marceline, the 18-49 was much better on AMC when it was truly the sextet of suck and just 1-2 story-lines using 1/3rd of the cast. AMC was getting nearly 3 million viewers for 2 months early last year and they still couldn't get higher than 5th place out of 7 but for one time in 18-49. The show barely has Fusion, R/G/K are no longer attached at the hip, I don't think anybody on AMC will make the top 20 in terms of air-time hoggers if K&S remain through the year. Real-vet MEK has a front-burner story that was the story that ratings week. Michael, Debbie, Darnell, Susan or Alicia, Cameron, Rebecca, Stephanie, vets or no vets, balance or no balance - the ratings are what they are. For example, David Canary and Julia Barr were having wonderful story at this time last year and the numbers were tanking.

I'm not saying that there isn't anything wrong with AMC. The show is for the most part boring and these writers don't write anything close to rich, complex drama. AMC could use a less menacing Pratt type and a lot of promotion.

ITA, Angela. I don't believe that quality or storylines have anything to do with the declining soap ratings. The genre is just dying. I think it will roar back in another reincarnation a few years from now.

I feel like Frons stopped trying altogether with AMC when when both P&G soaps were dead. He always seemed to have a drive to ensure that his shows were not beat by the "retirement home" shows, as he saw them. Once that little mission was over AMC had no real use to him. He focused on GH because he loves that show more than anything in the world, and OLTL because he wanted to beat The Talk.

I seriously don't understand how you can say this. Frons had AMC move to LA to help save it by cutting production costs. He even got AMC new headwriters. He tried to save AMC. His actions probably bought it two more years than it would have had otherwise.

Edited March 18, 201114 yr by Ann_SS

Ok I kinda feel bad for AMC. Another new low. I hate seeing any soaps hit new lows.

Y&R seems to be rebounding a little.

AMC went backwards with the return of Greenlee and Kendall. It's the Sextet of Suck all over again except with Madison and Griffin filling in for Annie and Aidan.

Greenlee's return I agree, but Kendall's I didn't like cause she was propping Rylee 24/7 and her storyline now is pure contrived stupidity but Kendall is a scapegoat for alot of people who seem to think the show was good before she returned LOL, it sucked just as much

OK last time Bodderick was AMC( as imterim) did ratings go up? Same with Ms. Nixon, did ratings go up the last time she penned the show?

The ratings for AMC were UP for January/February of 2010 then proceeded to tank. Pratt was credited for those months but you could sense LB was going into these scripts. The HH's were great (they were probably averaging about 2.8 million viewers for 2 months), the 18-49 was up but they never went above 5th of 7 spots but for one time. The last time HH and 18-49 went up together (rank/rating/viewers) was with Pratt, and they were regularly hitting the top half in 18-49 with McTavish.

ITA, Angela. I don't believe that quality or storylines has anything to do with the declining soap ratings. The genre is just dying. I think it will roar back in another reincarnation a few years from now.

Well you know I've always said that but I really feel like the show went into BTDT with the return of Greenlee and Kendall that has driven people away. Not just those two characters specifically but just the fact that everything is a rerun. Rylee, Kendall's life in danger, Erica acting like a sixteen year old, etc...I think a lot of people just said "forget it."

But yeah, I'm looking forward to the next generation.

I actually think that AMC went into the crapper when Agnes Nixon had Erica steal Maria's baby. It was the moment that I thought AMC lost its way. Much like GH lost its way when Carly, Sonny, and Jason became the beacons of morality. However, the truth is that the soap ratings have been declining almost soon after they aired. Social change cannot be fought. There are simply not as many women at home during the day now and there are other much better quality programs and genres for them to watch now.

Edited March 18, 201114 yr by Ann_SS

If the demos are all that matters, and since everyone is so sure that's all it takes...then if you're right, we'll know AMC is done in a few weeks. If it is, so be it. There's clearly not much left for the genre, and I'm to the point where AMC can go now...where there's some dignity still left, then drag this out and let the blood flow slowly.

Personally, I don't blame Frons for AMC. I blame Megan McTavish. She broke something in a lot of viewers, and they just haven't returned. I blame Agnes Nixon too. Flame all you like, but IMO she basically signed AMC's death certificate when she gave her blessing to Josh being the unabortion. After that, what else couldn't they do? What else mattered? AN basically said, FU to the fans the same way MMT did. I've never felt more betrayed by this show than I did when that happened. I stopped watching for five years. Five years. I've only started watching (on and off) over the last year, because I've seen shades of the old AMC in there. I don't have the same emotional attachment to it that I did, and I never will again. Maybe that's part of the problem. I don't know. But if this is really it for AMC, no one is to blame but AMC itself.

Edited March 18, 201114 yr by Kylie

marceline, the 18-49 was much better on AMC when it was truly the sextet of suck and just 1-2 story-lines using 1/3rd of the cast. AMC was getting nearly 3 million viewers for 2 months early last year and they still couldn't get higher than 5th place out of 7 but for one time in 18-49. The show barely has Fusion, R/G/K are no longer attached at the hip, I don't think anybody on AMC will make the top 20 in terms of air-time hoggers if K&S remain through the year. Real-vet MEK has a front-burner story that was the story that ratings week. Michael, Debbie, Darnell, Susan or Alicia, Cameron, Rebecca, Stephanie, vets or no vets, balance or no balance - the ratings are what they are. For example, David Canary and Julia Barr were having wonderful story at this time last year and the numbers were tanking.

I'm not saying that there isn't anything wrong with AMC. The show is for the most part boring and these writers don't write anything close to rich, complex drama. AMC could use a less menacing Pratt type and a lot of promotion.

That's the problem right there. I've always said when I tired to get back into AMC I found it boring with no drama in it.

Personally, I don't blame Frons for AMC. I blame Megan McTavish. She broke something in a lot of viewers, and they just haven't returned. I blame Agnes Nixon too. Flame all you like, but IMO she basically signed AMC's death certificate when she gave her blessing to Josh being the unabortion. After that, what else couldn't they do? What else mattered? AN basically said, FU to the fans the same way MMT did. I've never felt more betrayed by this show than I did when that happened. I stopped watching for five years. Five years. I've only started watching (on and off) over the last year, because I've seen shades of the old AMC in there. I don't have the same emotional attachment to it that I did, and I never will again. Maybe that's part of the problem. I don't know. But if this is really it for AMC, no one is to blame but AMC itself.

I don't think the unabortion could have really broken AMC. GH had a story about Laura Spencer being drugged and essentially violated by her stepfather, Rick Webber, murdering him, her kids running around with his corpse in "comedy" scenes, then Laura being put in a mental home for years. This was basically spitting in the face of longtime viewers, many of whom loved the Webber family and had very fond memories of the Laura/Rick relationship. Yet ratings still went up at this time.

I think what hurt AMC the most was a loss of identity. AMC had a very specific identity for many years, moreso than almost any other soap. That started to go away in the mid/late 90s and just got worse and worse when Frons decided that it was a good idea to center the show around Greenlee and Ryan, two of the most unappealing soap characters ever.

It's not just the unabortion. It was Megan killing Edmund, putting Trevor in a freezer (murdered by Janet), Dixie eating the pancakes and then the unabortion. There was a mass exodus of fans at this point, and from what I've seen they haven't come back. So no, it wasn't just the one thing, but the unabortion and the outrage/fighting for it to be changed that followed...makes the GH fans fight to save RH...look like a little battle. MMT laughed in the fans faces and then AN did as well. For me, it was like she was okay with them ripping out the heart and soul. Peeling away the identity in exchange for cheap shock and awe. History, respect, identity, that didn't matter as long as it was cheap, easy, story telling.

So yes, I do believe MMT started this ball rolling, by delivering more than a few fatal blows to the show.

Edited March 18, 201114 yr by Kylie

I don't think the unabortion could have really broken AMC. GH had a story about Laura Spencer being drugged and essentially violated by her stepfather, Rick Webber, murdering him, her kids running around with his corpse in "comedy" scenes, then Laura being put in a mental home for years. This was basically spitting in the face of longtime viewers, many of whom loved the Webber family and had very fond memories of the Laura/Rick relationship. Yet ratings still went up at this time.

I think what hurt AMC the most was a loss of identity. AMC had a very specific identity for many years, moreso than almost any other soap. That started to go away in the mid/late 90s and just got worse and worse when Frons decided that it was a good idea to center the show around Greenlee and Ryan, two of the most unappealing soap characters ever.

I agree....

AMC got bad when Ryan was brought back the second time. The ratings for AMC were going down and the writers and Frons panicked and hired Cameron back. The ratings went back up but then the show became all about Ryan and viewers got sick of it and started tuning out. Then they had the whole fasico of the real greenlee back.......

The BIGGEST turning point in my eyes was ABC ever hiring B&E. 2007, especially September-December was just a MESS and drove MANY people away.

Say what you want about Megan McTavish but ratings for AMC under her were never this low and IF it did, it was just a 1-2 week thing and went right back up.

I am not going to blame K&S because AMC isn't all the bad right now and the whole entire genre is dieing whether we like it or not. Period.

I stopped watching AMC once I saw B&E was writing. Honestly that was the REAL turning point.

It's not just the unabortion. It was Megan killing Edmund, putting Trevor in a freezer (murdered by Janet), Dixie eating the pancakes and then the unabortion. There was a mass exodus of cans at this point, and from what I've seen they haven't come back. So no, it wasn't just the one thing, but the unabortion and the outrage/fighting for it to be changed that followed...makes the GH fans fight to save RH...look like a little battle. MMT laughed in the fans faces and then AN did as well. For me, it was like she was okay with them ripping out the heart and soul. Peeling away the identity in exchange for cheap shock and awe. History, respect, identity, that didn't matter as long as it was cheap, easy, story telling.

So yes, I do believe MMT started this ball rolling, by delivering more than a few fatal blows to the show.

I wasn't watching very much at this time so I can't disagree with you. I guess I just feel like AMC has been floating around aimlessly for years and years - I think it was the show that was most crippled by Disney coming in because Disney is very generic and AMC of all the soaps was the one that had a very unique vision. I feel like any era of AMC could have brought viewers back if it had just been fixed properly. Frons did not care about fixing the show.

I wasn't watching very much at this time so I can't disagree with you. I guess I just feel like AMC has been floating around aimlessly for years and years - I think it was the show that was most crippled by Disney coming in because Disney is very generic and AMC of all the soaps was the one that had a very unique vision. I feel like any era of AMC could have brought viewers back if it had just been fixed properly. Frons did not care about fixing the show.

Yes. ABC merging with Disney also was hurt AMC.