I don't think it's ever going to happen. I guess at least it gave us Ryan's Hope (or half of RH, anyway), and Soap Talk had its moments.

The cable network rebranding that probably disappointed me the most was FX, as I loved a lot of their early programming, and the loft, and their reruns of stuff I hadn't seen anywhere else, like Nanny and the Professor. Now they are basically just about shows that endlessly remind us of what a hard time sleazy, straight, bigoted white men have and how women/minorities/gays are crazy burdens.

From SOD.com:

SOAPnet To Go Dark

In 2012, Disney Junior, a channel aimed at preschoolers, will replace SOAPnet, the 24-hour soap channel that currently rebroadcasts the ABC lineup — AMC, GH and OLTL — as well as DAYS and Y&R. Brian Frons, President, Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group, talked to Soap Opera Digest about what this means for the future of ABC daytime.

Soap Opera Digest: Should soap fans be worried about ABC Daytime?

Brian Frons: They shouldn't be worried. Over the years, Disney has made a lot of commitment to the Disney brand. As they looked out in the marketplace, they really felt they needed to be in the preschool space with a full-branded channel. Given the way technology has gone, where you can DVR your soap, watch it on Hulu and abc.com, it was felt that the original purpose of SOAPnet — today's soaps tonight — could sort of be fulfilled in different ways. Frankly, financially it will be better for us, because if you watch on daytime, we actually make more money than if the same person watches on SOAPnet, just because rates are that different between the network world and the cable world.

Digest: Does SOAPnet going dark mean anything for the future of ABC soaps?

Frons: No, it really doesn't. We've known about this for a while internally and that hasn't stopped us from moving ALL MY CHILDREN to the West Coast, to giving ONE LIFE TO LIVE a bigger stage, to continuing to commit to big events for these shows, whether it's shooting an upcoming sequence with James Franco [Franco, GH] at the Pacific Design Center or doing the three-day musical on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. So, the commitment to the shows, the commitment to making them the best they can be, is still the same.

Digest: What does it say that a 24-hour soap channel survived for 10 years?

Frons: I think the channel was the right idea at the right time. In the pre-DVR world, to allow women to have sort of 24-hour room service to watch their best shows, was terrific. And it really gave the soap fan a place to share their passion and to celebrate the form and their favorite shows.

Digest: What will happen now?

Frons: We're going to continue to celebrate the form, in particular the ABC shows. We are not reducing our marketing spend one dollar. If you think about it, we'll actually be spending more on marketing our soaps because we’re not going to be doing any new original programming, other than the new season of BEING ERICA. So, we're going to take those dollars and put them against the soap operas. I think the positive here is that we can more clearly drive viewers to the core destination of ABC.

Until a true soap lover's got the power, we're S.O.L.

Memo to self: Apply to expensive MBA program, w/ eye toward breaking into entertainment industry.

And here is the SOAPnet.com spin on it:

http://sn.soapnet.go.com/news/article/soapnet-going-air-january-2012

God, that was so disgustingly flippant. Who wrote that?! Some $8 an article blog writer? Pathetic.

All I can say is Frons do STHU. I hate his condescending attitude

Sorry,Brian,we didn't realize Soapnet was just for women....

What they should have done is develop their own soap-5 nights a week,30 mins.Maybe update Edge Of Night...

Yes, it would cost money but it would have given the network an identity.Perhaps reap some dough from overseas deals.

I love how Frons spins things in that SOD interview. So now that they arent doing any more pogramming for Soapnet, they will put more into the soaps?

Maybe GH, but OLTL ain't gettin' sh!t.

And isnt Being Erica made in Canada? All they had to do was pay some money to air it in America. That isn't enough to do anything with 3 soaps, and I know that Southern Belles crap didnt make any money. Frons is just talking bulls.hit as usual.

Edited May 27, 201015 yr by Eric83

Sorry,Brian,we didn't realize Soapnet was just for women....

What they should have done is develop their own soap-5 nights a week,30 mins.Maybe update Edge Of Night...

Yes, it would cost money but it would have given the network an identity.Perhaps reap some dough from overseas deals.

That would involve employing people who aren't ashamed of soaps.

Soap Opera Digest: Should soap fans be worried about ABC Daytime?

Frankly, financially it will be better for us, because if you watch on daytime, we actually make more money than if the same person watches on SOAPnet, just because rates are that different between the network world and the cable world.

Digest: What will happen now?

Frons: We're going to continue to celebrate the form, in particular the ABC shows. We are not reducing our marketing spend one dollar. If you think about it, we'll actually be spending more on marketing our soaps because we’re not going to be doing any new original programming, other than the new season of BEING ERICA. So, we're going to take those dollars and put them against the soap operas. I think the positive here is that we can more clearly drive viewers to the core destination of ABC.

THAT'S THE PROBLEM BRIAN! It's much, much, MUCH more difficult to get viewers back to network television than it is to lose them. The people who watch SOAPnet, who have no idea what's going on offline or know what's going on, but don't have the energy to get their HDMI on and watch soaps on their flatscreens are just gonna find something else to watch.

Did we not learn anything from OJ or Headline News or Law and Order/CSI reruns on TNT and SPIKE?

ABC Daytime's ratings were ruined by SOAPnet and Frons is spinning this as though it's gonna be easier to get people to tape their shows in the afternoon or watch on the computer when they've been used to sitting down after a hard day's work and sinking into their chair to watch their stories(barring Idol or Grey's)? And that's gonna cause some sort of uptick in viewership?

What a stupid, stupid thing to say. Seeing this through rose-colored glasses.

I know it's not Frons' fault that Disney decided to replace SOAPnet before the $ale of the Century, but to not even address that this is gonna be an uphill battle for him and the daypart is just ludicrous!

To be fair, though, it's not as if Brian Frons would ever go on-record as saying, "We are sooooo fucked."

To be fair, though, it's not as if Brian Frons would ever go on-record as saying, "We are sooooo fucked."

I wish he would! LOL.

But no, seriously, I wish he(or the people asking these generic questions) would address how unrealistic it is to expect cable viewers to miraculously return to network television after being told for years(as Gary Tomlin said in an interview once) "Don't watch now...watch later!" If they can't watch later, they won't watch at all at this point.

Edited May 27, 201015 yr by bellcurve

LA SCREENINGS: Kris Sofley reports on ABC's Upfront earlier today, in which the US network revealed the thinking behind some of its commissioning and scheduling moves for next season.

Touting its ratings success for the 2009/10 season, ABC today pitched itself to advertisers with five of the top 15 highest rated TV series in adults 18-49: Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor, including two of the top three scripted programmes.

For the fifth consecutive season, ABC has also remained a key destination for upscale viewers, airing four of the top 10 highest rated television series among adults 18-49 in homes with an annual income of more than US$100,000.

Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney ABC Television Group, used the net's Upfront presentation to publicly thank David Westin of ABC News and Brian Frons of ABC Daytime and to announce the promotion of Geri Wong to president of ABC sales and marketing.

Taking the stage, Wong said the headline was: "ABC's top priority is to deliver advertising solutions. That includes working together to find the intersection between your fantastic brands and our great storytelling.

"With Anne Sweeney leading the way," she continued, "we've been first with each new opportunity, from full-episode screening to the ABC iPad app. And all of these firsts have included you. Our goal is simple - to advance your business on every platform."

Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment Group, then shared his goals with advertisers, stating: "Even before we got into scheduling, we had a great foundation. And we had three primary goals going into development this year. Attack ten o'clock, more comedy and event television."

So with its existing dramas on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays and its news magazine 20/20 on Fridays in the 22.00 slot, ABC needed to fill in Tuesday and Wednesday nights. This paved the way for Detroit 187, a new police procedural, and The Whole Truth, a legal drama that looks at a trial from both the prosecution and defence perspective.

Consistently earning top ratings with its combination of the two-hour Dancing With the Stars performance show and the crime drama Castle, ABC's Monday night remains intact.

Detroit 187 airs at 22.00 on Tuesdays, up against NBC's Parenthood and possibly CBS's The Good Wife. ABC is also introducing a new adventure drama, No Ordinary Family, at 20.00. It stars Michael Chiklis (The Shield) as the head of a family that, having survived a plane crash in the Amazon, returns home to discover they each have new and distinct powers. McPherson referred to this series and My Generation as "event television" and as being game-changers in league with Lost. Dancing With the Stars results show is hammocked between the two dramas at 21.00

Wednesday's 22.00 slot is the new home for The Whole Truth, with the earlier part of the night dedicated to ABC's comedies. Sophomore family comedy The Middle is back at 20.00 and will serve as a solid lead-in to a new relationship comedy, Better Together, at 20.30.

Trend alert! Each of the big four networks now has a comedy that involves three couples in various stages of their relationships - CBS's Rules of Engagement; NBC's Perfect Couples; and Fox's Mixed Signals. Also returning to Thursday's line-up are the hugely popular Modern Family at 21.00 and Cougar Town at 21.30, which have consistently ranked in the top 10 shows with adults 18-49 in their freshman seasons.

McPherson also revealed that two new comedies - relationship comedy Happy Endings and Mr Sunshine, a workplace comedy that stars Matthew Perry (Friends) and Allison Janey (West Wing) - will be rolled into the fall schedule later in the season, using Modern Family and Dancing With the Stars to drive viewership. McPherson also said that growing the comedy block onWednesdays was a big priority for the network.

Thursday night's one-two punch of Grey's Anatomy at 21.00 and Private Practice at 22.00 returns intact, with ABC hoping to leverage these two medical dramas to introduce a new relationship drama, My Generation, at 20.00, one of the two "event television" drama series ABC is introducing.

According to McPherson, "big ideas and taking chances have been a big part of rebuilding this network all along. Desperate Housewives, Lost, Dancing With the Stars, to name a few. So we're always looking for shows that fit that bill, shows that are going to swing for the fences and these two shows are going to do just that this season."

Joining the quest for dynamic programming that can return viewers to Friday night broadcast television, ABC is pairing alternative series and international format sensation Secret Millionaire at 20.00 with a new drama, Body of Proof, at 21.00. The latter stars Dana Delaney (Desperate Housewives) as a neurosurgeon turned medical examiner. News magazine 20/20 returns to the 22.00 slot.

Saturday nights at ABC are dedicated to college football and Sunday's schedule of the rating-winning America's Funniest Home Videos (at 19.00), Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (20.00), Desperate Housewives (21.00) and Brothers & Sisters (22.00) returns intact.

ABC will introduce its latest Shondra Rhimes medical drama, Off the Map, which is set in a remote South American village, mid-season, which is also when The Bachelor and V will return to the schedule.

That "passing mention" of the upcoming James Franco sequence was so desperate I could barely swallow the beer in my mouth. I do agree that soaps have become readily available online (thanks to fans first and foremost, the fans have been kinder and more generous to their own community than TPTB). I think my frustration lies more in the general decline in the medium, in the quality of the material, and the "what could have been" of SN. As I said in an earlier post, I finally got SN when it began to drop a lot of its original shows, and that included the ones like "Soap Center" (I think it was called that) and I believe there was another one too, I dunno, maybe it was just the one (I think Tanika Ray was host). I would have really enjoyed those interview/behind the scenes shows and I think more programming like thatis what SN should have done more of (those Soapographys were always so SHORT and they really should have done an Inside the Actors Studio-type show, hosted by La Dano natch ). More and more '80s primetime soaps pop up on the net every day, so I'm not so bothered by that. But SN had the opportunity to air all of those short-lived soaps, a couple of which would have been over in a year's time at two episodes a day. They couldn't even stick with AW. I guess we just have to hold out hope for the Hulus of the world.

Will someone please explain to me how/why the new Michael Chiklis drama, "No Ordinary Family," will be the Next Big Thing for ABC and TV? Because, judging from everything I've read thus far, I'm not seeing it.

That "passing mention" of the upcoming James Franco sequence was so desperate I could barely swallow the beer in my mouth.

Not as desperate, though, as plugging the new season of "Being Erica." Because, God forbid we miss an opportunity to plug that mutha! ;-)

I am just wondering why didnt they just make a whole new channel inside of taking away SOAPNET !!!!!!!!!

Cause it's easier to re-brand an existing channel. Creating a new one means they'd have to negotiate with cable companies, Dish Network, and Directv to carry it. SoapNet is already carried by them and in over 75 million homes, so this allows them to basically skip that step.

Exactly. In our lifetime, I doubt we'll ever see a new channel start up from scratch.

Edited May 27, 201015 yr by Jonathan