AMC: Happy 38th Birthday

[Pine Charles]

Do you think the show will make it to 40?

[Scotty]

I think OLTL has a better chance of hitting 40 than AMC, because it needs only to make it to July 15th in order to do so.

But seriously, I think it will, but it probably won't make it to 50 though.

[dragonflies]

Not with B&E and JHC at the helm, I'd be shocked if the show lasts another year.....

[Angela]

I wish I could say "definitely not" without a lot of doubt in my mind. I think there's a reasonable chance the soap could be "shifted" by the time it hits 40. It depends on the situation with DAYS, IMO. I see both AMC and OLTL being in trouble if NBC truly chooses to cancel DAYS (and DAYS is doing just as "well" or better than AMC/OLTL). Frons has successfully beat down the ABC soaps enough that he could probably funk-up AMC/OLTL somewhat - blend the two soaps or make one or both of them 30 minute dramas - to bring in DAYS in the future.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't see any of that happening, if anything, I doubt ABC will be adding any more soaps if they decide to cancel AMC/OLTL. Days is getting the same type of ratings as those shows and costs much more to produce, it would be an insane business decision. Also, ABC loves to have owning interests in their shows, with Days being a Corday/Sony entity, they'd have to pay a hefty license fee, which won't make the mouse network too happy. You also have to take into consideration that soaps that switch networks tend to lose about half of their original audience anyway.

I could so see GH as their sole soap somewhere in the future. However, I wouldn't count out AMC and OLTL staying put for a while though. ABC owns all 3 of its soaps, therefore it's profiting much more from their ad revenue than CBS is with its 4 soaps or NBC is with Days. AMC, OLTL, and GH are there to stay on ABC unless some major shake-up happens.

[Angela]

If you take DAYS out of the equation, which I agree may be smart to do considering some circumstances (the biggest being ownership and what Corday and the mouse are willing to bend to on that - desperate times for both could lead to bending), I see all the ABC soaps lasting at least 5 years more. If AMC/OLTL continues to feed at the bottom with DAYS while DAYS is getting better demos than both soaps, ABC might find the DAYS/GH mix attractive and worth a little extra spending. I don't know if I'd count the DAYS element out if DAYS can just pick up a tiny bit more and if AMC/OLTL numbers remain stagnant (with the demos nose-diving like they are).

Who knows how the ratings will look 6-12 months from now though, a year ago ATWT was bottom-feeding now it's regularly beating GH (a soap which is nose-diving, but all the same). Who would have thought?

[dragonflies]

Sorry I don't see that happening. If they couldn't afford to air Passions, no way they could even remotely afford to air Days...

[alwaysAMC]

Happy Birthday!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Frons also flat out said last year that acquiring Days or adding another soap just wasn't a financial option for ABC Daytime anymore.

[Angela]

ABC (or Soapnet) wanted PASN? they wanted it and couldn't afford it? Well if that's accurate, I really will eat my DAYS thoughts and give AMC/OLTL a good 5-10 more years.

[Graciecat]

I don't think Frons considers DAYS a real priority. He shoved them to the worst position on SOAPnet, and airs its marathon after midnight only, which either means that it's doing very poorly in SOAPnet's ratings, or that he is giving top priority to his ABC shows. Either way, I don't think he's at all interested in acquiring it.

I think AMC still has some life to it. I'd give it at least another 3 years. Beyond that, it's hard to tell what might happen.

Question: someone mentioned that DAYS is more expensive to produce that AMC/OLTL. Why is that?

[dragonflies]

Yep he said that I think it was last year. He said that ABC couldn't afford to air Passions cause of the licensing fees and whatnot.

So Days fees would have to way more expensive than Passions.

Days wouldn't a smart business move for ABC at all, they wouldn't make much money from it, unlike AMC and OLTL which they own and at least make some kind of money off of them

[Y&RWorldTurner]

According to TV Guide, it costs about 1.3 million per week to produce Days, which is much more than any other soap (including Y&R and GH). Days has also been plagued by budget problems for years now, which makes it look like poison to potential suitors.

[dragonflies]

Seriously? Just WOW

[NYC123]

Happy Birthday!

I think AMC has at least 5-10 years.