Buzzr

Buzzr is an American digital multicast television network that is owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive library of classic game shows owned by Fremantle.[5][6][7] Buzzr marks Fremantle's entry into North American television broadcasting;[4] parent company RTL currently operates numerous TV channels in Europe.

Buzzr

Type	Digital broadcast television network (game shows)
Country	United States
Availability	Nationwide via OTA digital TV (U.S. coverage: 65%)[1] Dish Network (channel 245) C-band satellite (Galaxy 19 transponder 12)[2] Pluto TV (channel 184) Stirr (channel 55) Sling TV Cable TV
Founded	January 20, 2015 (2015-01-20)
Slogan	Let's Play
Parent	Fremantle (RTL Group)
Key people	Mark Deetjen (general manager)[3]
Launch date	June 1, 2015 (2015-06-01)[4]
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Affiliates	List of affiliates
Official website	www.buzzrtv.com

Buzzr's subchannel is seen in 62 U.S. television markets, cable TV and is available as a channel on streaming services Pluto TV, Stirr, IMDB and Sling TV. The network is also available nationwide on free-to-air C-band satellite via Galaxy 19 in the DVB-S2 format.

History

The Buzzr brand was first used by Fremantle for a YouTube channel created and produced by its digital content studio Tiny Riot, which debuted in late 2014. The Buzzr YouTube channel features classic clips, and short-form adaptations of its game show properties (such as Family Feud and Password), with internet celebrities as contestants, primarily aimed towards millennials.[6][8][9]

On January 20, 2015, FremantleMedia announced that it would launch Buzzr, a digital multicast network that would serve as an extension of the brand; the network, with the Fox Television Stations as its charter station group. Buzzr features classic game shows from the company's programming library.[10][11][12] Thom Beers, former CEO of FremantleMedia North America, stated his interest in launching a network centered on its game show content after he joined the company in 2012, calling such a project a "top priority" for Fremantle as a way to help monetize the value of its library. The company intended to focus Buzzr toward older adults, with Beers citing that the "old-format game shows are really, really hard [for the younger viewership that the Buzzr YouTube channel targets] to watch."[6]

The Buzzr television network debuted on June 1, 2015, with the launch preceded by a preview reel outlining its initial programming that aired in an eight-hour continuous loop, starting at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The network formally launched that evening at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time with the 1963 pilot episode of Let's Make a Deal as the first show to be broadcast.[4][13][14][15]

In February 2016, Fremantle was sued by Codename Enterprises, a New York-based web development firm, for trademark infringement, dilution, and unfair competition, as it has done business under the name "Buzzr" since 2009. The suit argued that Fremantle's use of the brand on its YouTube channel had associated it with objectionable content, and alleged that Fremantle had displaced its own YouTube channel URL to point towards it.[16]

In 2016, to celebrate the upcoming 75th year of the genre,[17] the network created a story arc of the game show with new episodes of favorable classics, along with additional promotions and special marathons all year long. Additionally, that fall, FremantleMedia began leasing select episodes of Card Sharks with Bill Rafferty and Family Feud with Louie Anderson for weekend airings on their affiliates' main channels, though this practice ended after a single season.

In October 2016, FremantleMedia and Canadian video game company Ludia teamed up to create a slot machine app based on Buzzr's programming. The name of the app is called the "Buzzr Casino"[18] based on their former prime-time programming block.

On March 27, 2017, Buzzr began airing paid programming from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, and from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on weekends. On January 1, 2018, paid programming was also added to the 5:00 a.m. hour for both weekdays and weekends.

In June 2018, Buzzr launched a live stream hosted on their website, which mirrors the network broadcast.[19]

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Buzzr

Fremantle's library of game shows spanned 154 series and an estimated 40,000 episodes overall at the time of its launch, from which Buzzr draws its programming.[20] The network's regular lineup – with series produced from the 1950s to 2000 – includes such programs as To Tell the Truth, Password, Family Feud (encompassing episodes beginning with Richard Dawson as host and dating up to John O'Hurley's tenure), What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, Beat the Clock, Card Sharks, Body Language, Match Game[5][6][7] (including, beginning in 2019, the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, which, up until then, had never been shown in reruns)[21] and the original 1950s & 1960s version of The Price Is Right hosted by Bill Cullen.[22] In addition to the Mark Goodson-Bill Todman programs mentioned above, Buzzr's library includes the Al Howard Productions (Sale of the Century and Supermarket Sweep), Bill Carruthers (Press Your Luck) and Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall (Let's Make a Deal and Split Second) catalogs.

As of 2018, almost all of Buzzr's lineup consists of game shows that originally had aired between 1973 and 1993 (Match Game, Password, Family Feud and Supermarket Sweep, in particular, air multiple episodes each day), with select blocks of 1950s and 1960s panel shows also being featured. Celebrity Name Game and Temptation are the only recent game shows the network has aired. More obscure programs occasionally air as special program blocks, including the anthology series Lost and Found, featuring rare episodes, unsold pilots, and forgotten shows. On October 20, 2017, Buzzr debuted its first original program Game Changers. This documentary reviewed the history of the game show genre and featured interviews with game show personalities such as Alex Trebek, Wink Martindale and Drew Carey.[23]

Buzzr airs one hour of educational children's programming (cut from three hours shortly after the FCC eliminated rules requiring digital subchannels to carry such programs in late 2019), leading out of its weekend morning infomercial blocks to minimize interruption; Animal Rescue and Science Now air one episode each week. Other than these, the only non-game show related programming on Buzzr thus far was between September 14, 2017 and October 6, 2017, when episodes of Richard Simmons Dream Maker briefly appeared on the schedule, and a marathon of The Great Christmas Light Fight in November 2018 and on November 28, 2019.

Streaming

In 2017, Buzzr began streaming its programming to Amazon Prime Video and Twitch; the Prime Video offering provides video on demand, while Twitch offered a linear feed separate from the over-the-air telecast. The Twitch stream would be discontinued on April 22, 2019.[24][25][26][27] Buzzr also provided some game show programming to Nosey, a site offering video-on-demand of daytime television reruns. The local Buzzr affiliate sub-channel is carried in some areas on the streaming services LocalBTV, Locast and iGoCast as well.

In 2018, as part of their third birthday celebration, Buzzr[28] launched a livestream of the over-the-air telecast on their website. Later that year, Buzzr was added to Pluto TV.[29][30][31]

In 2019, Stirr, a free over-the-top service launched by Sinclair Broadcast Group, included Buzzr among its offerings.[32] In a preliminary assessment released July 2019, Stirr stated that Buzzr was the most-watched national channel on the service and the second-most-watched overall (second only to the combined viewership of its Stirr City local channels).[33]

On March 18, 2020, Sling TV added Buzzr to their service and made available to all its subscribers.[34]

Affiliates

As of February 2016, Buzzr has current subchannel affiliation agreements with television stations in 53 media markets encompassing 26 states and the District of Columbia, covering over 60% of media markets in the United States.[35]

Fox Television Stations was announced as the network's initial affiliate group, airing Buzzr on 12 Fox owned-and-operated stations (including a satellite station of Orlando O&O WOFL, whose sister station WRBW serves as that market's affiliate) and five MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated stations. Buzzr has affiliates in all 10 of the largest and 15 of the 20 largest U.S. television markets (including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston-Manchester and Dallas–Fort Worth), with an initial reach of 37% of U.S. television homes.[5][10][22] In four of the network's launch markets (New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Phoenix), Buzzr is affiliated with stations whose subchannels the network occupies were previously affiliated with Bounce TV; as a result of a March 2014 agreement with Univision Communications, Bounce TV moved its affiliations in those markets to Univision-owned stations in late May 2015, shortly before Buzzr launched.[36]

Debmar-Mercury (which serves as the distribution partner for the current syndicated run of the Fremantle-produced Family Feud) was hired by FremantleMedia to handle responsibility for the recruitment of affiliates through agreements with other broadcasting companies.[5][7][22][37] The network hopes to expand its charter affiliate footprint to reach markets covering 50 million U.S. households with at least one television set.[6]

In September 2016, Yes TV, a small Canadian television system with stations in Ontario and Alberta, began airing a Buzzr-branded programming block of classic game shows called "Buzzr After Hours" overnight Tuesday to Saturday from 1 to 3:30 a.m. (formerly 1-4 a.m.) local time.[38] When the block first aired, the schedule were episodes of To Tell the Truth, What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret followed by two episodes of either Card Sharks on Tuesday and Saturday, Double Dare on Wednesday, Beat the Clock on Thursday or Sale of the Century on Thursday nights. In April 2017, the block was reduced by a half hour following a schedule of two episodes of Match Game (78), episodes of Super Password and Tattletales followed by an episode of either Card Sharks, Double Dare, Beat the Clock or Sale of the Century. The third and last schedule adopted in October 2017 was Match Game (75), Super Password, Tattletales, Blockbusters (later replaced by Body Language) and Press Your Luck. Yes TV discontinued the block in September 2018.

In May 2017, Dish Network began carrying Buzzr on channel 245.

List of current affiliates

City of license/market	Station[5][39]	Virtual channel	Owner	Notes
Alabama
Birmingham	WUOA-LD	46.2	DTV America
Montgomery	WDSF-LD	19.2		Replaced Dr. TV
Arizona
Phoenix	KUTP	45.3	Fox Television Stations
Arkansas
Fayetteville	KAJL-LD	16.4	DTV America
California
Bakersfield	KCBT-LD	34.8	Cocola Broadcasting	Launch date TBD
Los Angeles	KCOP-TV	13.2	Fox Television Stations	Replaced Bounce TV
Monterey	KYMB-LD	27.4	Cocola Broadcasting
Oakland-San Francisco	KTVU	2.4	Fox Television Stations
Reedley-Fresno	KVBC-LP	13.7	Cocola Broadcasting
Sacramento	KSAO-LD	49.3
Santa Barbara	KVMM-CD	41.4	HC2 Holdings
Colorado
Denver	KSBS-CD	3.3	Denver Digital Television, LLC
Sterling	KCDO-TV	3.3	Newsweb Corporation	Replaced HSN
District of Columbia
Washington	WTTG	5.2	Fox Television Stations
Florida
Fort Myers	WGPS-LP	22.4	DTV America
Jacksonville-Live Oak	WKBJ-LD	20.1
Key West - Miami	WGEN-TV	8.3	Liberman Broadcasting
Orlando	WRBW	65.4	Fox Television Stations
Tampa-St. Petersburg	WTVT	13.3
West Palm Beach	WXOD-LD	33.1	DTV America
Georgia
Atlanta	WAGA-TV	5.3	Fox Television Stations
Idaho
Boise	KKJB	39.4	Cocola Broadcasting
Illinois
Chicago	WFLD	32.3	Fox Television Stations	Relocated from WPWR-TV 50.4
Indiana
Indianapolis	WUDZ-LD	28.1	DTV America
Iowa
Des Moines	KAJR-LD	36.5	DTV America
Kansas
Sublette	KDGL-LD	23.2	High Plains Broadcasting, LLC.
Dodge City	KDDC-LD
Garden City	KGCE-LD
Liberal	KSWE-LD
Ulysses	KDGU-LD
Kansas City	KCKS-LD	25.1	Heartland Broadcasting, LLC.
Louisburg	KMJC-LD
Topeka	WROB-LD
Wichita	KGPT-CD	26.9	Great Plains TV
Kentucky
Bowling Green	WCZU-LD	39.2	DTV America
Louisville	WBNM-LD	50.1	South Central Communications
East Bernstadt	WBON-LD	9.1
Louisiana
Lafayette	K18JF-D/K21OM-D	20.5	HC2 Holdings	Launch Date TBD
New Orleans	WQDT-LD	34.1	HC2 Holdings
Shreveport	KBXS-CD	14.1	L4 Media Group
Massachusetts
Boston	WLVI-TV	56.2	Sunbeam Television	Replaced ZUUS Country
Michigan
Detroit	WJBK	2.3	Fox Television Stations
Lake City-Cadillac	WMNN-LD	26.6	Freelancer Television Broadcasting
Minnesota
Minneapolis-St. Paul	KMSP-TV	9.4	Fox Television Stations	Replaced Bounce TV
Missouri
Joplin-Pittsburg	KPJO-LD	49.4	DTV America
Kansas City	KCKS-LD	25.1
St. Louis	KBGU-LP	33.1		Replaced MundoMax
Nevada
Las Vegas	KGNG-LD	26.4	King Kong Broadcasting
New Jersey
Secaucus/New York City	WWOR-TV	9.3	Fox Television Stations	Replaced Bounce TV
New Mexico
Albuquerque	KRTN-LD	39.2	Ramar Communications
New York
Albany	WYBN-LD	14.1	Cable Ad Net New York Inc.	Replaced Youtoo America
Buffalo	WBXZ-LP	56.8	Steven Ritchie
North Carolina
Fayetteville-Raleigh	WNCB-LD	16.2	DTV America
Charlotte	WJZY-TV	46.7	Nexstar Media Group
Asheville-Hendersonville & Greenville, SC	WDKT-LD	31.7	GEB America
North Dakota
Valley City-Fargo	KRDK-TV	4.10	Major Market Broadcasting
Ohio
Cleveland-Canton-Akron	WUEK-LD	26.2	DTV America
Columbus-Marion	WOCB-CD	39.2	Cen. Ohio Assoc. of Christian Broadcasters
Portsmouth	WTZP-LD	50.3	Eagle Broadcasting Group, Inc.	Replaced Laff
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City	KBZC-LD	42.3	DTV America Corporation
Tulsa	KUOC-LD	48.1
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia	WTXF-TV	29.4	Fox Television Stations
Pittsburgh	WOSC-CD	61.3	The Video House
State College-Johnstown	WHVL-LP	29.2	Channel Communications, LLC	Replaced YouToo America
Tennessee
Bowling Green-Nashville	WCTZ-LD	35.1	HC2 Holdings
Memphis	KPMF-LD	26.4	DTV America
Texas
Amarillo	KLKW-LD	22.4	DTV America
Austin	KTBC	7.3	Fox Television Stations
College Station-Bryan-Waco	KZCZ-LD	34.5	DTV America
Dallas-Fort Worth	KDFI	27.3	Fox Television Stations	Replaced Bounce TV
Houston	KTXH	20.4	Fox Television Stations
San Antonio	KOBS-LD	19.2	DTV America Corporation
Tyler	KPKN-LD	33.1
Utah
Salt Lake City	KBTU-LP	23.3	DTV America	Launched November 2016
Wisconsin
Milwaukee	WTSJ-LP	38.2	DTV America

List of former affiliates

City of license/market	Station	Virtual channel	Owner	Dates of affiliation	Notes
Indiana
Gary (Chicago, Illinois)	WPWR-TV	50.4	Fox Television Stations	February 2016 - June 10, 2018	Moved to WFLD 32.3
Ohio
Cincinnati	WOTH-CD	20.3	Block Broadcasting	July 2015 - January 23, 2018	Replaced Antenna TV ceased broadcasting Jan. 2018
Utah
Ogden-Salt Lake City	KUCW	30.3	Nexstar Media Group	July 3, 2015 - September 2, 2016	Replaced ZUUS Country in 2015 Replaced by Escape in 2016

See also

• Game Show Network – An American cable network launched in 1994 and was the original licensor of the Mark Goodson–Bill Todman/Mark Goodson television library.
• GameTV – A Canadian general entertainment channel that primarily airs game shows and competition-related programming.
• Challenge (TV channel) – A British channel that airs game shows and entertainment programming.

References

1. Buckman, Adam (July 26, 2016). "Diginets Keep Growing, Despite Auction Cloud". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
2. "Galaxy 19 at 97.0°W - LyngSat". www.lyngsat.com.
3. "Game Show Net Buzzr Launches Live-Streaming". Broadcasting and Cable. May 31, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
4. Padovano, Joanna (April 14, 2015). "FremantleMedia North America Hires for Buzzr Channel". World Screen. WSN Inc. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
5. "Fox O&Os Game For Latest Diginet: Buzzr TV". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
6. Spangler, Todd (February 10, 2015). "FremantleMedia Hits on 'Buzzr' YouTube Channel with Classic Game Show Reboots". Variety. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
7. "Fox TV Stations Bolsters Game Show Content With Buzzr TV". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
8. Albiniak, Paige (January 20, 2015). "Fox TV Stations Acquire Buzzr TV, New Multicast Net from FremantleMedia North America". Broadcasting and Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
9. Todd Spangler (February 23, 2016). "FremantleMedia Sued Over 'Buzzr' Game-Show TV Network Name". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
10. Wayne Friedman (January 20, 2015). "Buzzr TV Joins TV Diginet Race". MediaPost. MediaPost Communications. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
11. Cynthia Littleton (January 20, 2015). "Fox Stations to Launch Game Show Digital Channel From FremantleMedia". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
12. Michael Schneider. "Retro Game Shows Find a New Network Home". tvinsider. tvinsider.com. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
13. Clive Whittingham (April 14, 2015). "Fremantle builds up Buzzr team". C21 Media. C21 Media Limited.
14. "Monty Hall makes 'Deal' for classic games". USA Today. Gannett Company. June 1, 2015.
15. Kondolojy, Amanda (June 1, 2015). "New Digital Multicast Network Buzr Launches Today, June 1, 2015". TV by the Numbers (Press release). Retrieved June 4, 2015.
16. Spangler, Todd (February 24, 2016). "FremantleMedia Sued Over 'Buzzr' Game Show TV Network Name". Variety. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
17. BUZZRPlus (6 January 2016). "75th Anniversary of the TV Game Show" – via YouTube.
18. "BUZZR Casino - Ludia". www.ludia.com.
19. Bouma, Luke (2018-05-31). "The TV Network Buzzr is Launching a FREE Online Stream". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
20. Megan Daley (January 20, 2015). "Fox Television Stations gets rights to classic game show library Buzzr TV". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
21. Adalian, Josef (2019-02-01). "Holy [Blank]: The Long-Lost Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour Returns to TV After 35-Year Absence". www.vulture.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
22. Alex Ben Block (January 20, 2015). "Fox TV Stations to Air Classic Game Shows From Buzzr TV's Massive Library". The Hollywood Reporter. Guggenheim Digital Media. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
23. "Sneak Peek: Game Changers & Hosting". Buzzr. September 11, 2017.
24. "We're sad to announce we will not be returning to Twitch".
25. "Buzzr by Nosey". nosey.
26. "Amazon.com: Vintage Game Shows: Prime Video". www.amazon.com.
27. "BUZZR - Twitch". Twitch.
28. "BUZZR". www.buzzrtv.com.
29. Prange, Stephanie (30 October 2018). "Pluto TV Launches Classic Game Show Channel Buzzr" – via MediaPlayNews.
30. "BUZZR Guide by Pluto TV".
31. "BUZZR on Pluto TV".
32. "TV broadcaster Sinclair launches STIRR, a free streaming service with local news and sports".
33. Bouma, Luke (July 17, 2019). "Sinclair's Free Stirr Streaming Service Plans to Add 12 New Channels & Hits 1 Million Downloads". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
34. Bouma, Luke (March 18, 2020). "Sling TV Adds The Classic Game Show Network Buzzr". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
35. "Stations for Network - Buzzr TV". RabbitEars. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
36. Jon Lafayette (March 4, 2014). "Exclusive: Bounce TV Extends Univision Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
37. Paige Albiniak (January 20, 2015). "Fox TV Stations Acquire Buzzr TV, New Multicast Net from FremantleMedia North America". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
38. Yes TV (Crossroads Christian Communications) (June 16, 2016). "yesTV Announces Fall Lineup (press release)". Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
39. "Stations for Network - Buzzr". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved June 22, 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Fremantle's description of Buzzr