Watching these Home Player episodes of PYL got me thinking...

In general, are home players notified before air date that they won something? (PYL, TPIR viewer showcase, etc...)

If the standard practice was to notify winners before they actually saw the show, why would people watch the sweepstakes shows?

Does anyone know for sure if Nielsen families are somehow prohibited from participating in TV sweepstakes? My semi-educated guess says no, because if the Nielsen families can't participate, then why bother, right?

Assuming a contest that runs for 2 weeks with 1 winner a day (not counting runner ups), you notify 10 people that they won. There is no need to notify anybody else. So theoretically, 10 people wouldn't have to watch (and they probably would anyway to hear their name called on TV. Plus if they are fans, they'll watch anyway). That wouldn't be so much as a blip on the ratings radar. But I see your point.

I would think if anything it would increase the ratings (at least in a neighborhood, or with their family). They call everyone they know and say "Hey! I'm a gonna win something on such and such show! Make sure to watch!" However, it'd probably only increase it by maybe about 50 people. But, it MIGHT result in a ratings increase if the "how much did you win?" question is answered with a large number.

I know with regular ol' contestants they can't do that, but I'm not sure if the silence contract remains the same with home viewers and the sweepstakes. I'm sure the official rules of the sweepstakes would say something about that if it were true. Maybe, like Wheel, the rules are mimmeographed somewhere. :)

In the case of the 70s/80s Xmas Home viewer Showcases and the Phone Home Game, the person who was closest to the ARP of the Showcase or the person whose name was drawn to play the PHG was called by the show and spoke to Bob on-air. Anyone know what happened if they could not reach the person picked for PHG, or the winner of the Home Viewer Showcase?

Prolly the same thing that happens when a Phone A Friend is unreachable. I'm guessing they edit the call out and keep going until they find someone else.

The Phone Home Game contestants were all called prior to the taping even beginning and placed on hold until the game was to be played. This was the reason that the game was often played first or second.