March 23-27, 2009

[JackPeyton]

I agree.

To say that any soap would tank because of a vocal angry fanbase is just... redic. Online fans are a very small portion of people who watch soaps. And the fanbases are an even smaller part of that. Its just... kinda funny actually. besides so much factors into the ratings - the weather, working, vacations, issues, holidays, etc.

[Ann_SS]

I was right that the ratings would bounced back. It could be spring break or the economy causing the overall viewers to rise, but I have noticed that the demos for GH maybe stabilizing. ABC is probably happy.

[MarkH]

Man, you're gonna make me think impure thoughts! I love, love, love every word of this post. There is not a SINGLE WRONG WORD in this post!

The ratings declines can first be charted, you are correct, in the 1950s. As options increased, and women left the home, a linear decline process began. The slope of decline was FIXED by 1980, and has remained CONSTANT, more or less, every since. Yup. As Luke and Laura were cresting, the decline process was already in place. You can predict 99% of the variance in ratings for most soaps (99%!!!!) just by knowing what YEAR it is! For no soap can you predict less than 95% of the variance. Translation...it doesn't matter who kisses this week or whatever. That can only explain, AT BEST, 1% of the residual variance.

Like ER last night, everything has a season, a lifespan, a time course. There is no 'defeat' or 'mismanagement' or malfeasance involved. Things live, and they die, and the lucky ones of us are able to experience the periods of vibrant life. "Worlds Without End" was a terrible, terrible expectation to give to people. Immortality is not a pretty thing. It is characterized by long periods of routine, staleness, repeating oneself, nostalgic reliving of glory days.

Thank you, JP, for always being the incisive clearer of the fog.

[brimike]

I'm putting this on my headstone when I die. LOL!

[MarkH]

Again, total truth. It is NON-REPLACEMENT that is killing the genre. Cancellations outnumbered renewals since the beginning of soaps. But the genre died when TPTB decided to LET it die. (I again attribute no malfeasance. If you crunch the numbers, maintaining these things is not economically viable and CANNOT BE ECONOMICALLY VIABLE WITHOUT A NEW FUNDING MODEL).

The lifespan worked AGAINST GL's renewal. How 'bout we treasure the 72 years CBS and TBTP gave us? And let the rest of the acrimonious bullsh*t go? 'Cause it won't change anything. GL dropped to the bottom of the pool in the 1980s. That is sad, and its relative position can probably be blamed as much on the writers of the halcyon days as the current execs. GL was made vulnerable to be the next soap to die because of its relative position...but the death was "foreordained" by the broader impending end of the genre. Die now, or die in 2013 or whatever? Does it really matter?

ETA: I now believe that some soaps might actually survive the coming apocalypse. GH, Y&R and B&B all, shockingly, have "level-off" functions that make me think they might be able to retain viable numbers for longer than I ever expected. But still, nothing lives forever, nor should it.

[dowwwe]

Most importantly, DAYS is still kicking ass!

For a soap to have it's budget cut in almost half and show no signs of viewer loss is amazing.

[baller]

But there wasn't a big huge jump? Pretty much back to a 1.6 shows the couple of weeks of the 1.7 was more a fluke than anything. If they would have made the announcement after this weeks ratings I wouldn't be any less surprised, nor do I think there would be numbers to back up the "ratings rose" arguement.

Random--the GL "Otalia" near kiss and other scenes didn't really seem to bring about these huge jumps---but AMC's monday was Reese putting the plan to get Bianca back day...

[Adam]

Yeah, no kidding.... no fanbase has that kind of clout in daytime anymore.... and I often wonder if they ever really did.....

I am no fan of Ryan, Zach or Kendall right now..... I can't say I enjoy them anymore under Pratt than the previous regimes.... I just don't think they can be saved.

I just fast forward through them, the rest of the show is still keeping me invested.... I consider them their own little show. One thing I will say, Ryan?Zach/Kendall are still just part of the equation, and not eating the show like they did before Pratt came. That's refreshing. Its more of an ensemble.

[baller]

I totally agree--and it makes me giggle when the fanbases start talking about the "millions" of fans out there wanting to support/boycott/tune off. I've read recent comments about 3 different shows and how some thought they were making the impact, and none of them were actually true.

[jfung79]

I disagree that GL's long lifespan worked against its survival. Soaps do not have to have a cycle of life and death, they change with the times. Soaps are not a person, they do not suffer from being "immortal", good grief what a comparison. Is "immortality" bad for the Constitution?

It was not "time for GL to go" or any such b.s. that CBS wants to feed soap fans.

There are some things that persist and change over time, like the political parties for instance -- looking to the future, mindful of the past, as the Mississippi Democratic Party slogan goes. There's no reason why any soap couldn't last for hundreds of years and still be fresh if the will was there. The comics like Superman and Batman have also been around for decades and have found many ways to reinvent themselves.

And "we all" did not know it was coming, I continued to believe that GL would survive and thrive on CBS, having turned the corner in the ratings, and that is why this is the ultimate betrayal to me. And it still might go on somewhere, I have not given up hope.

[CSF]

I know it hasn't happened yet, but it would be really and I mean really ironic if in the next few months, GL began increasing viewership and surpassed AMC and OLTL and kept a steady 2.0 HH.

[smadleyb]

I wonder if ratings ticked up to the point where GL was giving 3rd place or even BB a run for it's money in the ratings by summertime, if CBS would have a change of heart or if they're really just more concerned with 'cheaper programming' for daytime all together?

[CSF]

That's an interesting concept. If that does happen, it would mean the show is making money and I don't think it would be that hard for CBS to recant the decision. It would be the first time something like that has happened, that's for sure.

[RalphOrtiz]

[MichaelGL]

Wait. Stop the presses. Jarlena aren't the reason why the ratings go up or down?

That removes one reason why Sheffer's tenure on the show went up in smoke.