"Deal Or No Deal" could go into syndication

from the ny post

'DEAL' TO GO DAILY?

January 3, 2006 -- NBC is talking about making the new hit game show
"Deal or No Deal" into a half-hour, afternoon series for next year,
according to reports.

Uniblab...

Does this necessarily mean syndication and not NBC daytime? Supposedly,
"Days of Our Lives" has a renewal option coming up, and NBC is said to be
thinking of throwing in the towel on the daytime soaps.

ANIM8Rfsk...

I watched this the other night. It was way better than the ads would have
you believe, but it's totally dependent on if you're rooting for that
contestant, and dragged on waaaaaaaaay too long. The half hour format might
serve it well.

It's about time...

Agreed, and that was the only problems I had with Millionaire and
Weakest Link. The half-hour syndicated versions were much better with
pacing, and didn't have an overkill issue.

The network is already preparing to take another flier with a
primetime week of "Deal" in March after the Winter Olympics.

The game show has contestants try to find a $1 million top prize by
picking from closed briefcases filled with varying amounts of cash.

"Deal," hosted by comic Howie Mandel, was an early Christmas present
when it aired every night for a week in mid-December and drew an
average audience of 14 million viewers a night.

The temptation is to get it back on the air quickly.

The show is an international hit - but making good on U.S. TV is worth
more than the the rest of the world put together for the show's
owners, Endemol, the company behind "Big Brother."

Endemol is said to prefer keeping the show as a primetime program,
airing once or twice a week.

"I think this is the kind of show that can have a nice long run, but I
don't want to see it get burned out," says one Endemol exec.

- Post staff writer

tyrone1...

in uk it is now and always has been a daytime show -but they are
thinking of putting a version on prime time!