When would TEON & SFT been cancelled

[CSF]

But couldn't Edge have gotten moved to 3:30 on CBS if they saw the decline in viewership when they moved to 2pm? I suppose by 1975, it would have competed still against AW if it aired at 3:30 considering AW was on for an hour by that point. I just don't see why they couldn't move it back to 4 or 4:30 and have NBC air Sommerset at 1:00 like you mentioned.

[SteveFrame]

But the thing was that even though the ratings were still good compared to today, the ratings were dropping off for both EON and SFT. Neither were performing as well as the other CBS shows at the time. So they were cancelled due to ratings.

What made them attractive to ABC and NBC was that both of them were performing better on CBS than their shows were at the time.

ABC felt sure that EON would hold on to it's audience which in 1975 was better than both AMC and OLTL, but the thing that happened was that it didn't hold onto it. It dropped.

SFT was doing better than the NBC shows and they felt it would hold onto the numbers too but it didn't. SFT lost half it's audience while Capitol debuted higher that first week than what SFT was doing.

CBS could have done a lot of stuff, but they were on a cancellation streak at the time and were trying to hold onto the shows that they felt had the most potential to expand to the hour format.

The scheduling thing for P&G also played a part but even with that P&G couldn't control the affiliates.

For years here in TEnnessee AW aired either opposite ATWT or opposite GL and then when it expanded to 90 minutes it aired against both of them - the full hour of ATWT and half of GL.

[CSF]

Hey Steve,

Those are some really good points. I didn't look at it that way. You're totally spot on with SFT.

I was just looking at the ratings archive. It's amazing how Edge went from top 4 to like 10th within in 3 years.

However, beginning in 1972-1973, it was definitely below AMC, GH, OLTL. I'm sure, just like you said, ABC probably believed Edge could get back their original audience if they aired it at 4pm.

IMO, I think they were being naive, but I just still think that if CBS wasn't so bent on canceling it due to the ratings, which stood clear that it was because of the time period, if they moved it back to the late afternoon instead of All in the Family reruns, it could have bounced back on CBS.

[SteveFrame]

We never got the All in the Family reruns here. Our affiliate has never aired at 3:00 the same thing that CBS does everywhere else. We always get something different.

Even for awhile at 3:00 central we got ATWT. They chose to air news and a local talk show in the traditional ATWT timeslot and moved ATWT from 1:00 as GL's leadin to 3:00 following GL. It stayed that way about a year or maybe longer. It aired against Days which aired at the same time on the NBC affiliate here.

I know it was that way during the first year or maybe 2 of Hogan Sheffer's run.

I am not even sure they would have aired EON at 3:00 if CBS had kept it.

[CSF]

wow, that's interesting. I was going by that guide that was posted in the beginning of thread of CBS's scheduling throughout the years.

I'm shocked that your affiliate didn't air it in that order as listed, but at the same time, I'm not nearly as surprised. I guess when Edge tanked when it was moved, that made the decision for the CBS affiliates to not even bother considering it being aired later in the day again.

[sungrey]

In short, P&G's move was stupid. At 3:30, Edge was still pulling in very strong ratings, yet P&G felt it was being dragged down by Secret Storm. Back then, the Cincy boys did some smart scheduling maneuvers, but this was NOT one of them.

[CSF]

If they thought The Secret Storm was pulling them down, they were really in for a rude awakening when they moved it to 2pm. I don't know if they were thinking the audience of ATWT would have helped them, but I don't see the audience of ATWT watching Edge. They were two very different shows in their own way and P&G should have know that from the start. We all know that the main audience of Edge was mostly men and kids home from school.

[sungrey]

You are so right, CSF. When Edge aired at 3:30, it was followed at 4 by Secret Storm, and for a while Storm featured some of the same melodramatic plotlines Edge did. In the mid to late 1960s Storm's ratings were excellent.

[LoveDays]

I think that SEARCH and EDGE could still be on today even after the network switches. I would have heavily advertised the switch and hyped the shows up even more on the new networks. I think that both soaps had rich histories that should have been flushed out to let the fans know that nothing has changed about the show except for the network that it is now on. Both of these soaps could still be strong contenders. I think that all soaps could be strong contenders today and put up big ratings if they would have stuck to the true format and real storytelling instead of trying to encompass this whole "new demographic" look. The vets are who we wanted to see and still want to see. It was a different rhyme and rhythm in the 70s and 80s on how new characters were introduced and how teen characters were incorporated onto the show.

[SteveFrame]

The problem was not how much advertising that was done on the new networks. ABC even went as far as debuting EON with an hour long episode.

I can remember with both there was big time advertisement during strong times for both shows.

The problem was that the viewers who had followed them on CBS didn't know where they went. CBS didn't and wouldn't advertise that they were moving to a new network and often those viewers didn't find out.

Plus even more so then than now many viewers during the daytime were network loyal. They watched the block of NBC or CBS or ABC soaps and not just one. That is why when GH went up all the ABC soaps went up. Same with AW's success which rubbed off on Days and The Doctors in the late 60's and early 70s.

The sad thing was that with ABC the peripheral shows outside the AMC, OLTL, and GH block didn't gain much.

EON following GH should have made it a ratings success but it didn't. They had the best lead in of any show but they couldn't hold on to it. One big reason was that not every affiliate carried Edge. Many also moved it to morning time slots and not the afternoon slot.

[CSF]

Steve, you are absolutely right!

With Edge, had ALL of the ABC affiliates aired it right after GH, it would have survived, most likely. They didn't. Even the major markets like Philadelphia who at one time, had one of the strongest ABC affiliates in the country didn't even cary Edge.

SFT would have ended in 1987 if it remained on CBS. B&B would have replaced it and there never would have been Capitol.

Just out of speculation, if AMC aired at noon, OLTL at 1pm and GH at 2, with Edge at 3pm I think all affiliates would have carried it and it would have been fine. Now keep in mind, I am only talking about EST. But we will never know.

[Paul Raven]

Apparently,on a station by station basis EON was quite popular in many markets.The current ratings thread had local ratings posted and this is still true of soaps today.

From the EON Homepage

* CBS cancelled EDGE in 1975.

Contrary to popular belief, "The Edge of Night" was not cancelled by CBS. Following the expansion of "Another World" and "Days of Our Lives" to a one-hour format in 1975, a ratings war suddenly erupted between the daytime serials. Pleased with the enormous success of "Another World's" lengthened format, Procter and Gamble decided to follow suit with "As the World Turns", its most popular serial. CBS eagerly agreed but soon faced an unexpected dilemma. In order to expand ATWT and still keep EDGE, the network needed an extra half-hour of airtime. Initially, CBS suggested that affiliates relinquish their half-hour of local airtime (from 1:00 to 1:30 pm), offering an additional 30 minutes earlier in the day instead. Unfortunately, most of CBS's affiliates protested vehemently. Next, the network proposed moving EDGE back to its previous 3:00 pm time-slot, but P&G couldn't comply since "Another World" aired at that time, and company policy prohibited P&G serials from airing opposite one another. Then, P&G executives had a brainstorm. They had been anxious to expand their advertising base to ABC, the only network which didn't have a P&G-produced soap, and ABC was desperately trying to establish itself as a leading contender in the daytime ratings race. P&G approached ABC about the possibilty of moving EDGE to their newtork. ABC showed great interest, eventually agreeing to the move. However, there was one final hurdle to overcome. CBS wanted to debut the newly expanded ATWT on September 27, 1975, but ABC was contractually bound to its schedule until December, which meant that EDGE would have to be off the air for two full months. P&G felt that such an extended absence would be detrimental to both the storyline and audience loyalty. Finally CBS relented, delaying the expansion of ATWT until December. So, on December 1, 1975, EDGE became the first serial in television history to switch networks.

EDGE left the air because ABC cancelled the series.

Actually, EDGE left the air because series producer Procter and Gamble decided to drop sponsorship and production of the program. In the last quarter of 1984, financial reports revealed that EDGE had been losing money. Between 1982 and 1984, EDGE had lost 38 of ABC's 212 local affiliates. Airing on just 102 stations, EDGE simply didn't generate enough revenue to make it economically feasible. When P&G dropped the serial, ABC was left with no choice but to cancel, too. Many in the industry claim that ABC would have continued to air EDGE, as long as Procter and Gamble paid the production costs.

[quartermainefan]

I think one thing to say about these changing schedules and the soaps giving way to the game show, is where would we be without Wink Martindale, Jack Barry, Burt Convy, Bill Cullen and all the game show hosts of yore? If we had to lose a soap or two to have Tattletales, so be it!

[CSF]

Very interesting Paul Raven.

I just wonder, why couldn't P&G and CBS find a way to air the show at 4pm?

As for Edge in 1984, didn't ABC want to purchase the show and P&G refused to sell it?

[saynotoursoap]

I would under ordinary circumstances avoid a thread of this nature; however, I feel compelled to respond as a result of proliferative misinformation.

In 1972, CBS' daytime schedule did not change on September 4, as reported in some reference sources. September 4 was Labor Day, and all CBS soaps were preempted for Jerry Lewis' telethon. The schedule changed on September 11, 1972.

Edge did not have lower ratings than Love of Life when canceled. Edge's ratings were rising in 1975. The week of the announcement of Edge's move to ABC, Edge had a 7.6 rating, and Love of Life had a 7.4 rating. The idea Edge would have been canceled in 1980 instead of Love of Life is absurd. CBS moved Love opposite Edge in 1979, and Love floundered to cancellation opposite Edge's competition.

Edge was not canceled to make room for As the World Turns. I interviewed many production personnel for a book about daytime TV. Nick Nicholson, Henry Slesar, and and a VP at P&G told me the true story of how Edge was dispatched to ABC. The behind-the-scenes saga was better than any soap opera. The condensed version is that P&G owned both Edge and ATWT. P&G had complete control over the situation because CBS couldn't expand World Turns to an hour without P&G's cooperation, and CBS desperately needed to counterprogram the successful new 1 hour Days. CBS tried to give back affiliate time to keep Edge, but the affiliates weren't willing. CBS finally decided to axe Musical Chairs, at the time the lowest rated program on its schedule. Edge was to have been given back the 4/3 time-slot on CBS, and P&G agreed despite the no-competition rule with Somerset. Nicholson, however, was 100% gung- ho to get Edge on ABC because ABC had been taken over by Fred Silverman and was on its way up. Nicholson thought Edge would get a better budget and demos on ABC and convinced P&G to pursue the change rather than go along with CBS. If ABC had not taken it, Edge would have remained on CBS at 4. CBS did in fact cancel Musical Chairs in October, along with another failed game show. Therefore, rather than not having any room to keep Edge, CBS had one full hour of open programming by the time Edge moved to ABC.

The story of Edge's cancellation was hyped in the press to promote the show's move and also generate interest in World Turns' expansion to an hour. The true story is Edge wasn't canceled at all. It was a carefully orchestrated move that backfired due to affiliates replacing it with cheaper syndicated and local programming. If Edge had remained on CBS. I am almost certain it would have continued running well into the 80's and might remain on air today.