Which leads to the point that a fun gameshow like this that gets a million dollar prize to give away and proper promotion (I don't believe the advertising for the daytime edition promised a million) could give this strong ratings than what tpir at night is pulling in
That's factually incorrect.
At least you accept that we're allowed to disagree with you. However, you never addressed any of my points; you instead created another hypothetical scenario with no real-life basis. By the virtue of the show giving away cars, what you proposed is impossible.
Would ratings be lower if they actually did that? Yes. That's not the practical baseline though; that baseline is the daytime show. There are diminishing returns to offering "cheaper" prizes on the show. The daytime show still has two cash games that offer only $10,000, because the show believes that is a good enough amount for people to be excited. Looking at the landscape of daytime game shows, from 25 Words or Less to runners up on Wheel of Fortune, I'd say that's an accurate assessment. They raised the prize of those games to $25,000 and $30,000 in this batch of primetime shows. There is some level of excitement for elevated stakes, but the show knows that after a certain point, it won't lead to significant viewership. After a certain level, it doesn't matter, which is why Tris made the claim
Even if they stuck to what the normal daytime show did with one or two nicer cars (like they've done before), I think the audience would still be into the show. The Price is Right is an institution people love and we've experience a game show boom.
I agree with that. From experience and the spinny star under my username, it's awesome just to be called on down. As long as it feels like The Price is Right, people will watch, and I haven't heard any outcry from the general public about bringing back the MDSes except from hardcore Price fans, who probably are watching the At Night specials as well.
