Bob Boden will try to make Game Show Network a winner with two moves: crafting original primetime programming and attracting younger viewers.
Last week GSN named Boden its senior vice president of programming. Most recently a senior vice president at Dick Clark Productions, he's the latest addition to the management team GSN president Rich Cronin has assembled at the service, which is owned by Liberty Digital Inc. and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
"I have been a game show aficionado all my life," Boden said. "I have an instant appreciation of a great game show."
Boden, who is also a veteran of FX and The Family Channel, will be responsible for overseeing GSN's programming, development, acquisitions and original productions. His work is cut out for him, since Cronin has opted to sweep away GSN's original slate save for one program, Hollywood Showdown.
Hollywood Showdown
is now a daytime series, but under Boden's watch it will be revamped with a new format, a new set and a female co-host for Todd Newton. Hollywood Showdown
will return to GSN in January as a primetime strip.
Overall, GSN plans to produce 10 to 12 pilots; it aims to have three to four of them move forward as series airing by the end of the first quarter next year, according to Boden.
"We're looking to broaden our demographic appeal," he said.
GSN has also acquired several programs it hopes will skew younger. Set to debut in September, they are: Let's Make a Deal, Who Dares Wins, Press Your Luck
and $1.98 Beauty Show.Who Dares Wins, an Australian show, has a format very similar format to NBC's Fear Factor,
but preceded that show by several years, according to Boden.
It will air on weekends.
