P&G Soaps Competiting Against Each Other

[Max]

One of the dumbest decisions in soap broadcasting history had to have been the decision to have two P&G soaps competiting against each other on rival networks. Not only was this a stupid decision on P&G's part, but it was also very foolish on the networks' part.

A long time ago, P&G once had a rule that none of its soaps could compete against each other on rival networks. However, P&G dropped that rule in 1975 and continued to have its soaps in competition until 1999 (when CBS became the only network to air P&G soaps).

Below are the instances that I know of where P&G soaps did compete against one another. Unfortunately, I do not know the exact dates of a lot of what I am about to write. Therefore, any corrections would be very much appreciated. Also, note that all times listed were for the Eastern Time Zone.

*Instance #1: From 12/1/75 to 12/31/76, TEON (on ABC) and Somerset (on NBC) competed against each other. Both soaps aired from 4:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.

*(Possible) Instance #2: In 1977 & 78, NBC aired "Lovers & Friends" followed by (after a hiatus) "For Richer, For Poorer." I believe that both soaps aired from 12:30 P.M. to 1:00 P.M., which would have put them in direct competition with SFT on CBS.

*Instance #3: Sometime (I believe) in 1977 (exact date unknown), GL (CBS) moved to its current time slot of 3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. This was the exact time slot that AW (NBC) aired from 1/6/75 to 3/2/79. From 3/5/79 to 8/1/80, AW aired from 2:30 P.M to 4:00 P.M., which also continued the competiton it had with GL.

*Instance #4: ATWT (CBS) aired from 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. from early 1980 to mid-81. This put it in competion with the first 30 minutes of AW until 8/1/80, and with all of AW from 8/4/80 until mid-81.

*Instance #5: NBC broadcasted Texas from 3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. from 8/4/80 to early-82, putting it in direct competition with GL.

*Instance #6: SFT aired from 2:30 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. from mid-81 until it left CBS on 3/23/82, forcing it to compete with the second half of AW.

*Instance #7: After ATWT moved to the 1:30 P.M. to 2:30 P.M time slot from mid-81 to 3/20/87, that show's second half competed with AW's first half.

*Instance #8: On 3/23/87, ATWT was moved back to 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M., which put it in direct competiton with AW until that soap went off the air on 6/25/99.

If I excluded any instances, please let me know. Also, feel free to share any insight you may have as to why P&G and the networks were stupid enough to let these soaps compete against one another.

[Paul Raven]

Max,I think that once the shows began expanding to 60 mins P&G had to drop their policy as it would have been impossible for the networks to schedule the shows without competing.

I guess in the case of EON and Somerset,P&G wanted to save the show and form an association with ABC.

Somerset had always struggled in the ratings and perhaps P&G knew that cancellation wasn't far off and that NBC were considering Lovers and Friends.

Some more information on dates

GL aired 2.30-3.00 from Dec 1st 75 to Nov 4th 77 before moving till 3.00-4.00 on Nov 7th 77 when it went to 60 mins

Lovers and Friends aired 12.30-1.00 from Jan 3rd 77 till May 6th 77

For Richer For Poorer aired 1.00-1.30 from Dec 6th 77 till Sept 29th 78

[sungrey]

Although Somerset was a 4-4:30 entry for its entire run on NBC, in its final year on the air the network aired a second feed of Somerset from 1-1:30. At that time NBC didn't program the 1pm slot, but this was for local stations that wanted to air Somerset against weaker competition or for markets in the Central time zone that wanted to counter-program the noon news.

It's just a shame it didn't work.