as well as a loyal local following.

The channel, which now goes by GSN, claims to offer the most gambling programming on television in addition to interactive games in which viewers at home can play poker and blackjack as well as answer game show questions along with studio participants.

At no cost, viewers can obtain computer passwords and play along with the games on the Internet, earning points toward prizes and cash. Last year the network enabled Time Warner cable subscribers in Hawaii to play the games using their remote controls -- a service the network expects to make available across the country this year.

The Santa Monica-based network, jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corp., is ramping up its gambling programming as a slew of other investors are scrambling to develop gambling or casino-themed television channels to capitalize on the growing popularity of poker and Las Vegas themes. No gambling-specific channel has yet to emerge in the U.S.

GSN has taped programs at a few off-Strip casinos so far and has more recently begun discussions with major Las Vegas casinos about potential partnerships.

Casinos are interested in hosting the network because game shows and gambling tournaments can draw a huge audience to a particular property, GSN President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Cronin said. One casino company has discussed offering studio space for GSN to tape shows, with the studio itself becoming a tourist attraction, Cronin said.

He declined to say which companies the network was in talks with or which casino has considered the studio space.

Cronin, a former marketing executive with the Nickelodeon cable channel, worked with Universal Studios to develop a Nickelodeon studio attraction at Universal's theme park in Orlando.

The network credits gambling programming, which makes up the vast majority of its new programs, with boosting viewer numbers.

The poker-playing trend "looks like it really has legs," Cronin said. "It's not a flash in the pan. Viewers are watching poker saying, 'Hey, I can do that.' And they can play along at home."

GSN had 147,000 Nielsen viewers from September through the end of last year, ranking 50th among major cable networks tracked by Nielsen Media Research. The network is now in 56.6 million homes, up from 50 million in the first quarter of 2003 and 54 million in the first quarter of 2004. The network recently kicked off a second season of its World Series of Blackjack tournament at the Golden Nugget in addition to a new installment of "Celebrity Blackjack," which is taped in Los Angeles and features stars such as Jason Alexander and Dennis Rodman. The Orleans casino is the setting for "Poker Royale," the first tournament organized by the World Poker Players Association, a group of the country's best players. That series wrapped up Tuesday but will begin anew this year with "Poker Royale: Battle of the Sexes," a tournament pitting six top male players against six female poker stars.

Last week marked the debut of "American Dream Derby," a "Survivor" meets thoroughbred racing show in which 12 contestants gain points for performing challenges and compete toward the grand prize, $250,000 and a stable of racehorses.

The show, set at Santa Anita Park in California, is the brainchild of GSN and producers involved in the "Weakest Link" and "Mole" reality shows. The Bally's Las Vegas casino this month began posting odds for fun on who will win the grand prize.

Also last week, the network aired its season finale of Poker Royale on a stage at the outdoor Fremont Street Experience attraction in downtown Las Vegas with a live contest involving the winner of the tournament and a GSN viewer. The tournament winner drew a hand of cards that netted a $15,000 prize for himself and another $15,000 for the viewer. The top prize, for a full house, would have been $10 million.

In development is "No Limit Nine Ball," a show aimed at popularizing billiards in the same way that Texas Hold 'em tournaments on television transformed the game of poker into mainstream entertainment, Cronin said.

The network will begin packaging casino programs back-to-back on Fridays to attract loyal viewers as well as new watchers. It will also work on tweaking other casino games for television and developing more live events, Cronin said.

Casinos are interested in hosting such programs, he said.

"These become program-length commercials for the casinos. It's to their advantage to draw people to the games, particularly poker. They want more people playing poker at higher stakes."