Oh, I remember seeing that interview on the WLS blog.
Yes, there may be a kernel of truth to notion that ATWT and probably GL fans were viewed as not being as aggressive, if you regard passion as renting skywriting planes and daily protests in front of the studio but FWIW, people knew that P&G had no intention of preserving those shows as they had already turned down previous offers.
Compare that with the ABC soaps, AMC & OLTL where even in the cliff-hanger ending of AMC (which left a lot of AMC fans angry but seemed to leave open the possibility that the story wasn't over), there seemed to be more hope that some other entity could pick up those soaps.
However, I absolutely refuse to accept any part of Goutman's fiction that he did not have anything to do with the show's ultimate demise. Alienating, marginalizin and dismissing seasoned talent, terrible character re-writes without regard for the show's history and a narrow focus on some characters and stories that loyal fans had little regard for, of course, had a corrosive effect on the show.
Who does he think he's fooling?