October 25-29, 2010

[DRW50]

I'd think that the focus for an advertiser would be more on the comparison to ATWT than to OLTL.

[chyti]

Advertisers want to be assured that The Talk is doing well against it's direct competition not what it replaced. I think like some have stated already that the money people, advertisers/share holders what to know how well The Talk is doing or not doing against its timeslot and that would be OLTL.

[DRW50]

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of -- you only gave a certain amount of money in this timeslot before, but now, we've improved the performance in the timeslot, so you should give us a better rate. The advertisers would already know how OLTL is doing.

[marceline]

ATWT doesn't exist anymore. Ad buyers no more care about how it was doing than they care about how The Phil Donahue Show was doing. They want to know what's going to give them the best value for their ad dollars right now and in the immediate future. It doesn't matter that's The Talk, OLTL, Law & Order or The Barefoot Contessa.

[Ann_SS]

Exactly. These debates overlook the reality that most women work during the day. There is a limited and declining pool of viewers for daytime programming to draw from which is why it has to be very cheap to make profit. This is the real reason that soap operas which are expensive to produce are in big trouble.

It is clear that there is expectation for The Talk. While CBS must have been secretly hoping for a blockbuster, more likely it was hoping realistically that The Talk would be competitive initially. It takes time for most talk shows to make waves and garner audience attention.

[Bella20]

True. The ATWT comparison was just CBS bragging, but they know that advertisers want to attract the most eyes, and they want those eyes to be in a certain age range, so that's why CBS is comparing The Talk with the show that is getting the most viewers at 2 o'clock.

[me4ryky]

Any idea on when ratings might be released? While I don't want any soap to suffer, GH has been horrible & deserves to fall flat. At least that's my opinion.

[DRW50]

I guess I was thinking of CBS making the move away from old shows to newer shows that are supposed to be demo-friendly. I've never heard anyone say, "Look at how much better LMAD is doing against GH." I've only heard, "Look at how much better the show is doing in demos than GL, for a cheaper cost."

[jpoliver78]

Where have you been? Reading network press releases? "The Talk" was very much thrown together. CBS didn't even announce that they were going to air "The Talk" until late July, almost 8 months after they announced that ATWT would be canceled. The turn-around for "The Talk", meaning the time from its pick up to actually airing, was very fast.

However, much like SavingATWT, it appears to be a waste and time and effort in trying to "argue" with you because you are convinced you have an opinion that you think is right and just cannot fathom why a network would brag about beating or tying its direct competition. It's not like that has been happening for many years, and will continue to do so.

[DRW50]

To me, "thrown together" would be something like some of the cheapo shows that used to pop in and out of the daytime lineup, like The Mommies, or various "at home" shows. Or LMAD. Even if this wasn't announced in advance, I would imagine Julie had specific plans for the show and was working on them with Les. I don't believe that this is some random thing they put on the air and I don't believe CBS wants it to be seen that way.

I'm sorry you feel you have wasted your time. All I can say is that I understand why they are bragging about beating OLTL. I just don't think it's productive and I think it makes their show look downmarket and underwhelming when there are other areas they could brag about while making sure they're known as something beyond a filler program that ties a quasi-unknown show which has been declining for years.

And again, my apologies if my tone made you feel like your words were worthless. Just because I disagreed with you doesn't mean I didn't understand what you were saying or won't process it.

[jpoliver78]

Why would CBS even make mention of "The View", unless "The Talk" beats it? The two shows do not air in the same time slot, and the only similarity they have in common is belonging to the same genre.

Using your logic, CBS could say "our new comedy "Mike & Molly" is beating "The Office", that old comedy over at NBC." That is a true statement, but one airs on Monday at 9:30 and the other on Thursday at 9:00. Their only common denominator is being comedies. CBS could also say "our new drama "Hawaii Five-0" beats "Law & Order: SVU", that old as dirt drama over at NBC." Again, a true statement, but the only similarity between the two is the fact that both are dramas that focus on law enforcement.

The only reason for CBS to mention "The View" would be if "The Talk" were beating it (i.e. just bragging) or if "The View" aired opposite it, which it doesn't.

[marceline]

It's always interesting to watch people hunker down into their bunkers waiting for the numbers to drop. This is gonna be a hell of a ratings thread.

[Scotty]

Ratings will be posted in the next ten minutes....not good news if you are a GH fan I'm afraid. However, OLTL viewers should be pleased. AMC folks....eh.

[Soap Opera Network]

Photo: ABC

Ratings Report for the Week of October 25 - 29, 2010.

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[MoTheGreat]

I wonder what's going to happen to Brenda. She didn't do anything for the ratings. Giving her and Dante a child isn't going to do anything either.