According to today's Variety, (ad click required), GSN is in final negotiations to acquire all 7 seasons of The Amazing Race.

I think this is the smartest off-net pickup GSN could do. Most of the viewers TAR gets now that it exploded in series 5 didn't watch 1 through 4, so they're virtually new. Variety says that even if each episode gets 1 million viewers, it will go far to kick up the viewer average of the whole channel.

Here's their take on the channel as a whole:


In a related story, OLN is close to securing the entire run to date of Survivor.

And Steve says they already have.
I don't see the rerun value in Survivor....how many people watched the finale of the intial one, again?

The problem with rerunning the initial "Survivor" was not rerunning the initial "Survivor" (yes, I know that's a mouthful). The problem was that it was reran every night during the Olympics and about two weeks after Richard Hatch was announced as the winner. It was too soon IMNSHO.

I don't see the rerun value of any of those elimination-type shows........Unless you've never watched them before and don't know who won, it's no fun watching a show where you already know the eventual outcome and winner..

I didn't see the earlier installments of Amazing Race, and now that I'm hooked, I would like to see how the game has evolved and what kinds of tasks they came up with, even though I could find out easily who wins.

I think the "Reality doesn't rerun well" theory is still applicable, but Race will probably do better, at least early on, compared to other series due largely to what Chris just said in the post above mine - a LOT of Race viewers are just signing on with the last 2-3 series. Quite a few fans of the show NOW missed Races 1-4/5.

Guess is the show will do well the first cycle (I'll probably watch myself), with the standard Reality rerun theory kicking in afterwards

Considering OLN isn't known for much outside the Tour de Lance Armstrong, this has to be one of the biggest cable coups of the year. One thing to add to Chris's point is that while CBS's numbers for the counter-Olympic reair of Survivor: Borneo were horrible--by CBS standards--even a quarter of that or so would be overwhelming for smaller niche networks like OLN and GSN. BTW, there actually are people who watch shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race just for the nature shots. Some of the locals where previous Survivors has taped say the various outdoor shots have been a boon to tourism, while Race has also been called one of the more picturesque shows on TV because of the scenery.

BTW, here's an article you can view without registration that mentions both acquistitions:
Outdoor Life Network going wild for "Survivor"

GSN clearly didn't learn the lessons when it failed with reruns of "The Mole" and "Average Joe". I'm one of those who thinks "The Amazing Race" won't do well for them.

Nor will "Survivor" reruns bring droves of viewers to OLN.

Repeat after me: Reality. Doesn't. Repeat. Well.

I will agree with you on "Survivor" however, I respectfully disagree on "The Amazing Race". Why? The simple fact that "The Amazing Race" didn't really catch on until late season two/season three. Most people I know who are now fans of this show have never even seen the first season.

Also, "The Mole" and "Average Joe" are not even on the same radar screen as "The Amazing Race", although "The Mole" is a lot closer in gamesmanship. Those shows only had 2 - 3 seasons that were run into the ground while "The Amazing Race" is going into its' eighth season.

I've made this confession on the record before -- but it's worth repeating. I dismissed TAR as a typical, run of the mill reality series. But, Cindy, who became my wife one week ago today, got me hooked on this series.

While I remain sorry I missed those first few seasons, I can't wait to see the reruns on GSN.

I wonder will they will put it.

Well, these are the two best-rated and best made reality shows out there. I suppose we'll find out won't we? But it's not like "The Mole" and "Average Joe" were big hits to begin with and their huge audience of Dave Foster from Passaic NJ followed them to GSN. Also, unlike Joe and the Mole (that sounds like a wacky radio team), TAR has 85 episodes. You won't go into a second cycle quickly.

With OLN, if it even brings one new viewer to the channel, it will have doubled their viewership. They're not expecting the channel to become the ratings equivalent of Spike TV or Nickelodeon. Baby steps, Dr. Marvin.

I think that both of them will do well (at least in cycle one) for their channels.

In the vault, with all the other shows.

I'm guessing during their primetime block. If they put it on during the daytime, I will NEVER WATCH THE CHANNEL AGAIN!

Oops. Sorry about that, folks. Been hanging around the GSN boards too often.

There's no way in hell that they lease this show and not air it during primetime. I also don't see it going on in the mornings because the people staying home all day to be able to watch in the mornings (the elderly and housewives) aren't going to be watching The Amazing Race.

I could see it airing 2 or 3 times a day though, like in the afternoon and then primetime.