'Passions' heads to DirecTV

Segments to begin airing this fall

By JOSEF ADALIANNBC is closing in on a deal that will keep sudser "Passions" alive via an unusual outlet: DirecTV.

In what would be its biggest-ever original programming initiative, satellite provider is set to acquire original episodes of the soap opera from NBC U TV Studio. Segs would likely begin airing this fall, after the sudser ends its run on NBC.

There will be some changes, however.

Instead of five days per week, "Passions" will air only four times per week. It's also expected the show's budget will be reduced further to accommodate the different business model.

Neither NBC nor DirecTV would comment, but insiders said a deal could be finalized by week's end. It's unclear how much DirecTV will pay NBC, but a typical sudser costs a little more than $1 million per week to produce for network TV.

DirecTV has been edging further into the original content business, airing several first-run skeins on what it calls the 101. It's unclear if the company will program "Passions" on that channel or use the sudser as part of a larger programming initiative.

Peacock said earlier this year that it was canceling "Passions" after an eight-year run on the net (Daily Variety, Jan. 15).

I knew this show would not end!! I just knew it!!

I bet this show will last forever, Sadly!

I don't see Liza Huber staying.

I don't know if this is good news or not. I, for one, don't have DirecTV. I wonder how many PSNS viewers DO have DirecTV. 15-20% tops?

I don't see Liza Huber staying.

I don't know if this is good news or not. I, for one, don't have DirecTV. I wonder how many PSNS viewers DO have DirecTV. 15-20% tops?

I wouldn't even be that generous. Only about 16 million in the US have DirecTV so I would say the number of Passions viewers with DirecTV is pretty low, say around 5%.

This is like good news/bad news. Good news for the fans that can get DIRECTV. And bad news for the fans that can't get DIRECTV.

I am very disappointed that NBC didn't find a new home for Passions that the majority of their fans could get. NBC has to realize that a lot of the Passions fans can't get DIRECTV for various reasons.

There are fans that can't get DIRECT TV because there are some apartment buildings where the building owners won't let the residents use satellite dishes. There are fans that live with their parents and the parents aren't switching from cable TV to satellite TV. There are some fans that have used satellite TV in the past and have recently switched back to cable TV because they had lots of outages using the satellite dishes during severe weather.

The only way that this can be good news for the majority of the Passions fans is if the episodes will still be streamed online and if the episodes will be available for download at iTunes for a reasonable price. I'm not paying $1.99 per episode every week. I wouldn't mind paying a small monthly rate or a yearly rate to download or stream Passions episodes.

I see this as a huge positive. DirecTV will be another network/outlet interested in and producing soaps. To me, this bodes well for future acquisitions, possibly even same day airings of soaps not on Soapnet. It also shows DirecTV's interest in producing original soaps which none of the networks seem to be interested in.

I said before that it would probably air on The 101. They have been doing more and more original stuff on that channel. It will be interesting to see how the show changes. My friend's Mom, a 60 year old woman in TN, loves Passions and she has DirecTV. I can't wait to tell her the good news.

Great post Roger

The bottom line here, is you're taking a show that is targeted towards early teens, and moving it to a satelite exclusive platform, on a providor that's not the most popular (and that people here in Canada can't even be bothered to steal from! It's all Dish Network), and that's not convenient to switch to because of contacts people have with their existing cable and satelite providors.

The show is not going to last long on this outlet, it doesn't have a chance to grow any new audience members - only loose them in this change.

Drew, not sure how DirectTV does in Canada, but here in the US it's the #1 satellite privider with over 16 million. Dish Network has 12 million. Also DirecTV has steadily been growing by about 1-2 million per year during the last 5 years.

I don't think think that Direct TV is available (legally) in Canada, the same way HBO and Showtime aren't legally available. I know people who have illegal satellite who get HBO, but I don't know anyone in Canada who has Direct TV.

I've just written to Global asking if they plan on airing Passions now that the show has a new life on another network. I'm sure they'll say they don't know yet, but I'd like to know if they're considering it, or even considering considering it.

Phoenix, you always tell people to look on the brightside, don't criticize things until it happens, etc.

I'm not saying it's just you, but fans have a right to be happy.

Frankly, I'm sick of the back and forth bickering. You're either happy, or you're not. Let the fans be happy and cheer that their show is saved.

If you aren't happy about it, yeah, it's a discussion board but to constantly rant and rave that the show won't succeed, that it's stupid, etc .... what's the point?

Why do we keep bickering back and forth ... Passions is moving to DirecTV. PERIOD. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, NONE OF US CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE, so just sit back, and either watch it do okay or fail.

Do I think it will do better? Absolutely not.

But I'm personally willing to give it a chance.

People need to be more understanding of other people, IMO. All of this bickering is making me want to post less on SON, quite frankly.

And people, you have no idea how long it will last ... let's just bash everything before it even takes place!

And Phoenix, my post wasn't really directed at you, so please don't take offense.

And WELL SAID ROGER!!

It's the power of James E. Reilly.

:::chuckle::: I'd rather be in David Kreizman's position right now. It looks more promising than Reilly's.

Phoenix, you always tell people to look on the brightside, don't criticize things until it happens, etc.

I'm not saying it's just you, but fans have a right to be happy.

Frankly, I'm sick of the back and forth bickering. You're either happy, or you're not. Let the fans be happy and cheer that their show is saved.

If you aren't happy about it, yeah, it's a discussion board but to constantly rant and rave that the show won't succeed, that it's stupid, etc .... what's the point?

Why do we keep bickering back and forth ... Passions is moving to DirecTV. PERIOD. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, NONE OF US CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE, so just sit back, and either watch it do okay or fail.

Do I think it will do better? Absolutely not.

But I'm personally willing to give it a chance.

People need to be more understanding of other people, IMO. All of this bickering is making me want to post less on SON, quite frankly.

BRAVO!! :D

Oh, please. Must you be so deprecating? Your arrogance is insufferable.

Only a select few can make a CANCELLATION sound like a victory.

I lol when I read that....make that a long drawn out cancellation of what? 3 to 4 years? Even PC still managed to be more a soap on its worst day that Passions at its best.

This is beyond ridiculous. There were other soaps far more worthy of giving an extension of life.

This isn't even a soap. It's a joke.

And its not at all funny. Passions to me is the reason why people don't take soaps seriously anymore. I mean really how can you when you've got witches and the most idiotic crap on tv claiming to be a soap opera. Thats not what the genre was about. The ONLY positive thing I can say about this is that maybe Days will have a chance to get even better without it bringing it down. Plus I won't EVER have to see it on Cable TV again. This is simply life support. And as is usually the case the plug WILL get pulled. Perhaps sooner than later and maybe vice versa but I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't last past a year or 2.

And I can see Galen Gering going to Y&R. He'd definitely fit in very well there. Lindsay needs to abandon ship ASAP seeing as how she has so much potential. Is Jer still going to be the writer?

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by ATWTSily4Ever

No, it's another member of the small club of soaps that have been cancelled on one network and picked up by another. And we all saw how long The Edge of Night, and Search For Tomorrow lasted after they did it ...

I always thought it was a miracle Edge lasted nine years on ABC, given the 4pm timeslot when it started and the fact half the affiliates weren't carrying it at the end. Same for Search... nearly lasted five years on NBC, not bad but not great either.

I give Passions two years tops on DirecTV. Just being realistic.

I don't hear anything good from customers of theirs either. Verizon bundles phone, DSL and DirecTV, and all I hear from customers that bring up the subject on calls are "and I'm STUCK with this DirecTV THING" ...

The smart move, IMHO, would have been to put Passions on NBC.com... or someplace on the internet. THAT'S the best way you're going to get the younger audience.

And people, you have no idea how long it will last ... let's just bash everything before it even takes place!

And Phoenix, my post wasn't really directed at you, so please don't take offense.

And WELL SAID ROGER!!

No offense taken . I would like to say though that this didn't start as bickering. We were all just being realistic. Most of us said we were happy that the show was continuing but thought this was also a bad decision in the long term. That was all that was being said. I am a positive person when there is something to be positive about but I just don't feel like this is something positive for the fans when most of them can't see it. I really hope it works. I really do but I and others aren't just going to be opitmistic just to avoid confrontation. There was only a few pages of bickering. That was it. The rest was fair discussion.

I do agree with you though as far as the bickering needs to stop. I am always an advocate for not bashing until something happens but that is always for stories and casting decisions and so on. This is a soap moving to a media outlet that most of it's fanbase won't have access too. That is what was being discussed. The discussion was fine and things got ugly for a bit and now it seems to be back on track. I just felt it was necessary to mention most of us aren't being negative. We want it to work but hope it does but we are also being honest and most of us are frustrated that we won't be able to see it.

I realize a huge chunk (most?) of the fanbase won't be seeing Passions, but still, I can't see it REALLY being exclusive to DirecTV. What happens with iTunes?

I think it's a good step in the right direction. My biggest fear is it bombing (I'm being realistic that it might) and them not willing not try it with another soap.

I personally think cable is the best place for soaps now. One channel, all 9 soaps. Sounds crazy but you never know ...