RCN is dropping GSN from all of their markets, effective either Aug 15 or Sep 1. The CSR didn't know why.
I guess its time to look at satellite again.

Unfortunately, I just found out about this when it happened in my area (Sept. 3), not in advance.

I called RCN to ask what was going on, and the rep said that GSN did not meet their "standards." "What do you mean? What standards?" I asked. He said that RCN had gotten a lot of complaints about GSN.

I find this hard to believe. I'm trying to envision a bunch of angry cranks calling in and saying "Get these damn game shows off my TV!" and it doesn't sound plausible to me.

By the way, at least in my area, RCN has replaced GSN with nothing. Well, I hope the complainers, if indeed there are any, enjoy the dead channel.

Well, the only thing I can think of is that an especially racy episode of Match Game being aired or multiple things being said on GSN Live that slipped past the censors. They don't show either version of 3's a Crowd. They censored the cigarette ads or placements as best they could. They've bent over backwards. Unless you're just desperate to be offended, I'm struggling to think how this happy-go-lucky network could bother so many to the point of being taken off the air.

"OH NOES--THEY SAID BOOBS!!!! BASTARDS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE DECAY IN SOCIETY!!!! BAN IT!!!!!"

Out of curiosity, three things...1) where do you live, 2) is it known for being conservative (i.e. a Bible Belt location), and 3) is GSN a basic channel or digital tier? Like CarShark said, the worst thing I can think of is Match Game, MAYBE the D/ND models, but if that's the case, why not complain to NBC and the affiliate who airs the daytime version? Or perhaps poker for promoting gambling?

Regardless, it's silly, considering the stuff you find on basic cable channels.

The only complaints besides content that could possibly be lodged against GSN are too much repetition of a handful of shows and too many infomercials.

I suspect it's because GSN does not show reruns of Bonanza.
Or maybe the wife of the CEO of RCN found something objectionable in GSN's content. They did run a Studs eppy a few years ago after all.
I'd look to SoapNet for "standards" violations [unmarried people naked in bed; how abhorrent] before tattling on GSN. Mystifying.

My vote is for a gaggle of dumpy housewives furious over Guiding Light's cancellation and the news that Let's Make a Deal will replace it, calling and drumming up nonsensical complaints about GSN's content in retaliation.

Or, much more likely, the muffinheads you spoke with at RCN had no idea what GSN even was, so they shook the Magic Eight Ball of Lame Excuses for Stupid Decisions and Technical Failures, "Customer Complaints" came up, and they spun you a story on the fly.

Still doesn't beat what my local cable provider did in 1997, when complaints from the local religious reich against South Park (which started piling up months before its debut) were so vociferous that the carrier knuckled under and took Comedy Central off the lineup completely two weeks before the show's premiere (which also coincided with the premiere of Win Ben Stein's Money).

RCN reportedly pulled GSN from all their systems nationwide, and they don't even have a single system in the Bible Belt. They only serve the Boston suburbs, parts of New York City, and parts of the Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Allentown areas. The only town they serve which is even technically in the South is Falls Church, Virginia, which is closer to Washington, D.C. than Dulles Airport is.



Until it was pulled, GSN was on a digital tier in my area. One had to pay extra for a package including it.

That's certainly a possibility.

My suspicion is that they were receiving complaints, but they were all coming from GSN headquarters and sounded like this: "Why won't you pay GSN higher per-subscriber fees?" "When are you going to sign the contract to raise GSN's fees?" "Are you people too cheap to pay GSN a higher fee?"

That should be a troubling thought for ANY cable or satellite subscriber. They're certainly entitled to ask for more money if they want but unlike the bigger players (ESPN, Disney, MTV, etc), I could certainly see said cable/satellite provider laughing in their faces and telling them "OK, buh bye" and dropping GSN without a second thought.

Or what DirecTV is doing with Versus right now, pulling it off until the rate can go down or at least not up. Cable/satellite companies have finally hit the end of price elasticity of their product, so they'll have to fight to keep costs down or lose even more customers.


--Mike

That makes the most sense to me. In the big picture, GSN is a harmless blip of a channel. The idea that the reason they're taking it down is because of complaints just strikes me as absurd.

Stupid, just stupid. What next, are they going to dump "Live With Regis & Kelly" from Omaha airwaves? Oh, wait a minute...

That wouldn't bother me very much if the show was being replaced by reruns of Spin-Off.

I finally spoke with someone at RCN Cable headquarters in Virginia this past week.

They told me that the reason they dropped GSN is that they had been unable to agree on a fee with GSN. This is what I had expected, and as people in this thread suggested, the customer service representative who said it was because they received complaints about GSN was just talking through their hat.

All that RCN is offering as a replacement is the fact that they have recently added CNN International and a local news channel.

This sounds oddly familiar.