Where's the money?

[rhythmchyc]

I just saw on SoapNet this morning that abc.com is now streaming The View and General Hospital.

Considering how Y&R has been streaming on CBS for years now and every time the media asks the producers if the show is going through budget problems as most of the other soaps who are, they say no ... well, mainly the soaps on other networks, it dawned on me that part of the reason those soaps are having difficulties is because they aren't online yet.

Or not?

How does that even work? Does anyone know?

[jcar03]

Y&R doesn't have budget problems because they are the #1 soap so advertisers are more willing to put a high dollar down to run ads during Y&R then any other show.

All the CBS shows are online for the past two years or so and we know that GL and ATWT face budget problems. DAYS was on intunes prior to Y&R being on cbs.com because a big deal was made that it was considered the most distributed show (NBC, SoapNet and online) then shortly later CBS added their shows online.

[R Sinclair]

Co-sign.

[y&r_fan]

Y&R doesn't have budget problems? What about Don Diamont's firing?

[bellcurve]

There's a difference between having a budget problem and reaping the rewards of good financial(and showrunning) management. After the writer's strike, Maria could have easily fired all of LML's staffwriters, but she chose to let their contracts expire or go to cycle before getting rid of them altogether. Compare that to DAYS, who, even when their ratings are in the toilet, are still paying off writers who no longer work for them.

Don Diamont's firing wasn't because of a "budget problem." It's not like Y&R can't pay the electric bill. Just call it, "financial readjustment."

[MarkH]

Logically, in the face of declining viewers (even for Y&R), it seems clear that Y&R will get a reduced license fee offer from CBS. DaytimeFan has suggested that Y&R will not proactively REOPEN the license fee issue...but when it comes time for renewal, Y&R will have to play ball.

However, Y&R's position of domestic strength means that it may have more options than, say, a P&G show or DOOL. Y&R could, plausibly, still move to another network. Although the probability of that is low, and history shows it would hurt Y&R, that extra leverage means that Y&R is likely to be a little more hard-ass about it than other shows.

Beyond this, Y&R (thanks to Sony and Bell and international sales and whatever tiny internet streaming revenues it gets) has a cushion that most other soaps don't have. That means that there are extra sources of revenue. Thus, the CBS license fee could go down (and it will), but still the show might not need to cut expenses as much as other shows.

THAT SAID, and Sara Bibel has commented on this, the declining CBS license fee IS going to affect the show. It is still the largest revenue source. Moreover, in the past, we have seen that soap viewership is declining internationally...so the international revenues for Y&R are also going to go steadily down.

That means that Y&R does need to become leaner and leaner over time. As Sara Bibel has noted, Y&R is increasingly developing a strong young cast...and that is a cheap cast....

I don't see Diamont's firing so much as a response to IMMEDIATE cost cutting needs. Rather, it cuts a now-relatively-superfluous character (i.e., doesn't harm storytelling), and reduces a larger salary. This will continue to happen...just not as radically as on, say, ABC or NBC soaps. The peripheral characters no longer anchored by core families (Paul, Phyllis, etc.) are at greatest risk. Again, none of this will happen suddenly, but gradually.

I would argue that this is actually healthy...both for storytelling freshness...and for cost efficiencies.

I could imagine, for example, that we'd lose one more expensive character a year. If this is done in an orderly and planful way, it won't harm the show, and will help it steadily keep salary dollars under control.

[MarkH]

Bingo!