Another World

[j swift]

As I recall the publicity when he returned as Alexander Niklos was that AW had to rehire him because he was so popular and they made a mistake killing him off.  However, no spoilers, but the magic did not strike the second time. Coincidentally,  I just watched a 90s short film starring John Aprea where he plays a reporter investigating male prostitution in Time Square. 

 

I was also a big Lorna & Kevin fan.  I agree with the criticism at the time that it was an odd retcon given that we had already met so many McKinnon family members.  But, he was one of those characters who spoke for the audience when asking why Carl and Jake had never paid for their crimes.  Also, James Goodwin is an interesting actor, he had a big role on GL, dated a couple of soap starlets, and wrote a play that was a spoof on soaps at the same time.

Edited May 28, 2019 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

Mediaweek April 1999

P&G, NBC in a Lather

Daytime's biggest spender lobbying hard to save Another World

'NETWORK TV / By John Consoli

NBC executives are feeling some pressure from Procter & Gamble as they near a decision on which of the network's daytime soap operas to cancel to make room for Passions, a new series that will premiere in July. P&G is the producer of the long -running Another World, one of two ratings -starved soaps NBC is considering for the chopping block.

 

While P&G has not said publicly what action it would take if the network pulls the plug on Another World, insiders say the company has dropped hints to NBC that it might withdraw most or all of its daytime ad budget. P&G, daytime TV's largest advertiser, spent $238 million in the daypart in 1998, according to Competitive Media Reporting. An estimated $50 million of the total went to NBC, according to agency executives. Bob Wehling, global marketing officer for P&G, said last week about his most recent meetings with NBC: "I've done all I could to lobby for Another World. I'm very proud of it. I hope it makes it." While Wehling would not comment on the company's likely reaction to a cancellation of Another World, another P&G exec said last week: "We have a plan."

 

NBC executives did not return calls seeking comment. Buyers said that if Proctor & Gamble were to pull out a sizable amount of inventory, it might not damage NBC too seriously because P&G is a bulk buyer that gets deep discounts for its commercials. A release of some of P&G's inventory would put NBC in position to try to sell it at higher CPMs. However, demand for daytime spots is not nearly as keen as it is for prime -time inventory. Johnson & Johnson, the second-largest daytime advertiser, spent $70 million in the day - part last year, far behind P&G's total. P&G insiders say that if NBC cancels Another World, the company would probably not shop the soap to another network because any interruption in continuity would further erode ratings

 

. For the week ended April 4, Another World posted a 2.4 rating/9 share in households, according to Nielsen Media Research. That number ranked World only ninth among the daytime soaps, but well ahead of the other NBC soap being considered for cancellation, the last -place Sunset Beach. A more damaging statistic for Another World is that its prime audience, women 18-49, has declined by more than 25 percent in both rating and share this season. While Sunset Beach has never posted numbers as high as Another World, NBC execs view Sunset as being on the rise and World in decline. Another World, which premiered in 1964, is NBC's longest -running soap. Sunset Beach, produced by Aaron Spelling in conjunction with NBC Studios, premiered in January 1997. Passions, like Sunset, is expected to attract much younger viewers thanAnother World.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Paul Raven

[NothinButAttitude]

 

 

Oh, I was watching with the Alexander debacle. I was not impressed and felt it was another flop Felicia story. 

 

The only good thing that came from the entire arc was Felicia falling through the skylight, which was a great stunt. 

 

I've enjoyed Kevin too, thus far, and have hated how they wrote him off. Much like GL and ATWT, AW (in the early 90s) was firing on all cylinders and had the right stars, but nuked it with stupid decisions. Boggled my mind how a lot of these shows allowed some of their bright, young stars walk. 

 

[Khan]

 

Nowadays, soaps would KILL for numbers like those.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

So true. Sad part about all of this is that Passions NEVER scored those numbers and had NBC and P&G kept the show on air (along with reverting the show back to what made it success), the rating would've possibly rose. 

[vetsoapfan]

 

The networks are always impulsive and make dumb, rash decisions. Way back in 1974, Return to Peyton Place had a rating of 7.2 and had developed into a fine show, but NBC wasn't satisfied, and they axed the soap in favor of How to Survive a Marriage, which ultimately became great after an atrocious start, but which had a significantly lower rating than RTPP.

[Paul Raven]

Part of that is due to admin changes and new heads of daytime wanting to make their mark.

 

With NBC in the 70's it was Lin Bolen coming on board and shaking things up. She gave the game shows a makeover, insisting hosts wore more trendy clothes and grew their hair. RTPP was a sitting duck as the lowest rated soap and Bolen wanted her soap HTSAM on air.

Ken Corday relates that Bolen requested Days show more skin and Betty Corday agreed and immediately had the ladies in clingy dresses and low cut tops. However , wires were crossed and Bolen had meant she wanted the men to be baring more, not the gals!

[vetsoapfan]

 

Actually, at the time of its cancellation, RTPP was ranked 11th out of 16 soaps. Just counting the shows on NBC, Somerset had weaker ratings than RTPP, so RTPP was not even the lowest-ranked drama on the network. It was not performing that poorly. I think Bolen just wanted HTSAM to benefit from the cushy post-AW timeslot, so she axed it instead of the more logical Somerset..

[Paul Raven]

Yes I forgot about Somerset.

Maybe it was doing better at 4pm than RTPP at 3.30?

Also the P&G connection may have been a factor as NBC stood to lose alot of ad dollars if they cancelled a P&G show.

[watson71]

 

I agree- Somerset probably wasn't cancelled because it was a P&G show.   When it was cancelled it was replaced by another P&G show Lovers & Friends which would later become For Richer For Poorer.

[Paul Raven]

NBC boasted that Passions was leading the 11-17 demo and stated that those viewers would age into the coveted 18-34 demo and take Passions with them, ignoring the fact that that most young women don't want to be doing what they did as teens and wouldn't be interested in Passions juvenile storylines.

[vetsoapfan]

 

 And NONE of them enjoyed the higher ratings that RTPP had.

 

Alas.

 

TPTB never fail to live DOWN to my expectations. Their abject lack of understanding about the soap opera medium and its viewers is beyond belief.

[Khan]

They never realize that soaps aren't like primetime shows.  You can't just throw flashy stunts and OMG, jaw-dropping plot twists at the uninitiated and expect them to hook on for (dear) life.  The only way you grow and keep a soap's audience is through one generation passing it down to another like a family heirloom.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Khan

[pdm1974]

And then Sunset Beach was cancelled so quickly afterwards they never gave it much of a chance. I suspect they just renewed for 6 more months in case Passions completely bombed.

[BetterForgotten]

The resurgent DAYS  in the 90's (thanks to Reilly) made it easy for NBC to cancel AW. AW didn't benefit from the influx of younger viewers checking out DAYS, which lead NBC to believe DAYS and AW were no longer compatible shows. And to be frank, they really weren't any longer at DAYS had significantly deviated from its original formula, and AW was still very much a traditional P&G soap (and when NBC tried to force the supernatural crap on it, it bombed).