February 14-18, 2011

[John]

GH Is Only Still The Main ABC Soap Cause Of The Luke & Laura Phenom and Frons wont GF In The Building But He Still uses Their Popularity

[marceline]

AMC clearly offers the best cross promotion opportunities of ANY show on the line up. That's been proven time and time again. I don't know if that makes a difference but it's definitely an asset AMC has over the others. GH's only asset is the historical value of Luke/Laura which means nothing without Genie Francis and maybe Sonny/Brenda or Franco. OLTL doesn't even enter the discussion. They simply have nothing to offer.

[Kylie]

Then really, it is spliting hairs at this point, cause if ABC doesn't do something more to attract those potential viewers...provided a soap is going...this time next year, we'll be saying goodbye to OLTL too.

Soapsuds, would you argue that GH isn't ABC Daytime's brand? I say it is, and the only reason it is is 1)Steven Burton, and 2) Maurice Bernard. What's the difference between those two and Susan Lucci being part of the AMC brand.

I just don't see anything to tell me that ABC Daytime is putting more focus on OLTL and less on AMC. It seems like the same too me. And I don't know why you focus on a soap you're going to cancel, at all.

[DRW50]

I don't think Benard and Burton are any brand for ABC Daytime. They are in little outside of GH. I think in terms of larger public memory GH is still best known for the days of Jessie and Steve or Luke and Laura. Then you have, to a lesser degree, Brenda.

[Kylie]

Outside of soaps, yes, you have a point. But in terms of daytime, attracting viewers and using actors to promote crap...SB and MB are right up there. Luke and Laura used to be, but even in high school which was almost 10 years ago,, it was Sonny/Jason/Carly etc. that we all talked about. SB's good looks and muscles, we can remember the girls being like, "OMG...you should see him!"

[EricMontreal22]

I love both shows, but there is some truth here. When ABC has Modern Family watching a soap, it's AMC. I feel bad saying this--and honestly I do think number wise AMC is the goner--but I could see AMC quietly squeezing out OLTL and forming a one two block with GH more than OLTL/GH for some reason.

I know international markets mean zilch, but AMC is running in a number (including now Australia) whereas I haven't heard of ONE that OLTL is.

[EricMontreal22]

I think, largely due to Susan Lucci, AMC still has name recognition as sorta the "quintessential soap"--the only rival is Y&R in that regard. If you wanna parody a soap on a sitcom you come up with a name that sounds like either one of those shows--GH or Days might come a distant third--OLTL wouldn't rate...

[EricMontreal22]

I've a friend who's new to soaps and has (oddly given the current state of things) become hooked on AMC and OLTL--partly I think so he can talk to me about them. But he thinsk Bree is *terrific* (and he genuinely knows his acting stuff--trained a long time and works professionally). What he doesn't get is he's mainly seen her as Tess.

Totally agree re John, and I also agree that TSJ is capable of more. I actually think he's one of the better actors on daytime--he's just become incredibly lazy (and who can blame him) and to be fair, his sleepwalking routine with Todd as of late is perhaps one of the few "acting choices" one could make to even somewhat justify the way the character acts. I mean even in his, what, 4 mins of time on Dirty Sexy Money he proved he has a lot of versatility.

[Kylie]

There must be at least some monetary benefit to something like this? At the end of the day, as crap as the numbers are, if AMC is the soap bringing in more money, it's the one they'll keep. The almighty dollar is the most important thing when it's all said and done. And if AMC brings in more of them dollars...AMC will stay.

[DRW50]

It was 10-15 years ago but I don't get that now. That's GH's biggest problem. They cling desperately to those many fans lost interest in a long time ago. GH has had a passionate fanbase for decades and they have always tried to stay with the show but the show has been insistent on driving them away because Guza's obsession with clink boom and Jasus overrules all.

GH seems to mostly get publicity now, outside of daytime, for stunts, like the rape, or Franco, but that seems to do nothing for ratings.

[DRW50]

He must not have seen Tess in 2008...

The material for Todd sucks but I think TSJ is also a part of that. The only story he tried to act in in recent years was the repulsive Tarty stuff. Other stories, as bad as they are, could have been made better, but he doesn't bother.

[Angela]

Leaving the other soaps bad numbers out of it, AMC & OLTL's numbers both suck be it 550,000 or 650,000. There's not going to be a wide-window between their cancellations. There's a good chance they'll be put to death together. I think ABC's next major move with OLTL & AMC should be cutting each show to a half hour. That will allow them to cut some more costs and open a time-slot so they can scratch their itches.

Yeah. In terms of name recognition OLTL is a distant last. Susan Lucci is the biggest soap opera star of all time & probably the second most famous daytime star ever. B&B is huge in Europe. GH has/had Luke & Laura and still has some of the college kids recognition. Y&R has been #1 for a long time in both HH and 18-49. DAYS - ditto GH.

Who's to say when it comes to money, from all accounts GH is the soap most over-budget and it's the safest even as its numbers sink like a rock (putting aside short-term winter lifts).

[Kylie]

Touche. LOL, which I guess leaves us right back to square one. Because not matter what we think, we really have no real idea what ABC Daytime is going to do or why they ultimately do it.

[marceline]

You may be sick of the word but you asked so sit down.

First I think that you're misunderstanding what brand is. A company/product/person's brand is it's identity. It's the "thing" that comes to mind when when you think of that entity. For example what do you think of when you hear: Wal-Mart, Nike, George Clooney, Sarah Palin, the American Red Cross, SoapOperaNetwork.com? That instant reaction is a complex mix of expectations, history, personality and experience. Branding is the process of molding and controlling that reaction so that the end result and final identity is what you want it to be.

AMC has historically had a very solid brand, i.e. a strong identity. People who tuned in had strong expectations, those expectations were valid, reliable and shared by a large part of the community. That's not the case anymore for the show but it's still the case for Susan Lucci/Erica Kane. Oprah's show proved that.

And before somebody asks, I spent few years working with/for a branding specialist.

[NYC123]

Seriously...

AMC is easier and has the potential. I will tell you why.

1. In MANY areas in the country AMC goes against very tough competition such as Y&R, B&B and DAYS.

2. AMC has not gone to the potential it should be. Let's say they brought back some people, got new writers, I can gaurentee more viewers would tune in. Period. Just look at last year February Sweeps, when LB was writing. That Sweeps ROCKED and the ratings in the TV, HH and Demos were #3-4.

3. I know many people hate the word Brand but that comes into play. If you ask someone on the streets, Do you know what All My Children or One Life to Live is (For Example) many people still know AMC.

4. Even AMC gets more publicity whether it be bad or good. Even when its bad its mentioned EVERYWHERE.

5. ABC is the easiest soap to promote anywhere honestly.

Whether you like it or not ABC is at least now trying to get some work done. I know ATWT or GL never got the chances but CBS just isn't ABC. So to keep trashing AMC is just childish and tiring.