September 8-12, 2008

[Pine Charles]

GL sometimes got high in the early '90s, and even beat GH a few times. I have an SOD from the summer of 1992, and GL is tied for 3rd place (ahead of GH).

[Jess]

Were there not some CBS pre-emptions that week because of the tennis tournament?

[tanyia2]

That was labor day weekend/Hurricane Gustav ratings that had the pre-emptions.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

I think the new format is one of the reasons. GL's been in last place for a long and didn't do particularly well in 2007 but the ratings started dropping precipitously after the format change and they've never recovered.

[skiman12082004]

I kind of feel badly for GL fans. Knowing that the show is basically a goner must feel terrible; I know I went through it with Sunset Beach, Port Charles and most recently Passions. I am loving Y&R now too. Also, I find AMC a lot more humorous which is a very good thing. AMC will rise once Chuck's stuff gets popping.

[Soapsuds]

It's been hinted the reason no changes are being made at GL is because it will be canceled next year with ATWT to follow. It's obvious P&G doesnt care about their soaps. All the other soaps are having writing and EP changes except the P&G soaps. What a shame.

[NYC123]

IMO AMC ratings look promising. AMC got 2.0 on Monday/Tuesday, and a 1.9 on Friday. Now if AMC can promote the tornado AMC may have a good November.

It's also a sad day when GL is so close to hitting 1 million viewers.......

[EastMA2]

Don't feel too bad for GL. The show is DONE. Ellen Wheeler killed it. The fans know it.

[jimmyk311]

I wouldn't blame it all on Wheeler. P&G deserved most of blame for killing most of their soaps and not doing anything to make a profit off of their soaps.

[cct]

I think some people are tuning in for Genie Francis. I would not be surprised to see it go back down by 0.1 or 0.2 when she's gone. It's the only thing I can figure.

[MarkH]

Sing it! Ratings do not equal quality. They MIGHT equal promotion.

My perspective on Y&R is a bit different than yours. I agree with the improvements. But notice the drop from the heavily promoted Sudden Impact arc. There has NOT been extensive promotion (certainly not out of the daypart or off-network). Imagine if they DID invest, at least for 6 months or so, in regular promotion (with story quality to back it up). THAT could really rebuild the show's audience (say, in the modern era, at 4.3 or something). Sadly, they do not invest.

For Y&R, the problem is still lack of consistency in ratings. They need to work at getting more of those 3.9s every day. The way to do that is to plan explosive story beats on Wednesday/Thursday, and to PROMOTE THE HECK out of them. I know that takes $$...but I think it would be a worthwhile investment. "Don't miss this Wednesday!..."

B&B...I cannot explain those ratings. I can only bear to FF 1 or 2 times a week, it is SO awful. Further proof that quality and ratings have no association. Unlikely you, I cannot find a single entertaining thing.

Did you see Canadian TV Guide on this issue? Nelson is explaining why there is no regime change at GL (and, by inference, ATWT too). His perspective is that cancellation is imminent, and the lack of change reflect NOT "confidence in a stable vision", but "not sinking another dime into this soon-to-be-cancelled franchise".

On this note, I wonder if Goutman's recent interview (where he argues ATWT should be on 3 days a week) is the beginning of the gambit for the next renewal cycle. Don't CANCEL ATWT/GL...but have the two shows share a single timeslot. I'm wonderin'.....

[MarkH]

NOW THIS IS HOW A RATINGS ANALYSIS SHOULD BE DONE!! (Sorry to shout). Bravo Angela!!!

The weeklies are irrelevant. But this shows the unassailable trend. What this shows is a clear linear decline trend. It shows that each time the show falls, it never regains. The loss of a quarter million viewers, give or take, in just four months time says EVERYTHING.

[MarkH]

Actually, the GL loss is more painful than all the other shows. It is not NEW. It has a 70 year history. This is the end of a long, and mostly productive life.

At the same time, it is a mercy killing to come. Indeed, as the ratings show, there will be little sadness and little hue and cry at the cancellation. The recent changes HAVE helped to accelerate an audience that was already in freefall-attrition.

Yes. That was a very insightful thing for Nelson Branco to report.

No, I do not agree. Well, I do sort of....let me explain:

GL was on cancellation track NO MATTER WHAT. The cancellation was imminent, because the low numbers could not bear the high cost.

I totally applaud Wheeler for the experiment. With the experiment, we KNOW that the cheaper production model WILL NOT WORK, at least not with a legacy show. Had the experiment not been tried, the show would have died a year earlier, and we might have "wondered". Now we know (since MORE INVESTMENT was OFF THE TABLE) that the show could not have been saved on the budget it was allowed.

[Naysayers will say 'more talented people could have accomplished more on the low budget'...maybe...but those more talented people would have cost money. Regardless, that is not the course P&G chose... They chose to use an MTV-style production model, and now we know that that model--by itself--cannot succeed].

The net gain was that TRUE GL diehards got an extra 12 months or so of their show. For some people, those final glimpses of Alan and Reva and Josh were worth it. Those are the diehard that watch the show out of loyalty and legacy and because it has always been in their lives.

That the show is an unrecognizable shell of its glory days is...sad. That the show at closing bears really NO connection to what Irma created 70 years ago is ... sad. There seems little doubt that the show needs to die. That makes it no less tragic....even the loss of an older, infirm relative still usually provokes sadness.

I think the resolution that the industry needs to strike--if and when there is ever a new serial like this again--is that these shows CANNOT be allowed to live indefinitely. Have a defined plan (7 years? 5 years?) and stick to it. If a show is really still on top after the 5 or 7 year span, spin it off with a few key characters and plots. That article that Steve Frame has on Soapsweb (an old Time magazine profile of Irma...who CANCELLED a show at the top of the ratings because it had accomplished everything it could...it had reached "logical saturation"...so it was time to move on) was so eye opening.

It is time, I think, to turn our back on this old model..."worlds without end"....to something more like "brief incursions into continuing worlds".

[bandbfan]

About B&B, although it is stagnant right now, I think the prominence of the vets (the 4, and Taylor) helps people get through it. While people don't really like Ridge, they at least know who he is and his history.

[MichaelGL]

Another sad thing is how close GL always came to striking rating gold, but always having the rug pulled out from under it. Like back in the 80s when GL was at one time the number one watched soap, or in the 90s when GL seemed to be gaining viewers and a comfortable spot int he ratings, only to have that progress ruined by the death of Maureen Bauer.