September 6-10, 2010

[remos]

Looks like folks are returning for the ATWT funeral, which begs two thoughts from me....

1. Wonderful to see the numbers for a final hurrah.

2. Where the hell were you when it mattered?

With the story going on in Salem these days, I really hope the numbers for Days start to improve - the show has vastly improved since I "returned home" a couple of months ago.

Brenda seems to finally be pulling some numbers at GH. You can tell Fall is in the air, the Cdn. Geese are starting to gather for their journeys south, and soap fans are back in a scheduled routine.

[Southofnowhere]

AMC is dead last in 18-49 and 18-34.

[catherine103]

i know it does not matter about dallie`s are the ratings! only demos but the highest day on the week for GH had nothing to do with Brenda,, infact B&S big day after a long weekend was only a 1,9,, how does ABC give them the credit??? the week before B&S on that big day friday was only a 1.8.. i guess there is a lot i dont undertand??

[Sylph]

[HeedTheMessenger2.0]

People tout the impending end of OLTL- but their demos are high. They are last in total viewers because they don't have many older viewers... the move towards the teens and the Ford brothers is indicative of the age of the fans- they are younger, and so they assume that viewers will like them and prefer to see them instead of Viki, Dorian, etc.

Unfortunately, the ratings aren't bad (aside from total viewers and men). They are up there in 18-49 and teens... which seems to be the most important. So lookout for more of those corny "MEET THE FORD BROTHERS" promos...

[Eric83]

Yeah, I think you're right. I know alot of teens and young adults hooked on OLTL and GH, but I doubt it's the Fords bringing them in. The majority of people I know hate them, they aren't as popular as ABC wants them to be.

[Soapsuds]

ATWT could have lasted a couple of years more had someone given a damn about it. No one cared....P&G didn't.....CBS didn't...and Pissy and Goutman didnt give a damn about ATWT. Had they listened to their fans the show might still be on. ATWT still had a lot of life in it. It wasn't GL who was all but done before it's cancellation. It pisses me off that no one gave a damn to save such a show that still have life in it!!

As for the ratings..so happy to see the nice jump the week before the last week of shows. Can ATWT end up at #2 in HH's next week?? Carjack's wedding and the finale should bring in big numbers. I expected them to finish 3rd in HHs and Total Viewers but it would be so great to see them end at #2 and dethrone B&B to the #3 spot. I'd love it just so CBS can tank and burn with its shitty talk show!!

[BlueLick]

I agree guys there's no way P&G ever had any intention of saving Guiding Light or As the World Turns. There's 1,000+ channels in this country and their telling me they struck out on most of them, there's now way that many networks would pass up on two legendary soaps like GL and ATWT. Even Passions which was still a young soap without a huge reputation got a second chance on smaller network. DirectTV found a way for it work financially even though the run was short-lived but at least they had a second opportunity elsewhere.

The proof is in the pudding for P&G ever since the 90s and their cancellation of Another World in 1999 that they were trying to get out of the soap business and didn't want to finance them anymore. The writing was on the wall for both Guiding Light and As the World Turns but at the time P&G couldn't blame it on ratings b/c both soaps were still doing well at the time now when they have their chance and CBS in a bad economic situation they capitalize on ending both of them.

I no longer put all the blame on CBS anymore like I used to b/c I don't blame CBS for agreeing to cancel it b/c they didn't own the soap like ABC does with their soaps so they probably didn't make too much off of airing ATWT and GL but P&G is to blame 80% of it b/c they could've found a way to maybe make the show more financially viable other than cheapening up the production formats. Everybody knows how expensive it is to produce scripted shows in New York so they've could've easily moved the operations to Los Angels to cut costs. I don't believe for a sec that P&G was working on any deals or even picked the phone up to save them. I do believe that Ellen Wheeler of Guiding Light did try to find a deal but her hands are tied b/c there's not much she can do financially without P&G financial support so that these networks don't get stuck paying for all of the costs.

Like some people have stated both GL & ATWT should've both been sold to other studios or outlets like Sony or something. P&G was so stingy to not sell both shows, its almost as if they have a grudge against these shows and don't want them to find a second life anywhere. The distribution of both soaps have been terrible when it comes to a worldwide basis. Most of the remaining soaps are really popular overseas and doing well financially and that's something b/c of P&G both GL and ATWT never had.

I can't believe its almost 2011 and DAYS which was going to be canceled is still living on a network that's going to produce the soap in expensive HD and that ABC has moved a couple of their soaps to LA and might try to save their last soap One Life to Live. That tells me a lot right there that P&G didn't even try.

[Soapsuds]

That's the big red flag. Days has always been a joke to me......I mean JER was writing when it's ratings were high due to gimicks and outlandish storylines. I never took Days seriously. Yet, it's still in the [!@#$%^&*] air...yeah I am bitter. ABC still has its 3 soaps even though they are just as shitty as ATWT.....and stupid CBS only has 2 soaps left when it was most of its run the #1 network in daytime. Who would have ever thought that Days would outlast ATWT and GL.

[dragonflies]

Would any network have really picked up ATWT though? With the licensing fees I can't imagine many networks want to deal with that

Ouch! I wonder how long K&S are gonna last with these numbers. I wouldn't be shocked if Frons brought back McTavish, he does love his recycled hacks

[Southofnowhere]

U know what imo Megan Mctavish would bring the ratings up in short-term. She's been away for a while and i'm sure she has 1 more big story left in her.

[Soapsuds]

I am interested to see what ATWT hits next week. I know some have said the last week wasnt as great as the week before. GL had a +.4 increase their last week but they had more coverage of the last show and they were on 60 minutes. I am sure a lot returned for Jack and Carly's wedding and the finale show.

[Eric83]

I'm REALLY hoping ATWT has a +.3 or 4 increase and passes B&B up. That would make me so happy, it will at least get up a 2.1 and pass GH.

[Saving ATWT]

ATWT should have been sold years ago: PGP is not a real studio and has no means to distribute any show abroad. I remember around 2000 that CBS wanted to buy GL and ATWT and believe it. Ten years ago, I think ABC would have bought both shows for the main network and SoapNet. PGP wants to hold the rights to the entire library of shows. Recently, the made a deal in China to do repeats. I Billion Chinese is a huge market and they will sell lots of Tide in the process. I'm sure a deal could have been made where PGP maintained the right for older shows. ATWT needed TLC, a revamp to up key demos, but, as others have pointed out, still ranks fairly close to the entire ABC line up and Days. Let's get real, with B&B pulling a 2.3, no one could have really expected even a well-written ATWT to rank any higher than a 2.0 if their had been a renewal.

I expect ATWT to best B&B for the Final week.

[Soapsuds]

I can't wait to see ATWT numbers tomorrow!