For ABC and Day, the numbers are bad are somewhat within range. For CBS, this is a total wipe out. The weather was better but not all that great. With unemployment rates near 10% and cable sales dropping, there really are more viewers at home but they have no interest in the genre.

Cancellation is pretty complicated. PGP wanted out so GL and ATWT aren't really part of the convo. Demos matter but I'm convinced through the comments of Les Moonves that HH are also considered. The biggest factor is cost. LMAD could drop a little bit more and still be a money maker. NBC is set though extending Today+Days.

As for this OLTL/AMC death watch, AMC could be brought within budget with a new EP. The two shows are pretty much tied and LA is a lower cost location. I have little doubt that OLTL is the stronger show but that AMC will be the surviver.

Low cost talk/game shows plus repeats will be the future of daytime. It is only a matter of time before broadcast fully takes on the cable model of re-airing programming over and over again.

AMC won't get a new EP. If they were going to they would have by now.

AMC won't get a new EP. If they were going to they would have by now.

Reminds me of Chris Goutman at ATWT.

No matter which way you look at it....these numbers dont help out AMC or OLTL.

The demos are bad.

I think all that's true, but I have been surprised at how many people know Susan Lucci is Erica Kane and she's on something called My Children... Actually, really surprised in a number of cases (business friends of my dad, "jock" type boyfriends of my sister, etc).

Whatever happens, I still think there will be some effort made to 'merge' the two shows. A few fan favs will be moved. For ABC, this will be very easy because they own both shows. Whenever a soap dies, the top talent, most recently with ATWT, get picked up by other shows. ABC won't want to loose the actors and already well-grounded characters are easier to shape than newbies. If PGP had been willing to sell actual characters (as opposed to be greedy and wating to sell te entire show), AW characters would have been scattered across ABC daytime.

I still wonder how a soap would do in primetime? Y&R often ties or comes close to the numbers of the CW teenie soaps. This sort of proves how low a show can go ratings wise and still make money.

Reminds me of Chris Goutman at ATWT.

No matter which way you look at it....these numbers dont help out AMC or OLTL.

The demos are bad.

PGP loved Goutman because of how he cut costs and (behind the scenes) worked as head writer without the extra pay. Goutman is a show killer but seems easy to exploit. I still think he had a small DL role over at GL, too. I still think MAB will use him for any and all grunt work at Y&R. Plus, she can keep destroying the show and just blame him for it

AMC won't get a new EP. If they were going to they would have by now.

I'm still kinda shocked they didn't do it with the move. I guess it leads some credence to the fact that Frons sees himself as these shows' EP--have ANY changed since he's been in charge? And there is probably the (obvious) big problem

just because AMC has susan lucci doesnt mean much look at days they dumped their star and the show got renewed for 2 years.

This whole "brand" thing is a bunch of crap. Seriously

Networks don't cancel higher-rated (in the key demographic) shows just because another show has more name recognition.

CBS didn't keep Dallas around over Knots Landing when it was tanking in the ratings. Knots lasted two more years after Dallas was canceled.

And in daytime, I can't think of a single instance in daytime history where a network canceled anything other than their lowest rated soap at the time. (An exception might be Another World being canceled over Sunset Beach, a case where the "brand" didn't help AW at all).

NONE of the current soaps is being looked at as having "growth potential." Everyone knows it's only a matter of time before they're all gone. And they're not going to lose $$$$ on a show with lower 18-49 ratings just because people who don't even bother to watch daytime have heard of it. The idea that any of that would influence their decisions is completely ludicrous.

Dallas and Knots Landing was 30 years ago. They had no concept of branding back then. You can't use the era of New Coke and Crystal Pepsi as an indicator of how Disney (there's a brand for you) or any other company, does business now.

From purely a branding standpoint, and I think that does matter, I could see them dumping their red-headed stepchild, OLTL, giving 1pm to the affiliates or putting a talk show in place, and then moving AMC into OLTL's spot, followed by GH, for a 1-2 punch of their primary "legacy" soaps that they can then cross-promote the hell out of. That just might work for AMC, as it would get it away from being Y&R's competitor, which probably keeps AMC's numbers down. OLTL does get the slightly higher demos, but that's without any real soap competition. I really think both show's numbers come down to their time slots. You could swap their slots now, and I'd bet the farm that OLTL would do AMC's current demo numbers and vice versa. And just based on all the cross-promotion with Oprah, Hot in Cleveland, and Castle, that says to me that ABC is more invested in AMC than in OLTL and that ABC recognizes that it has better brand recognition. I just see ABC sticking with the show that has better recognition and that has the potential to pull in better numbers in a different time slot. Would Frons then move Carlivati over to AMC with the directive to do something no writer has done to that show in years...shake the hell out of it, turn it upside down, and do something innovative that would keep the show going, instead of telling the same stories year after year after year. AMC would really need to get its act together. Of course if that strategy didn't work, AMC would be toast soon after. Having said all of that, I don't think ABC is going to take any action for at least the next year or two. Just my two cents.

ICAM! It's clear from the cross-promotion that someone at ABC is still invested in AMC. The Castle episode is especially telling since it stars a former OLTL actor, is called "One Life to Lose" and still features actors from AMC instead.

As far as this week's ratings, ABC must be very disappointed in OLTL, which just had the culmination of a major storyline involving Jessica/Natalie and their men and it fell in all the ratings demos, was barely ahead of AMC in the 18-49 and was beat by AMC in overall viewers. If one show is really going to be cancelled it seems obvious that it will be OLTL.

ICAM! It's clear from the cross-promotion that someone at ABC is still invested in AMC. The Castle episode is especially telling since it stars a former OLTL actor, is called "One Life to Lose" and still features actors from AMC instead.

It features Mathison and Budig. Frons seems to place them at the highest priority. If he can find a role for them outside of AMC then I'm not sure whether AMC would have a future.

ICAM! It's clear from the cross-promotion that someone at ABC is still invested in AMC. The Castle episode is especially telling since it stars a former OLTL actor, is called "One Life to Lose" and still features actors from AMC instead.

As far as this week's ratings, ABC must be very disappointed in OLTL, which just had the culmination of a major storyline involving Jessica/Natalie and their men and it fell in all the ratings demos, was barely ahead of AMC in the 18-49 and was beat by AMC in overall viewers. If one show is really going to be cancelled it seems obvious that it will be OLTL.

You must not realize that OLTL and Castle are filmed on two different coasts? I am sure NF would have loved to have 1 or 2 OLTL actors on the show, but it probably wasn't possible. Budig and Mathison are Frons pets anyway it is more about them than the show.

ICAM! It's clear from the cross-promotion that someone at ABC is still invested in AMC. The Castle episode is especially telling since it stars a former OLTL actor, is called "One Life to Lose" and still features actors from AMC instead.

As far as this week's ratings, ABC must be very disappointed in OLTL, which just had the culmination of a major storyline involving Jessica/Natalie and their men and it fell in all the ratings demos, was barely ahead of AMC in the 18-49 and was beat by AMC in overall viewers. If one show is really going to be cancelled it seems obvious that it will be OLTL.

It's not clear to me. Castle and AMC are filmed in Los Angles,so why not take advantage?

As far as the ratings are concerned ..........it's just one week. OLTL has been beating AMC in the "key" demos for more than a year. Who cares about the "men" demos? It's isn't obvious at all that ABC will cancel OLTL first. Actually nothing is obvious at this point.

Edited February 26, 201114 yr by MontyB

You must not realize that OLTL and Castle are filmed on two different coasts? I am sure NF would have loved to have 1 or 2 OLTL actors on the show, but it probably wasn't possible. Budig and Mathison are Frons pets anyway it is more about them than the show.

No matter what Budig ,Mathison and Minshew will have jobs. Budig on GH ,Minshew on One Life and Mathison on either one or maybe a talkshow.

So it makes sense not to spend a few dollars you're going to save when you cancel AMC...to send a few OLTL actors to LA? To be on an episode of Castle called "One Life to Lose"? You know that it's going to be your other 'anchor' of your daytime line up but you still send actors from the 'dead' soap? I'm sorry, I don't understand it.

Edited February 26, 201114 yr by Kylie

So it makes sense not to spend a few dollars you're going to save when you cancel AMC...to send a few OLTL actors to LA? To be on an episode of Castle called "One Life to Lose"? You know that it's going to be your other 'anchor' of your daytime line up but you still send actors from the 'dead' soap? I'm sorry, I don't understand it.

JMO, but ya'll are over thinking the whole thing, LOL.