CanWest Global is, once again, cashing in on a spin-off with Are You Smarter Than a Canadian 5th Grader?, the second hit to emerge from its Canadian-ized U.S. game shows. The show scored 1.5 million viewers (2+) with its premiere last week — a strong, though second-place, showing opposite CTV’s hit drama Grey’s Anatomy.

The show, hosted by Colin Mochrie, is a remake of the U.S. edition of 5th Grader, which averaged 1.1 million viewers on Global following its premiere in the spring. The Canadian version is made by Toronto’s Insight Productions, which also produces Canadian Idol for CTV.

Earlier this year, Global churned out the short-run Deal or No Deal Canada, after the U.S. version debuted in December 2006 to a strong 1.3 million viewers. The Toronto-shot Deal became the highest-rated game show on Canadian television during the 2006/07 season, averaging two million viewers.

Dennis Dinga, VP, director of broadcast buying at Toronto-based M2 Universal, notes that game shows are often tested in the off-season.

‘It’s to give viewers something new to sample while everything else is in repeats. If the test is successful, the series will launch a few months later,’ he says, noting that CBS’s Power of 10, which debuted on Global during the summer, is also expected to return.

Global’s ‘aggressive’ promotion of its Canadian versions is contributing to its success, according to Dinga, who says the caster found the ‘perfect’ advertising partner in Nintendo for 5th Grader. Both are kid- and family-friendly.

Fred Auchterlonie, EVP of client services at media buying firm PHD Canada, says it’s good Global is ‘striking while the iron is hot’ — noting that game shows don’t necessarily sustain their punch in primetime for too long.

The Canadian edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was ‘a huge rage for a few seasons and then eventually people started looking for the next thing,’ he says. ‘Game shows do have shelf life, but there’s a best-before date, no question about it.’

Auchterlonie says research done by PHD found that advertisers benefit from running their content during game shows. ‘We were trying to get a sense of what types of programs had a better chance of maintaining audience numbers into commercials… game shows and sports rank close to the top,’ he says, noting people are more engaged when they watch interactive programs like these.

Global SVP of programming and production Barbara Williams says they’re ‘delighted’ by the ongoing popularity of the game show genre, noting it gives them an opportunity to grow their audiences with the Canadian versions. The second episode of 5th Grader airs Thursday at 9 p.m.