Reality Showdown: GSN and OLN put AMAZING RACE and SURVIVOR To The Test In A Bet
OLN President Will Eat A Cricket To Make Good On A Bet With GSN President & CEO
While head-to-head network competition has been a part of television since its earliest beginnings, the Presidents of GSN and OLN took it to a personal level, when they placed a side bet against the month-long performances of their respective adventure reality acquisitions THE AMAZING RACE on GSN and SURVIVOR on OLN.
GSN President and CEO Rich Cronin bet OLN President Gavin Harvey that his network´s THE AMAZING RACE would outperform OLN´s SURVIVOR in total viewers for the first month. Cronin told Harvey that if THE AMAZING RACE lost the bet that he would "race" to-and-from work, walking four miles each way for one week. Harvey countered saying that if OLN´s SURVIVOR did not beat THE AMAZING RACE´s viewership that he would "survive" by eating a cricket.
The results are in and GSN´s THE AMAZING RACE averaged 355,000 total viewers each night in prime time, peaking with 495,000 on July 14. This measurement was based on the one-month period from July 11 to August 10 (M-Su 9 PM). OLN´s SURVIVOR averaged 200,000 total viewers each night in prime time, peaking with 362,000 viewers on August 3, putting GSN ahead of OLN in total viewers. OLN´s measurement was based on the time period of July 24 through August 23 (Sun 7p; M-Th 10p).
True to his word, Harvey will honor the bet and eat a cricket with Cronin as a witness the next time the two are together in either New York or Los Angeles. Surprisingly, both cities have a few good restaurants that serve this fine "delicacy."
Said Cronin: "Hats off to Gavin and OLN for doing a great job packaging and promoting SURVIVOR. I´m glad that I don´t have to walk to work four miles, but despite Gavin having to eat a cricket, I think both OLN and GSN are winners with SURVIVOR and THE AMAZING RACE. THE AMAZING RACE just won its third consecutive Emmy and the early seasons of the series have attracted many new viewers to GSN."
Commented Harvey: "This bet was made in the spirit of competition, which is what OLN is all about. SURVIVOR has been a huge boon for the network, increasing the ratings for its time periods by 200%. The show regularly doubles its lead-in programming, and we´re pleased to see ratings growth in each of the seasons we´ve presented so far. Both THE AMAZING RACE and SURVIVOR prove the viability of reality television in syndication. I applaud GSN for the way they´ve been able to capitalize on THE AMAZING RACE and I look forward to resolving the bet later this month."
