April 20-24, 2009

[JackPeyton]

wow, the only soap to gain at all?

[marceline]

Ouch. Look at those year-to-year numbers. So much for the economy helping to boost soap viewership.

[Carolyn1980]

Demo Changes from last year:

Women 18-49 Rating

1. Y&R 1.7 (same)

2. DAYS 1.4 (-.1)

3. B&B 1.2 (same)

4. AMC 1.1 (same)

4. GH 1.1 (-.6)

6. OLTL 1.0 (-.4)

7. ATWT 0.9 (-.1)

8. GL 0.7 (-.3)

I had forgotten how low AMC was at this time last year in the demo. It was at 1.1, while OLTL was at 1.4, and GH at 1.7. (GH lost more than a third of its 18-49 audience).

Soapnet is up, substantially in primetime, so some of these losses are viewers migrating to SoapNet. SoapNet was the 5th fastest growing cable net in primetime (AMC/OLTL/GH) this past year, with a 35% increase in the 18-49 demo during that time. (Still, GH's losses are inexcusable).

[MarkH]

Sh!t...look at those GH demo falls. Sara Bibel's column to Brian Frons today is EXCORIATING, but so beautifully honest and reflective of what the UNIVERSE is saying at this point.

The question is this: Does Frons/Disney feel (as Nightline seemed to suggest) that the genre is gone...therefore these numbers are not their fault...and it lets them "move on".

Or, do they accept responsibility and take this as a warning sign? Everything in my gut says, sadly, it is the former.

[brimike]

WOW! Thanks, Carolyn! This truly is the all-important number for soap's survival, and it says so much. Mainly that AMC is not in as much trouble as its fans believe. Whatever they think of the stories, or what Pratt has done, the fact that it's holding its 18-49 demo means there probably won't be many changes anytime soon.

GH and OLTL, though... it's truly scary what's happening there.

And a second "WOW!" You weren't kidding, Mark. I don't think Sara's ever put her emotions out there as strongly as she did with today's entry. Sad thing is, she'll probably be disregarded by TPTB as a bitter former writer with an axe to grind, when in reality, she seems to understand what needs to be done (even though she claims she doesn't, humble as she is), better than anybody.

[brimike]

ETA: Merged this post into previous post

[JaneAusten]

I've never gotten the impression that Frons or Disney really care that much. His job is to ensure ABCD is profitable and perhaps with their cost cutting, they are delivering acceptable profits. I'm still of the belief that the writing changes at AMC and OLTL had less to do with Frons realizing they needed to make a change versus the megastars on those shows being publicly vocal about the lackluster writing, almost embarrassing him into making a change.

But in today's world, profit is king. It's alll ABC cares about and I am sure the other networks are in general the same. But IMO it's not just ABCD that is suffering, their primetime lineup has been getting whipped by CBS for the last couple of years. Their desire to cater to the younger viewers, who don't and won't have time to invest substantially in anything IMO has been their achilles heal. While I think this works for cable stations who can have specialized viewing targets, a network station catering to this seems a little ludicrous. Of course maybe Fox has proved me wrong on that who knows. The advent of cable, on demand style viewing, the internet, internet viewing, and DVR's are all factors as well. I realize ABC has suffered the most in the past several weeks, but no soap even Y&R is really setting the world on fire ratingswise.

[Gumdrop]

Where may I find Sara's column?

[Ann_SS]

Mark, I read Sara Bibel's blog comment to Frons. I didn't come away agreeing with most of her opinions. The only thing that I agreed with is that ABC needs to revise its focus group questions. ABC cannot cherry pick the answers that they want from these groups and expect to get people's real opinions.

I do not trust the executive producers or head writers at ABC. I especially hope that Frons will never give free reign to Guza and Phelps. If Guza had no checks and balances, the mob would be 100% of GH. We would see murder mysteries at the hospital and shoot outs in the hospital lobby like on Night Shift 1. The remaining Qs would be dead in a couple months. Anyway, I didn't think that GH was that great under Guza in the 1990s. IMO, GH began its steady decline then. Phelps killed off Maureen Bauer and Frankie Frame. She would likely do the same thing to Alexis.

Despite all my rambling about GH's writing, I am not convinced that GH's recent ratings demo dip is completely about content. GH has been crap for years. Why are the viewers suddenly tuning out? I don't have a clue. By the end of sweeps, the demos could easily bounce back. If I was Frons I would not do anything until the demos for May sweeps come in. I doubt that Frons does anything regardless.

The only thing that I would if I was Frons is hire a co-headwriter or strong consultant to help reshape GH's stories which might help kill the predictability factor. If the demos do not rebound by November sweeps, if I was Frons, I would start looking for replacement programming for all the ABC soaps.

[CSF]

I never like to see a soap drop, but I LOVE IT, absolutely LOVE IT when GH drops. I am happy to see them out of the top 5 and quite honestly I have no shame in saying that. They truly deserve it.

After everything Frons and Guza did to their veteran cast, they are getting what they deserve. The mob garbage killed GH! The bottom like is, characters like Sonny, Jason, Claudia, Spanelli, Ethan, every recurring player involved with the mob, Sam, Jax, they all need to go.

[Ann_SS]

Gumdrop, here is the link to Sara's column: http://www.fancast.com/blogs/deep-soap/dee...ews/#more-39331

[Gumdrop]

Thank you so much!

[jfung79]

The 0.7 in the W 18-49 demo for GL is shocking, and I hope it is just a one-week blip rather than something that will scupper whatever negotiations are still going on.

[CSF]

Interesting points there regarding Guza and Phelps, Ann. I agree with you 100% about Guza, but Phelps on the other hand, I believe that if she was paired with a really good writer, GH would be a lot different. I don't think the majority of the Quartermaine family would be gone like it is today. I think the show would still be all about the hospital. As much of a hack as I always felt JFP was and is, I think she has learned from her past mistakes. The bottom line is, is that I don't see her producing a show that is a pile of sh!t when she has full control. GL under her was phenomenal, minus the death of Maureen Bauer. But like I already stated, she had an incredible writing team. With good writer's and JFP's production abilities, her GH could be great. We already know Guza is not a good writer.

[JaneAusten]

I don't find myself agreeing with what Sarah Bibel said. Bob Guza was a decent writer when under management from a strong competent EP. I don't agree with leaving him to his own designs. He'd make GH 100 percent mob.

And as much as I dislike the show, they are trying to do some things right. It's been more balanced, there has been better family stuff, I don't think the PPD story is as bad as online has claimed(although I don't think Kimberly McCullough did the story justice IMO). But the problem is do what they may, this show has no heart left and balance can't change that at all. The heart left with no Laura Spencer, no Bobbie, no Quartermaines. And adding Martha Byrne, Billy Dee Williams won't change that.