ATWT Canceled

[JaneAusten]

No offense but some of her blogs and her "ignornace" and lack of knowledge on certain topic she has discussed in the past has amazed me. She's not stating anything here that hasn't been paraded around online. I read online how Soapnet is doing poorly on message boards but they a report comes out indicating how their viewership has risen and they are being picked up by more "cable" affiliates. And I don't blame Frons. Like MTV, all they are doing is what they need to to increase viewership. There is nothing new or fresh about what she's blogging here - most is common knowledge just packaged around an alleged "expert". I don't dislike her but I also don't think she's adding anything here people don't already know.

[Chris B]

I knew I wasn't crazy because Deborah Blackwell (is that her name? Former head of SOAPnet?) always touted the various successes. If you look, the most successful shows on the network are the daytime soaps. AMC, OLTL and Y&R in particular. The daytime lineup of classic soaps and this INCLUDES when Knots Landing and Dallas were on. Knots was very popular and they renewed it's contract, which was reported in TV Guide. The show was pulled when they decided to rebrand with 90210, One Tree Hill, etc. although there was still room for the show.

And she brings up a good point...why don't they try and add a soap from the UK or Australia? It would be better than that awful Canadian programming they import. Hollyoaks is centered around teens which is what Frons wants. It would be perfect.

[Sylph]

Oh, you're not offending me. I don't even know why I brought that link up, knowing what the reaction would be!

I think she has certain experience with Nielsen given that she said in Toups' interview that after college she got a job in "Columbia-TriStar’s TV research department – the department that handles Nielsen ratings and focus groups".

[JaneAusten]

I'll bet Knots Landing and Dallas were not attracting the "demo group" they wanted. When they broadcast shows like 90210 and One Tree Hill that tells me who they are aiming for. And I think Being Erica has actually been a success for them oddly enough. Maybe the Canadian imports are cheaper who knows. But I think there is a feeling Americans won't gravitate to british shows for some reason. Any of their shows that have been aired in the US have been either on public television or on cable. Of course that is what Soapnet is.

[All My Shadows]

I don't think that there's anything wrong with trying to stop cancellation at all. My point is that people complain and complain and say that the show's been in the shitter since Marland heaved his last sigh, and when the network decides to end the show, there's suddenly an outpouring of "Oh, oh, I love this show, I've watched it since I was yay-high to a grasshopper, I wish damnation to CBS for even thinking about canceling it!" Something in that equation is over-the-top. Either the complaining of how much the show is the pits or the waxing rhapsodic of how great it is.

I concede that rallying the troops to get a higher quality show probably wouldn't work because it would mean an enormous amount of supporters who all want the exact same thing. A cult, if you will.

In regards to Lifetime, I think that's a lost cause. ATWT and GL, no matter how much they've tried to sex and youth those shows up over the last ten years, are still "old folks' shows" to so many. Lifetime finally decided to start going for a slightly younger audience (not the 90210/OTH/OC audience, but the Grey's audience...you know, white girls in their late 20s and early 30s). They dropped The Golden Girls in February, and most of the movies they air now are from the last couple of years, as opposed to when they'd show nothing but cheesy (but awesome) TV movies from the 80s and 90s. Not to mention...ugh...Project Runway. I don't see them wanting ATWT. DAYS or GH, maybe...maybe even Y&R, but not ATWT.

And British/Australian soaps I wish someone would show them somewhere. Even if they're just as frustrating as our soaps, I just like the idea of having more to choose from.

[P.J.]

And I love how some posters have acted as RoastMaster of Ceremonies over ATWT, as if it's so offensive to their delicate sensibilities to have an "arthritic castoff" disgracing the airwaves.

Lifetime is already "in the soap business"---what is "Army Wives", if not a soap opera? Even the crap "reality" genre is built incorporating melodramatic elements. Hence "Star Search" morphed into "American Idol".

Thank you.

[Chris B]

I can show you endless reports about how successful The Jay Leno Show is and we know whats up with that! Any network is going to find something positive to report. There is a reason cable networks don't release full ratings. Being Erica is successful, but just about everything else has flopped. Holidate? Bank on Mom and Dad? Who would even greenlight such garbage?

[JaneAusten]

That doesn't tell me she knows the ratings for Soapnet. And am I not to believe Soapnet has not gained viewers as as been sited in many reports. Many of us who love soaps like to tought Soapnet as some huge failure because they have diversified their programming claiming it hasn;t worked. The numbers on Soapnet were terrible when Soaps was all they were airing. Their objective to become the female "ESPN" by becoming a soap channel never materialized with soaps so they diversify and put on programming to appeal to the young audience they seem to covet. But I also think a few of these shows could survive on Soapnet but with soapnet having to carry the budget of producing these shows daily, would they is the question.

[Chris B]

I'm not saying SOAPnet's ratings are bad, but their new programming is bad. And I don't agree that the numbers were bad when only soaps were airing. It seems that SOAPnet has always been on an upswing. You must keep in mind how available it was when only soaps were airing. They've always been building which is why the network is so widely available now. Just like how soaps paid for primetime programming back in the day. Soaps made SOAPnet what it is and once they got the soap fans to beg cable companies to add it, they dumped the soaps.

When it comes to touting ratings success for SOAPnet they still focus on their daytime in primetime lineup. If not that it's been the success of their daytime lineup with the primetime soaps. I don't see anything saying Holidate or Bank on Mom and Dad is a hit. Southern Belles and Being Erica are the only successful new shows and they can't be the only reason SOAPnet is doing well.

[Ann_SS]

TV media outlets have reported that SoapNet is finally in the black since it changed its programming to prime time repeats, movies and reality. I would not be surprised if SoapNet eventually wants to replace the daily soap repeats.

Really. She rarely has anything of value to add to any conversation on the soaps.

[JaneAusten]

I don;t know who's stating Jay Leno is successful. I certainly have not read that anywhere. But if there is a claim that it is, maybe it's doing exactly what NBC expected, given that NBC is less committed to original programming than the other 3 networks are. Maybe they are headed to being the first network station with simply reality, news, talk, sports programming, and reality shows. And garbage? One person's garbage is another person's treasure. I see nothing on the CW that appeals to me AT ALL yet they continue to taught the garbage they show. I don't think Soapnet is the end all be all. But obviously they've experimented with original programmming and have purchased these shows from canadian TV. Based on the direction they've chosen at this point it's not hard to see which they feel is the most cost effective no matter how crappy it is. And of course they could continue to build their audience and have more money for more oiginal pogramming in the future who knows.

[Chris B]

NBC touts Jay Leno as a success in it's press releases, just like SOAPnet touts it's own successes in press releases that it releases. That's where all the news that SOAPnet is doing well comes from...SOAPnet. That's my point, they can pick and choose what they want us to know. And still the only things they've touted as successful are Southern Belles, Being Erica and their daytime soaps.

[JaneAusten]

Now that I agree with but if viewers for Soaps are on the decline overall and viewers for shows like 90210 or One Tree Hill are on the upswing overall, quality or not what will they air. To me the question becomes can Soapnet absorb the budget required to produce these shows should the networks drop them. Maybe yes they can or will be able to at some point.

[JaneAusten]

And as I said, NBC may consider Jay Leno a success. we don't know what their expectations were to begin with. Maybe cost wise a show that gets 6 million viewers a night with limited cost is more profitable than a PT drama getting 9 million viewers a night with a huge budget. But as far as Soaps on Soapnet, there's a big difference between rebroadcasting a show and producing it for the station. I think Lifetime is a pretty successful cable station and honestly how much original programming do they have. And you're wrong about the Soapnet press releases. I've seen their releases praising shows like AMC and OLTL and how their numbers have risen

[DRW50]

That's the reaction to any show someone has a strong investment in. And the Internet is the place many go to vent. It's going to happen more with the fans who have stuck with a soap because they may have been with it for 20 or 30 years. They're just letting off steam. As long as they don't make any type of serious threats or go handcuff themselves to the Early Show set or whatever, I can understand it. It doesn't help that when a soap is canceled, the reaction from the press, the network, and even a lot of soap fans is usually just a sneer and a "Get over it."

I would love to see a network run some foreign soaps, but they tried in the 90s and gave up. Trio, or one of those, ran Corrie, briefly. FX fan Home & Away briefly. BBC America ran Eastenders, current and classic, which I loved. A few years ago they tried again with Hollyoaks, although they only ran that for like two or three months or less before dumping it in a bad timeslot and finally airing the episodes they wanted to burn through on BBC America. I think these networks decided it wasn't worth the time or effort to build an audience, so they dumped the stuff. BBC America probably gets more ratings from those who want to watch Cash in the Attic for the 501th time.

As for Soapnet, my problem with most of their non-soap lineup is it's sh!t. And even their hugely hyped Southern Belles seemed to crash in the ratings after a week or two.

If that stuff is profitable, then they're the ones who have to make money, so they have to do what they have to do. But please, change the name of the network already.