July 5-9, 2010

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I'm surprised DAYS didn't do all that well on Monday with airing a new episode that day.

[OLTL_fan]

Also Kristina is giving up her plot for revenge and is now moving on hopefully with this new guy. Though the meeting of Taylor was this week. I cant wait for Brendas return and next week looks like a big week with Elizabeth having her baby and some hospital stuff going on. If GH can hold decent ratings like these, the return of Brenda could be really big, probably as big as Sonny shooting Dante. I would be shocked if it did any better than that.

[Soapsuds]

I don't see either soap seeing their 45th anniversary. OLTL has 3 years till it and AMC has 5 years left. On which one will go first...hmmmm.....ABC has done more to keep AMC on the air than OLTL. So I see OLTL going first.

They are the only ones. CBS lineup went up from Friday's numbers.

[Carolyn1980]

If OLTL maintains a 0.2 gap with AMC in women 18-49 (which it has maintained for awhile now, aside from the occasional week like two weeks ago). then AMC will go first. Frons won't have a choice.

You have to remember...when ABC execs see the daytime ratings in the key demo (the only thing they even bother to look at), just about EVERY week, they see Y&R first, GH second, and OLTL third.....and then AMC is way down there at 7th or 8th, after DAYS, B&B, as well as The View, and the second half of Price is Right (that's the way the nets see the results, with ALL daytime shows included, including non-soaps).

So frankly....AMC looks bad....and has for some time.

Move to LA or not, no way does ABC throw away a more advertiser-friendly show just because Brian Frons bet on the wrong horse. They'll find another use for the facility AMC films at in LA; heck, ABC studios can use it for any number of new primetime shows.

[MontyB]

I simply don't know why people continue to ignore this fact. ABC does not release those demo press releases for nothing. It's all about the demos.

[Cyberologist]

Oh I agree, mostly everything I know about demos has come from here

however they seem to be trying to garner more viewers Guza (if my memory serves) said flat out Brenda's return is extremely important for them.

[Llantano Incorporated]

Carolyn, I like your theory. I just don't see OLTL ever, ever, ever, outlasting AMC.

[chyti]

I don't think the network presents the soaps as seperate entities when approaching advertisers more then likey ad are brought in a block time from 1-3 with them deciding when they want there commercials shown and AMC/OLTL are getting probably getting the same amount of money per ad spot so it really makes no difference to the networks it is fans that hang on to boosting rights.

When it comes down to cancelling a soap it doesn't matter what Brian Frons wants it is a network decision and who know what their reasonings may be. The network cares about one thing and that is money which show is making more for them it now seems as if the soaps aren't making money and that means all three soaps

[Saving ATWT]

Well, the ABC shows and Days are all locked in a dead heat for last place come Sept. I don't know what show ABC will cut; however, I'm willing to bet that they somehow 'merge' OLTL and AMC in the hopes of retaining as many veiwers as possible. I could see them keeping AMC but bringing in the kids from OLTL.

[Saving ATWT]

If Y&R can maintain or stay close to current levels, I do not see the show staying on daytime but, instead, ending up on the CW or MY network as a four night a week show. A 3.5HH would be good for the CW and I don't see just one soap floating on an island all by itself surround by talk and game shows. I think the entire genre needs to change timeslots because even a weak show like ATWT could do okay on a busted up mini network. It isn't as if they would need to dump money into production values.

[MontyB]

Ok, say advertisers ARE paying the same amount for each show. What show do you think they would more than likely remove if had to make a choice? The show with more "eyes" in the key demo or the show with less? I think any savvy advertiser would want to pay less for more. JMO!

I would like to add, I think AMC was chosen to move to L.A. because it was the easier of the two to move as far as cast is concerned. I don't see E. Slesak, Robert Woods or H.B. Smith and even Cassie DePaiva up and moving to L.A. Again, JMO.

[JaneAusten]

I don't know but I think the demos for all soaps maybe excluding Y&R are negligible. And I keep hearing tht Y&R's demos are good but a 1.6 compared to a couple of years ago is sad sorry to say. Not only are the shows losing viewers but the viewers that haven't left, many of them baby boomers, are reaching the end of the 18-49 demo. It's happened in broadcast television as well. But 1.2-1.3 compared t o a 1.0-1.1 - is it really that much different. And even Days who really had the biggest uptick last year, how far did the demos go up? Maybe a couple of points? And all these cast returns to all the shows have done what? Days brought back Carly(CC) to the show and has it really mattered. Maybe for a short time. Vanessa Marcil is really the only one who stands a chance to make a diff and I guess time will tell. She may cause a bump for a couple of months like CC did for Days and then it drops again. I think ABC is counting on Marcil helping their entire lineup of shows. I know her return last time caused a rise but did it also help the surrounding shows?

[CouchTomato]

Just a FYI about Erika Slezak and moving to L.A. if OLTL had. This is from her newsletter around the time of her show's move:

Q: What would you have done if One Life to Live had moved out there?

Slezak: Oh, I would have gone. I like California. It's warm! I know you can fall into the ocean and stuff like that, but it's warm. I would have gone, and besides you don't really have a choice -- when you have a contract, they say you will go wherever the show is produced, and I understand that. You know they have to do it that way, and that is OK.

[MontyB]

Well, I take back what I said. Erika is such the professional.This just shows that none of us really know the real situation about these shows and it's all opinion.

[CouchTomato]

I could not see ABC salvaging the one group that has damaged OLTL more than anything else - teens and teen-driven subplots. More than once, even the teen demo has chosen OLTL as the absolute last thing they would watch. The teens and Todd/John/Rex excesses are the parts of OLTL I would leave behind because of their continuing underperformance and negative impact on OLTL's identity. In the end, I doubt they will cherry-pick from one show to save the remaining two. They will maintain their separate identities to their respective ends. But that's JMO.

I have a question about ABC's 20-episode cut to save money. It's being discussed like it's a done deal. Did the WGA accept ABC's change to their signed agreement? I was under the impression they only just found out about it in a gossip column.