March 31 - April 4, 2008

[Soapfan1]

me too Rakesh Days is just very good right now

[PJA]

I kinda agree about Y&R feeling more unclassic like than when LML was writing. There are so many new people in frontburner stories..it seems that every story is about a newbie. You have Sabrina and Victor, the Adam storyline, David's gambling problem, Gloria in a triangle with two new characters, Jeffrey and Allistair (I know he's played by a vet but he's just so different from John), you have the Cane, Lily and Chloe storyline which feautres two newbies, Cane and Chloe.

Also all of the couples are like a vet or somewhat older charcter/newbie combination, Victor/Sabrina, Lily/Cane, Nikki/David, Daniel/Amber, Gloria/Jeffrey, Neil/Karen, Kevin/Jana and I'm just speculation but it seems that two vet couples will start sharing triangles with newbies...Sharon/Jack with Felicia and Phyllis/Nick with Adam. Now at least with Amber and Felicia, they characters from another soap so they are not entirely new but they are new to Y&R. I just hope if the writers feel they have to bring in someone else that the next few people be returning characters instead of new ones.

[PhoenixRising05]

Steve, I'm not telling people to do anything. All I am saying is from my perspective, bad ratings won't do nothing anymore but put more nails in these shows' coffins. I used to think positively about it but no more. The numbers just keep getting worse and even soaps that make minor strides don't get even a minimal reward. No one has to nor should they give up. I'm not really either. All I am saying is I don't think a ratings decline does much of anything. It almost seems accepted by the network brass that soaps are dying and I think it's slowly getting to the point where they don't even want to attempt to try to fix them again because not only are they clueless but they are getting tired of trying things. Yes, I know they don't get it but still. People can feel free to watch and they can feel free to not watch. I am just speaking from my belief, which is that I just want these shows to survive as long as possible and that the situation is what it is. I still think what Tom Casiello said was right that letter writing helps alot because you have a better chance of getting something done through the shows, as dense as TPTB are sometimes, then the networks through the ratings because soaps are nothing to these networks anymore and with every ratings drop they lose what little value they still have. No one has to agree with me nor am I saying people should do this or do that. At most, I am just suggesting. That's all.

[corrsfan01]

if Passions were still on NBC it could probably be beating ABCD right now! lol!

[KevC1980]

On a positive note, nice to see Days up in the demos and especially first place again in 18-34..even if it is a tie...

[arcibaldo]

GL in air on italy about 1983, called " Sentieri", " YR" called " febbre d'amore"

[SoapQueen89]

Just noticed it but GH fell in shares too. From a 7 to a 6 = not good.

[SteveFrame]

I agree Toups. That accounts for the drop in HH's overall, but even with the bigger drops in HH for some of the shows a show like GL hasn't dropped as much. So I think some of it is due to the increase for totals for HH's by Nielsen but not all of it. Soaps are declining.

As to viewers that number is the most unreliable of all the ones that Nielsen keeps up with and is so subjective that even though a show might hve more viewers accoring to the numbers either way.

Sometimes a household might get counted for 6 viewers when in all actuality only one was watching.

If there is one TV turned on in a household and that household has 6 people then all 6 of those people get counted as a viewer of that show.

If 2 TV's are on, they divide the viewers.

Not every Nielsen household fills out a diary and when they do it is not that often. TV's are equipped with recorders inside of them that sends a signal to Nielsen every time that TV is turned on, what channel it is on, if it is a recorded program that is being played, etc.

All the households DVD players, VCR's, game systems, etc. are rigged with those devices too.

But there is no equipment to monitor the viewers - as to who is watching or who isn't. I think in the 5 years my family was a Nielsen family (which ended in 2007) we filled out diaries 6 times. In thoe diaries you have to record who is or who isnt watching a particular show - if they watch all of it - a portion of it - or none of it. But those werent done very often.

[ChiTownBoi03]

Well...these ratings suck for everyone, especially GL. I catch GL every now and then out of curiosity. I really didn't find any issues with the new filming, however the sets look like cramped playhouses. I was watching Reva and Dinah talk about Alan's house the other day. They were standing on what *appeared* to be a staircase and I was like "is this a loft or a mansion??" That coupled with the deftly irritating theme song and show music, it's hard to get into what anybody is talking about, at least for me. So...I don't see those guys going anywhere in the ratings until they fix *that.* With that said, I have to wonder if some of these ratings truly take into account other viewing habits such as cellphones, Vcast etc. I don't believe everyone watches this stuff on TV, in this day and age. I, personally, *do not* usually watch my soaps (ATWT & DAYS) on regular television and usually catch up on YouTube somewhere. Actually, most of what I watch anyway is somewhere online, as I am by nature not a TV person per se. It allows me not having to deal with commercials and I can surf the net at the same time with it playing in the background. I can also skip whatever foolery I don't wanna see. Great viewing experience for me! So, you know, people could still be watching. I wonder what would happen to these ratings if they actually took those type of things into account. Just saying.

[wiccachick_1]

Take it as proof positive that TPTB at ABC drink their own kool-aid.

[wiccachick_1]

NO, you are right. Quality doesn't necessarily gurantee ratings but its a big part of getting soaps out of the quagmire of its current state. It's a multi layer fix to truly bring about change. Investment, quality, access and awareness.

TPTB need to invest in the idea that they truly want to save the genre and that means full commitment which will lead to quality. Quality will keep the fans that are slowly dwindling off. No more "band-aids" as someone else so eloquently put it earlier. Go back to A, B, C, and D storylines that interweave but rotates the front burner because that alone will improve the quality. Having the same four people front and center five days a week has writers scrambling for material and there's where we get ish. Balance is the key to good story telling.

Give the fans access to the shows in more than one way. Why does ABC show all their primetime shows via the internet but not the daytime ones? Someone earlier said they watch Y&R on their cell phone. GREAT idea across the board. All the soaps should do similar things in addition to the regular daytime schedule or SoapNet which isn't available in every household and why not include that data when they pitch the show to advertisers? Here are the Neilsons. Here are the unique IP hits for the online version. Here is the data of DVR watchers outside of the Neilson formula as provided by cable and satellite tv providers. Why not multimedia investments in the shows? Cult shows like Buffy, Angel, X-Files and others solidify their fanbase and pull together buzz and numbers by multi-level cultural identification with their characters. If the soaps want to play the fanbase game, fine. Show whatever onscreen and have alternative or supplemental storylines in the paperback market to appease other fanbases until it's time for their story to show onscreen and the paperbacks could provide an outlet for possible story ideas for the screen with a little bit of an idea of how receptive the audience might be. Blogs are fine on the website but perhaps have the writers post at official websites about the current stories or actors not once but randomly to allow the fans to feel a real connection to the process. And for that matter how about low cost investment into other alternate fan based programming. Who Wants to be a Soap Star? Sure...how about 3D Fan Fic where fan fic writers can submit scenes to a panel and watchers can vote for scenes they might want to see on the show and at the end they get their faves to do the scene? How about MVids Head to Head where mvidders can submit vid created by them for prizes instead of the shows trying to supress the fans out there that create video masterpieces to advertise their show for them? Heck let the fans compete to do the commercials to air in primetime to lower the ad cost for doing so?

And finally the multimedia will help raise awareness of the show. We are still relying on the pop icon status of days gone by to market the shows. Luke and Laura, Patch and Kayla, the great Erica Kane. That's fine but I think they've gotten lazy by expecting those names to sell their product. Right now, they don't "sell" it at all. They show a GH commercial during AMC or on SoapNet? Duh! Those fans are already there. Maybe toss in a few primetime commercials. Maybe a billboard or two to remind people that Luke and Laura still exist or whoever. The last radio commercial I heard for a soap was during the Metro Court Crisis (which was investment, quality and increased awareness) and you know what? GH got a bump. They need to maintain that kind of commitment.

If they do that. If they commit to me in that way, then they will have earned my lifelong commitment to them and I will tune in....religiously.

[emilyq]

I have to say I for one am sickened by the death of soaps on TV. It is sad but I guess everything must come to an end at somepoint. I just don't believe that soaps have to be dead. As much as I hate GH, they tried something with Nightshift and to be honest, I really still am not sure what that was. Were they trying to prove daytime soap watchers would watch their show at night? Didn't we already see that with Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing, now Desparate Housewives to some extent. Not sure.

But as much as I hate and I say hate what Brian Frons has done to ABC I think they are searching for ways to try and keep the genre alive. Are they going about it the right way. I don't think so but again, I am not really sure what they are trying to do myself.

I think if a show at the heart stays loyal to what it is and surrounds that with good casting and writing it can retain viewers. And of course marketing and marketing the right things is important. I am sorry and maybe I am in the minority but showing soaps at night where the competition is so much stronger and more diluted, showing clips on cellphones to me is not the direction required to save the genre but I guess I don't know what it. Maybe that is the question. I don't think watching a bad soap in the end is going to save it. What do you do to save the soaps?

[emilyq]

Brilliant ideas. Maybe you should go work for ABC, CBS, or NBC.

[Wales2004]

Even though I kind of get what you're saying I do have disagree about the obligation. TV exists for entertainment and for profit. Even if the consumer happens to love what's on TV there is still no obligation on to watch it.

For now I'm still complaining about GH because I'm still holding on but when I decide to stop myself from complaining then I know I'll be done with it for good because I have no hope of it improving.

I can understand the sentiment to enjoy it while it lasts but I can't even find anything enjoyable about it right now. I might, at some point, be able to watch partial episodes if I ignore the lack of cohesiveness and just see it as a bunch of disconnected daily events. It's like starting out with the top of the line luxury car only to have it replaced periodically with the bottom of the line economy car and as I get used to that I'm handed a bus pass. But before I can use the pass it's snatched away and I didn't even get to adjust to taking the bus because I'm walking in shoes that weren't meant for walking. It probably sounds a bit whacky but since I have to keep up with the absurdity of GH, I thought a little crack might help.

[Roman]

What kills me is this argument that by watching the shows, and expressing our dislike of many points of a show (While still watching it) that somehow, through osmosis, TPTB will listen to the viewers and change what we don't like.

They won't sit there and say "Why are they complaining? They watch whatever dreck we put on there!" They will reward us with a better show, even though we watch when it's good and when it stinks.

On top of the fact that some have turned out other shows that had gotten bad, but now tell us that we should keep watching their favorite show regardless of what is on the screen.

Now how hypocritical is that?