When would TEON & SFT been cancelled

[Max]

Everybody knows that TEON and SFT endured big blows after they switched networks from CBS to ABC and NBC, respectively. However, I believe that both shows would still have been cancelled long ago had they never switched networks.

In the case of TEON, I'm guessing that CBS would have cancelled the soap in February 1980, when Y&R expanded to one hour. Of course, CBS at the time chose to cancel LOL to make room for Y&R's expansion. Yet, TEON would probably have had even lower ratings (on CBS) than LOL in 1980, and would have been cancelled instead. (When CBS cancelled TEON in 1975, it was lower rated than LOL.)

SFT would never have experienced the massive decline in viewers (half of its audience left overnight) had the network switch failed to take place. Yet, I still believe that CBS would have cancelled SFT in March 1987 to make room for B&B. Remember, CBS cancelled Capitol (which would have never existed were it not for SFT switching networks) to make room for B&B, despite the fact that Capitol had respectable ratings. SFT on CBS would still have had decent ratings in 1987, but nevertheless been axed because the network was so indebted to Bill Bell (to the point that it would cancel its lowest rated soap in order to make room for his new creation).

In summary, even though the network switches heavily damaged both soaps, the irony of the situation is that TEON would have likely been cancelled nearly five years before ABC cancelled it (had the soap remained on CBS), while SFT would have lasted only three months longer on CBS than it lasted on NBC.

[SteveFrame]

No they would have been cancelled in 1975 and in 1987.

Both shows only switched networks because CBS chose to cancel them. CBS had already gotten rid of older show Secret Storm in 1974 and in 1975 they needed to get rid of another.

They were trying to battle against NBC which was making a surge in the ratings at the time and was battling them as the powerhouse in daytime that had previously belonged to CBS. CBS wanted to expand ATWT to an hour and EON had lower ratings so it was the sacrificial lamb. It would have gone no matter what.

[sungrey]

The bigger question to ask would have been how both shows would've fared had they not switched time slots. Edge was a killer show at 3:30 that pretty much destroyed everything in its path, with the exception of the game show You Don't Say (it ran a very respectable second to Edge in a lot of markets). Plus you had people home from school and a lot of men were home early from work that loved the soap's shoot-em-up format. When Edge moved to 2:30, you removed both the teenagers/college students and the men from the picture.

As for SFT, 12:30 was pretty much the slot that worked for the show for all of its run. Placing it in a hammock between ATWT and GL should have helped the show's numbers, but it cost the show a lot of viewers. (Of course, not as many viewers as moving back to 12:30 on NBC did.)

[KateW]

I found an excellent resource for CBS daytime's past schedules. Looking through may give some insight into scheduling changes and the affects on ratings.

On Friday September 1, 1972, CBS's daytime schedule from 10 am - 4 pm ET looked like this:

10 am - Lucy Show reruns

10:30 am - Beverly Hillbillies reruns

11 am - Family Affair reruns

11:30 am - Love of Life

noon - Where the Heart Is

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - local programming

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2 pm - Love is a Many Splendored Thing

2:30 pm - Guiding Light

3 pm - The Secret Storm

3:30 pm - The Edge of Night

4 pm - local programming

On Monday September 4, 1972, CBS premiered 3 new game shows and moved 4 of their daytime dramas. The schedule was now:

10 am - The Joker's Wild

10:30 am - The Price is Right

11 am - Gambit

11:30 am - Love of Life

noon - Where the Heart Is

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - local programming

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2 pm - Guiding Light

2:30 pm - The Edge of Night

3 pm - Love is a Many Splendored Thing

3:30 pm - The Secret Storm

4 pm - Family Affair reruns (ended January 12, 1973; replaced with The Vin Scully Show (January 15-March 23, 1973))

None of the daytime dramas had to be moved to make way for the game shows so I have no idea why CBS would move The Edge of Night from a timeslot that it dominated, to one that would pretty much end the show.

On Monday March 26, 1973, CBS premiered 2 new game shows and a new daytime drama. The schedule was now:

10 am - The Joker's Wild (ended June 13, 1975, replaced with Spin Off (June 16 - September 5, 1975), Give and Take (September 8-October 31, 1975))

10:30 am - The $10,000 Pyramid (ended March 29, 1974, replaced with Gambit (April 1, 1974 - August 15, 1975)), The Price is Right (August 18-October 31, 1975))

11 am - Gambit (replaced with Now You See It (April 1, 1974 - June 13, 1975), Tattletales (June 16 - August 8, 1975), moved back August 18, 1975)

11:30 am - Love of Life

noon - The Young and the Restless

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - local programming

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2 pm - Guiding Light

2:30 pm - The Edge of Night

3 pm - The Price is Right (replaced with Match Game (August 18 - November 28, 1975))

3:30 pm - Hollywood's Talking (ended June 22, 1973; replaced with Match Game (July 2, 1973 - August 15, 1975), Tattletales (August 18, 1975))

4 pm - The Secret Storm (ended February 8, 1974; replaced with Tattletales (February 18, 1974 - June 13, 1975), Musical Chairs (June 16 - October 31, 1975))

Moving The Secret Storm to the 4 pm "death slot" was pretty much the end of the show.

The first show on CBS to expand to 1 hour was not a daytime drama, but a game show. Monday November 3, 1975 was the first permanent 1 hour episode of The Price is Right (there had been a trial week from September 8-12). The schedule was now:

10 am - The Price is Right

11 am - Gambit

11:30 am - Love of Life

noon - The Young and the Restless

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - local programming

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2 pm - Guiding Light

2:30 pm - The Edge of Night

3 pm - Match Game

3:30 pm - Tattletales

4 pm - Give and Take

Four weeks later, As the World Turns became the first CBS daytime drama to expand to 1 hour. On Monday December 1, 1975, the schedule became:

10 am - The Price is Right (moved to 10:30-11:30 am (May 2 - November 4, 1977), replaced with Here's Lucy reruns (10 am, May 2 - November 4, 1977))

11 am - Gambit (ended December 10, 1976, replaced with Double Dare (December 13, 1976 - April 29, 1977))

11:30 am - Love of Life

noon - The Young and the Restless

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - local programming

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2:30 pm - Guiding Light

3 pm - All in the Family reruns

3:30 pm - Match Game

4 pm - Tattletales

To make room for the expansion, CBS dropped its then-lowest rated daytime drama The Edge of Night, but it replaced the game show Give and Take with reruns of All in the Family. (To most game show fans, Give and Take was seen as a time filler until CBS was certain that an hour long TPiR would work.)

CBS had room on the schedule for The Edge of Night, but I feel it got dropped because it probably drew an older audience (CBS has a history of doing that) compared to Another World and Days, which were rising in popularity in the mid-1970s.

A little less than two years later, Guiding Light expanded to 1 hour. On Monday November 7, 1977, the schedule became:

10 am - The Price is Right (moved to 10:30-11:30 am (April 3, 1978 - April 20, 1979), replaced with Pass the Buck (10 am, April 3 - June 30, 1978), Tic Tac Dough (10 am, July 3 - September 1, 1978))

11 am - Match Game (replaced by Tattletales (December 19, 1977 - March 31, 1978))

11:30 am - Love of Life

noon - The Young and the Restless

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - local programming

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2:30 pm - Guiding Light

3:30 pm - All in the Family reruns

4 pm - Tattletales (replaced by Match Game (December 19, 1977 - April 20, 1979))

Monday April 23, 1979 saw a key change in the schedule. The Price is Right moved to it's current timeslot, one that it pretty much owns.

10 am - All in the Family reruns (replaced with Beat the Clock (September 17, 1979 - February 1, 1980))

10:30 am - Whew! (became Celebrity Whew! (November 5, 1979))

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - The Young and the Restless

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - local programming

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2:30 pm - Guiding Light

3:30 pm - M*A*S*H reruns

4 pm - Love of Life

Moving Love of Life to the 4 pm "death slot" was pretty much the end of the show.

A little over 9 months later, Y&R expanded to 1 hour. The schedule on Monday February 4, 1980 was:

10 am - The Jeffersons reruns

10:30 am - Celebrity Whew! (ended May 30, 1980, replaced with Alice reruns)

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

1 pm - The Young and the Restless

2 pm - As the World Turns

3 pm - Guiding Light

4 pm - One Day at a Time reruns

Monday June 8, 1981 saw another key change in the schedule:

10 am - The Jeffersons reruns

10:30 am - Alice reruns

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2:30 pm - Search for Tomorrow

3 pm - Guiding Light

4 pm - One Day at a Time reruns

In the 1980/81 season, Y&R was lower rated than Guiding Light and As the World Turns (Y&R's lower ratings may have resulted from a combination of the expansion to 1 hour, time slot change that placed it head-to-head with then-#2 All My Children, phasing out of the original characters, and introduction of several new characters), but in 1981/82, Y&R would become CBS's 2nd highest-rated daytime drama, and by 1982/83 it's highest-rated. Despite the time slot change, Search for Tomorrow still remained CBS's lowest-rated daytime drama and middle of the pack overall. The early 1980s was when ABC was riding high with the whole action/adventure/young love craze. Compared to ABC, most of CBS's lineup was outdated and probably drew an older audience. So Search for Tomorrow was dropped and replaced with Capitol, CBS's attempt at a daytime Dallas.

Even if the time slot changes hadn't taken place, I feel The Edge of Night and Search for Tomorrow would not have made it on CBS past the 1980s. I believe The Edge of Night (along with Love of Life) would've ended in 1980 to make way for an expanded Y&R, and Search for Tomorrow would've ended in 1987 to make way for the premiere of The Bold and the Beautiful.

After having seen clips of The Edge of Night and Search for Tomorrow from the CBS years and ABC/NBC years, the ratings decline and eventual end can be summed up by:

1. CBS changing the time slots.

2. CBS dropping the shows and their moves to ABC/NBC, where they were given time slots (4 pm ET for The Edge of Night, and 12:30 pm ET for Search for Tomorrow) that were more likely to be filled by the affiliates with local/syndicated programming as opposed to network programming.

3. ABC/NBC trying to make the shows more like the more popular ones on their network in the 1980s (ABC tried to make The Edge of Night more like General Hospital and All My Children, and NBC tried to make Search for Tomorrow more like Days).

For completion, other pivotal dates in CBS daytime history.

Monday March 29, 1982:

10 am - One Day at a Time reruns (replaced with $25,000 Pyramid (September 20, 1982))

10:30 am - Alice reruns (replaced with Child's Play (September 20, 1982 - September 16, 1983), Press Your Luck (September 19, 1983 - January 3, 1986), Card Sharks (January 6, 1986))

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - As the World Turns

2:30 pm - Capitol

3 pm - Guiding Light

4 pm - Tattletales (January 18, 1982 - June 1, 1984, replaced with Body Language (June 4, 1984 - January 3, 1986), Press Your Luck (January 6 - September 26, 1986))

Monday March 23, 1987:

10 am - $25,000 Pyramid (ended December 31, 1987, replaced with Blackout (January 4 - April 1, 1988), returned April 4-July 1, 1988, replaced with Family Feud (July 4, 1988 - January 11, 1991))

10:30 am - Card Sharks (ended March 31, 1989, replaced with Now You See It (April 3 - July 14, 1989), Wheel of Fortune (July 17, 1989 - January 11, 1991))

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - The Bold and the Beautiful

2 pm - As the World Turns

3 pm - Guiding Light

Monday January 14, 1991:

10 am - Barbara DeAngelis (ended April 26, 1991, replaced with Family Feud (April 29 - May 24, 1991), Designing Women reruns (May 27, 1991 - June 26, 1992))

10:30 am - Family Feud (replaced with Designing Women reruns (April 29 - May 24, 1991), returned May 27, 1991)

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - The Bold and the Beautiful

2 pm - As the World Turns

3 pm - Guiding Light

Monday June 29, 1992:

10 am - Family Feud Challenge

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - The Bold and the Beautiful

2 pm - As the World Turns

3 pm - Guiding Light

Tuesday September 7, 1993:

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - The Bold and the Beautiful

2 pm - As the World Turns

3 pm - Guiding Light

Monday September 21, 2009:

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - The Bold and the Beautiful

2 pm - As the World Turns

3 pm - The Price is Right reruns (new episodes from September 28-October 2, 2009)

Monday October 5, 2009:

11 am - The Price is Right

noon - local programming

12:30 pm - The Young and the Restless

1:30 pm - The Bold and the Beautiful

2 pm - As the World Turns

3 pm - Let's Make a Deal

[Paul Raven]

The Edge of Night's timeslot change to 2.30 ,came about at P&G's insistence of having all their soaps-ATWT,TGL and TEON in a block

CBS were also seeing their dominance in daytime being eroded as DOOL,AW and The Doctors were making the first serious inroads on CBS ratings and they made a lot of changes around 72.Their audience was obviously aging along with the shows,whereas the NBC shows were all less than 10 years old.Their newer shows LIAMST and WTHI had not been big hits and were not showing signs of growth.

As for the cancellation of Edge by CBS I wonder why the show wasn't moved back to 3.30 and given another chance,as it's ratings decline was completely due to the previous timeslot change.

[Contessa Donatella]

The Doctors began broadcasting in 1963; Another World in 1964; Days of Our Lives in 1965. So, in 1972, yes, they were under 10, but, just for one example, my mother's own favorite personal block was made up of As the World Turns, Another World & Days of Our Lives. But, as soon as they were all hour long shows, then, she had to give up one, or watch half of two. There was so much greater possibility for fans to watch more shows, of their own choice, with half hour shows. Sometimes I think we miss this in analysis of what happened.

[All My Shadows]

The Doctors began broadcasting in 1963; Another World in 1964; Days of Our Lives in 1965. So, in 1972, yes, they were under 10, but, just for one example, my mother's own favorite personal block was made up of As the World Turns, Another World & Days of Our Lives. But, as soon as they were all hour long shows, then, she had to give up one, or watch half of two. There was so much greater possibility for fans to watch more shows, of their own choice, with half hour shows. Sometimes I think we miss this in analysis of what happened.

I agree without a doubt. Half-hour shows would be just so much easier to get into and watch, even if the show wasn't so great. If ATWT was still a half-hour show, even in its current state, I'd still have no problem watching everyday. It's just the idea of wasting a full hour of my day on something I may or may not enjoy....it kills me.

[Contessa Donatella]

I looked it up to confirm it & CBS did cancel each soap. [schemering, SOAP OPERA ENCYCLOPEDIA, 1987 ed.] After CBS cancelled them, then, P&G found new homes for them.

[cct]

ITA about the half hours. I'm currently watching old EONs on the TruVideo site. Primarily, I started because I had heard EON was "different" with its attention to mysteries, and being watched by more males than other soaps. In checking out this difference, I have found myself hooked. I'm in the middle of Draper and the train wreck and the whole Gault fiasco, while thorougly enjoying Raven attempting to get her child back. At the end of the day, it's twenty minutes sans commercials, and I usually watch two or three in an evening in about the same time span I would watch a current hourlong. Does anyone think this could be a possible answer to the ratings decline--reducing soaps to half hours in order to save them? IT would be radical, but they once WERE half hours...

[Link]

Thanks so much for giving this information. I have been trying to look it up for some time now. I think CBS dropped Edge and SFT due to disputes with P&G and they were the ones that moved them to other networks. I wish SFT had stayed on CBS longer.

I don't understand why CBS put Love of Life at 4pm in 1979 instead of 3:30 after Guiding Light. Instead M*A*S*H aired in between. Love of Life should have aired at 3:30 with M*A*S*H at 4pm.

[David V]

I'm of the belief Search for Tomorrow would have been around for much longer had it not been moved from CBS to NBC. Note that most of the shows that were rating above it before the switch are the ones still on air today. CBSD was able to hold ground despite the dominance at the time of ABCD.

Edge of Night saw its ratings dive sharply with the timeslot change, and continued to do so after the network switch. It hit rock bottom by the end of the 70s and only the rise of ABCD coupled with the NBCD collapse prolonged it five years longer than it would have. From 1982 onwards, however, it was doomed.

Also remember that the mid-70s wasn't good for ABCD, with only AMC performing well in the ratings while GH and OLTL were in the toilet for a couple of years- just as SFT's move coincided with the worst years of NBCD.

Love of Life had also pretty much hit rock bottom following The Secret Storm's cancellation in 1974, but it enjoyed a brief revival in 1975-76 before falling away again.

Not only did the network move halve SFT's viewership, some NBC affiliates didn't pick it up at all while many more dropped it after a couple of years. Similarly, TEON was doomed once more ABC affiliates began dropping it like flies. Of course, Capitol and AW were in considerably healthier condition ratings-wise prior to their cancellations although Capitol's numbers had dropped a fair bit from its 1982-84 levels.

Considering that most soaps created after Y&R ended up being cancelled, B&B can count itself very lucky indeed. I really believe the only reason B&B was able to get decent ratings from the start was not only starting on a strong network (CBS) but also being sandwiched between the two highest-rated shows on that network at the time, Y&R and ATWT. It wouldn't have fared as well in any other timeslot.

[All My Shadows]

I think Steve basically said it in his post. The fact of the matter is...when EON switched networks in 1975, it was because CBS had canceled it and ABC decided to pick it up, and same with SFT with NBC in 1982. It wasn't a situation where CBS only dropped the shows so that ABC/NBC could pick them up. CBS were dropping them no matter what, so EON would have last aired in December '75 and SFT in March '82.

[CSF]

CBS did have room to schedule The Edge of Night, however I disagree they dropped it because it was skewing an older audience.

The Edge of Night was known for attracting kids home from school late in the afternoon and men home early from work on the east coast. This contributed to a large majority to their ratings and success. When Edge was moved to 2pm in 1972 when P&G insisted all their soaps air in a block, that was basically the kiss of death for the show because it would lose it's main following.

CBS could have moved it to 3pm instead of airing All in the Family reruns but they didn't. Although the "main" reason is unknown, I believe that if had CBS moved the show to 3pm EST instead of dropping it, the ratings would have picked up again and the show would have regained it's large following. In the back of my mind, I kind of get the impression, (just looking back on all of this) that CBS decided to cancel TEON because they placed the blame of the show's declining audience on P&G and in a way were saying "This is your fault, so deal with it" by dropping it. CBS knew it would never recover on another network. However, they neglected the fact that they already knew that in a late afternoon time period, the show was a ratings success.

This also leads me to say that if CBS decided to move it to 3pm (after Guiding Light aired at 2:30 EST) after ATWT expanded to one hour and then to 3:30pm after GL expanded to one hour in 1977, Edge would have been major competition for General Hospital and there is no telling what it could have been like today on CBS. It could have become a major powerhouse for them especially in the 18-49 demos. When you look at General Hospital in demos 18-49 in the 1990s and 2000s Edge could have been major competition and blew Sonny and Jason out of the water.

If P&G didn't insist that SFT remain at 12:30 EST when CBS moved it between ATWT and GL in 1982 to allow Y&R to air at 12:30 to 1:30 EST, I firmly believe that SFT would have lasted on CBS until 1987. Capitol would have never aired on CBS and SFT would have been cancelled to make room for B&B. It would have been clear that because SFT was behind all other CBS soaps in the ratings, it stood to reason to cancel the aging soap and make a fresh start with something that could attract a younger following.

Out of Search for Tomorrow and The Edge of Night, if things were done differently, I believe that Edge would still be on the air today. The Bold and the Beautiful would have sealed Search for Tomorrow's fate.

Lastly I'm just making an assumption here, in the 1980s CBS's daytime line up could have been like this:

12:30 The Young and the Restless

1:30 As the World Turns

2:30 Search for Tomorrow

3:00 Guiding Light

4:00 The Edge of Night

Remember that CBS didn't give up control of the 4pm time period to its affiliates until 1986.

After Search for Tomorrow is canceled to make way for The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS could have done this:

10:00 The Price is Right (great lead in for Y&R)

11:00 The Young and the Restless (Would run unopposed since NBC and ABC did not have network programming at this time)

12:00 Local News (Y&R would be a great lead in to CBS affiliates local noon news cast.

12:30 The Bold and the Beautiful

1:00 As the World Turns (competes with AMC)

2:00 Guiding Light (competes with OLTL)

3:00 The Edge of Night (could expand to 1 hour)

or...

10:00 The Price is Right (great lead in for Y&R)

11:00 The Young and the Restless (Would run unopposed since NBC and ABC did not have network programming at this time)

12:00 Local News (Y&R would be a great lead in to CBS affiliates local noon news cast.

12:30 As the World Turns (lead in for B&

1:30 The Bold and the Beautiful (could contribute a fresh demo to GL?)

2:00 Guiding Light (competes with OLTL)

3:00 The Edge of Night (could expand to 1 hour and rival GH)

What does everyone think?

[OneCharmingBastard]

After Search for Tomorrow is canceled to make way for The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS could have done this:

10:00 The Price is Right (great lead in for Y&R)

11:00 The Young and the Restless (Would run unopposed since NBC and ABC did not have network programming at this time)

12:00 Local News (Y&R would be a great lead in to CBS affiliates local noon news cast.

12:30 The Bold and the Beautiful

1:00 As the World Turns (competes with AMC)

2:00 Guiding Light (competes with OLTL)

3:00 The Edge of Night (could expand to 1 hour)

or...

10:00 The Price is Right (great lead in for Y&R)

11:00 The Young and the Restless (Would run unopposed since NBC and ABC did not have network programming at this time)

12:00 Local News (Y&R would be a great lead in to CBS affiliates local noon news cast.

12:30 As the World Turns (lead in for B&

1:30 The Bold and the Beautiful (could contribute a fresh demo to GL?)

2:00 Guiding Light (competes with OLTL)

3:00 The Edge of Night (could expand to 1 hour and rival GH)

What does everyone think?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ding Ding Ding - we have a winner here! As soon as I finish my time-travel device (currently it allows me only to step through paintings, move to parallel time, or zaps me to some island in 1977), we'll go fix things <g>

[sungrey]

I can add some insight here. Procter and Gamble used to have an unwritten rule that said no soap of theirs would go up against one of their other soaps on a rival network. Of course, since all the P&G soaps were for the most part on CBS, that never happened much.

Where P&G ran into trouble was scheduling Another World at 3 and then Somerset at 4. That pretty much prevented CBS from moving Edge to 3 because it would have gone up against AW. P&G largely forgot the rule when it moved Edge to 4 on ABC in December 1975 (although NBC scheduled a second feed of Somerset in the non-programmed 1pm slot, largely for those affiliates that had no noon newscasts in the Central time zone).

The buzz was that Somerset did very well at 1pm in the markets where it ran. What might have been...