• by Wayne Friedman , January 10, 2007

When it comes to first-run programs, it's slim pickings for stations going to the National Association of Television Program Executives meeting next week.

Just days before the annual NATPE conference, News Corp. Twentieth Television is launching "Temptation," a game show based on the global game show "Sale of the Century."

If that name sounds familiar, it should. A version of "Sale of the Century" ran on NBC in daytime from 1983 to 1989. The show returned via a recent run in Australia, which began in 2005. FremantleMedia North America, the king of global format game-show deals, renamed and revamped "Sale" as "Temptation."

The announcement by Twentieth yesterday said it had cleared stations, representing 24% of the country--all from News Corp.'s MyNetworkTV affiliates.

Why the scarcity of first-run show?

Bill Carroll, vice president and director of programming for Katz Television Group, says: "Syndicators have been more cautious. That's because they are offered broken time periods--ones that have had four or five different shows over the last couple of years. These are tough time periods to launch a show, given the current marketplace. If you are not a hit quickly, you are pretty much gone."

For the fall, there are four shows available: Sony Pictures Television's "Judge David Young," NBC Universal's "iVillage," Twentieth's "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet," hosted by Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy, and now, "Temptation."

It is expected at NATPE that Warner Bros. Television Distribution will announce "Celebrity Jury"--in which, like other court shows, contestants submit to a form of arbitration to settle grievances. Only this time, the likes of Charo, Corbin Bernsen, "Brady Bunch's" Christopher Knight and other celebrities decide on their fate.

So far, the number of new show is less than a year ago, when there were four talk shows and two court shows. Examine the conditions of the marketplace microscopically; things are much worse.

"Two of the four shows are slow rollouts: "iVillage" and "The Morning Show," says Carroll. This means program distributors don't believe they can get on enough stations, getting to the standard 70% or 80% clearance level by the fall of this year.

With a dearth of shows, Carroll expects Fox to quickly sell "Temptation" to other stations. Station terms of the deal are to give Twentieth cash plus two national minutes of ad time. Stations get to keep five minutes. Twentieth is also asking for double runs of the show.