January 18-22, 2010

[Saving ATWT]

Someone ever at Direct made a comment about picking up the show. They said to send emails in order to measure viewer support. Maybe they just want us all on their mailing lists.

[Saving ATWT]

Direct, along with all the other cable companies, will be buying up content now that there is a NBC/Comcast deal. They will find a way to make cost work. If they do not pick up World Turns, it will be some other show. As I said before, even Verizon wants exclusive content. Who ever thought that the tele company would want to own a show? The era of starting a network like HBO is over. Instead, each provider will be airing shows/movies aimed at certain demos to build business. There have been a lot of articles about this sort of thing--cable wars--in the newspapers so check them out.

[Saving ATWT]

Eric, I'm only joking about AMC. I hope the show does great along with all of the other soaps. I support the genre, even stick up for the majority of writers including Sheffer who it seems everyone hates. I am shocked by the good ratings, however, because of everything lousy I've read about Pratt along with Branco's Boycott AMC rampage. To be honest, I liked the show back when they had the trans character and wish they had kept her. The actor was great. I felt Pratt gave AMC an edge, something that is nice to find on daytime.

[JackPeyton]

The thing is this. Days didnt chose to do what it did. It was forced too. They made a bold veryy risky move in cutting John & Marlena. It worked. In doing that, and cutting other fat, the were forced to rediscover both Maggie & Caroline. and with a smaller cast the show was forced to make connections and with limited sets the show started to feel like more of a community. They got lucky.

Of course good planning & plotting & a classic soap tale sure helped. And how they executed all of that and reated relationships the fans stayed tuned in and the show grew. I hope they can keep it up. They do deserve it.

Other soaps could do it, but are to lazy.

Oh, and Cordy staying uninvoled? Number 1 reason Days has been able to thrive.

I do find it funny that some fans bitch about wanting more sets and a bigger cast. Why? The smaller cast and few sets is what helped get this show back on track.

[Sylph]

I've just seen it a second ago, but I wonder if this Renew/Cancel Index TV by the Numbers talks about can be applied to soap operas.

[MarkH]

As always, this is an intriguing hypothesis.

The question is: What would be the denominator? The network's ratings during the daypart? Would it include shows like The View or TPIR?

I never tried this calculation, but I once did put soap ratings in the context of the other network fare in the daypart as well as the syndicated fare. Soaps didn't look very good.