DAYS: March 2008 - The moment of truth

[daysfan]

Oh, ITA! GREAT post!

Days is ruled by a ton of fanbases, in fact the members here at SON and a few other boards are rare cases of Days fans.

Days' audience is dominated by fanbases, for one because Days has had so many identity changes over the years(and lead couples/characters). With soaps like AMC or OLTL, Erica and Viki have *always* been lead characters since the beginning, but thats not the case with Days.

Days has had Marlena for thirty years, but before that it was Julie, and then there was Hope in the eighties as well as Maggie during the seventies and eighties. We've also had Roman, Bo, John as lead characters. Then there are Steve and Kayla. Then there are Shane and Kim. Then Jack and Jen. Then Stefano. Then Tony and Anna.

All soaps have multiple pivitoal characters in a sense, but Days has always switched them around a bit. The only one who has remained in the lead/frontburner role for so long is Marlena. Hope, Bo, and John probably coming in second and thir.

Then, aside from all the fanbases of the characters and couples I mentioned above, there are the Teen Invasion of 2001 fans.

And aside from all that, there are the fanbases who are huge fans of the adventurous eighties, and fanbases of the whacky nineties, teen filled-00's, and sometimes the classic seventies fans.

And probably much, much more.

And all of these fanbases only care if what THEY want is on, and if it isn't then they'll leave, but when it is they'll rush back, but then the opposite fanbases will leave. For example, if John and Marlena are shown but Shawn and Belle aren't, the huge John and Marlena fanbase will come back and the huge Shawn and Belle fanbase will leave.

The fanbases of Days have gotten so insane, again it is not like that of ANY other soap.

[dawn9476]

AMC is ruled by fanbases, too. And Erica and Vicki have spent their fair share of time on the back burner the last few years while their child were in the spotlight. That is why I found the back burning of Marlena, Bo and Hope not to be that bad. It has been worse on ABC soaps and has been for almost six years. ABC also pushed away Genie Francis, who is one half of the super couple that saved GH's butt back in 1979.

ABC is ruled by fanbases and it is a million times more out of control than Days and has been for the past six years. That is why the ratings for the ABC soaps keep going down.

[brimike]

No argument here, Dawn (re: ABC). But fans have been so burned on ABC, they don't immediately turn back in in thousands for Genie Francis's return. However, John comes back, and Days shoots from 7th place to 4th in one week. But you're so right - ABC just hasn't figured out that when they bring someone back, they actually have to DO something with them. Just having them on screen five days a week doesn't necessarily mean people will watch.

Frons' name is all over that one. :-)

[dawn9476]

I think more people would have tuned into Genie's return if they knew that she was back for good like with Drake at Days. Why would GH fans come back to see Genie for only four weeks? The same goes for the returns of Tristan, Emma, and Finola. With Drake, we know he is back for good.

[brimike]

Dawn - Please allow me to waste a whole post to say AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jcar03]

I just started this website. It is it in its first stages (BTW looking for helping in maintaining it PM me here).

www.freewebs.com/savedays

its kinda bare right now but in the next few days I hope to really have it going.

[SouthOfSoap]

I'm quite out the loop with a few facts. I wonder if anyone knows...

1. What are the ratings for the 4th hour of the Today Show? Yes it may be cheaper than Days, but if no-one is watching, it could work in Day's favour.

2. How important are February sweeps in the decision? Are the execs looking at a longer time horizon or will sweeps be the decider? In which case, the fate of the show may lie with Dena. *shudder*

[Toups]

I don't know the exact details. Sorry. If I had to guess, it's probably because it gives Corday/Sonyone year to find a new home for DAYS. Also, from what I understand if NBC decides to cancel DAYS early, they would have to pay out the remainder of the contract (until March 2009).

I wish a soap journalist would write an article about this, giving us more details. They're the ones with all the contacts and sources and access to the shows. LOL

[Toups]

When the contract ends in 2009, DAYS will be able to "start new" though. If Corday/SONY are able to come up with a responsible budget/business plan and present this to CBS, maybe a deal can work out. And hopefully, Corday/SONY will learn from their mistakes to not blow the budget up. If not, and they keep making stupid decisions with their budget, they're screwed and so are DAYS fans. It's starts at the top with the execs. They have to give the HW and EP all the tools to build a strong foundation.

I agree. When you think DAYS is down and out, they are able to jump to #2! They just need the right storylines, right characters to be in the forefront and they'll be able to go up the ratings ladder once again.

[Loretta3938]

Just thinking...since NBC was so fond of Reilly, do you think they would make him returning as head writer as a basis for re-signing Days? Or would Sony (if not Corday) refuse to play ball with that?

I grew up with Days...even though I defected to ABC twenty years ago. I have family who have remained loyal to Days for all these years. I would change the channel to watch it now if it moved to another network (still thinking of Fox for that LOL) and I'm sure my family would, too. To be honest, I don't watch anything on NBC Daytime except Days. Without that show telling me what's on the NBC primetime lineup that evening, I don't bother tuning in to their primetime lineup. NBC might be cutting off their nose to spite their face, so to speak, by getting rid of the one show daytime viewers are watching and picking up primetime advertising from. I think the days are long past where viewers stick to one channel for their daily (or evening) viewing of shows. There's just too much out there now...both in daytime and primetime for that.

[Days4Life]

Good point, Loretta. I think people used to be much more loyal to a particular broadcast station than they are now. In this DVR age, sometimes I don't even know what network I'm watching! I believe there's a good chance DAYS viewers would follow its move to another channel; however, I also agree with your point that NBC would be foolish to cancel a program that is such a good platform for advertising their primetime lineup. The only daytime show I watch is DAYS, and if it's canceled I'll probably just keep the TV off. I'm definitely not going to watch another hour of TODAY or waste my time on another talk show or judge show. Since NBC is not very successful in primetime right now anyway, they shouldn't be too fast to cancel the one show that gives them some exposure.

[ArizonaDaze]

You are absolutely right Daysfan. Great post.

[dawn9476]

My guess is the decision has already been made and waiting for March is just a formality. NBC probably knew that they were axing Passions in early fall of 2006 when they announced that a fourth hour of Today was coming. But they didn't announce Passions was gone till January of 2007.

[dawn9476]

James Hyde from Passions basically said the same thing on ITZ the other night.

[Wales2004]

I guess that depends on location because it didn't change time slots in the Los Angeles area and it more than likely stayed in the same slot in the whole state. All they did here was place Martha Stewart in the 2 pm time slot that was last held by Passions.