Is ABC Preparing to Cancel AMC and OLTL?

[Vee]

I don't know what he'd do. He has to realize that the arrival of Mr. Easton would leave Jason vulnerable to the advances of the dreaded Elizabeth, who has barely ever even handled a firearm, let alone worn black leather year-round!

[DRW50]

Maybe he has Alicia Leigh Willis on speed dial.

[Vee]

I think Guza would sooner quit, and we can't have that.

[All My Shadows]

Ketty Lester as Hester-Sue on Little House on the Prairie.

[soapfan770]

I've never watched much of ABC soaps, mainly because from my samplings of them over the years they seemed more like dramedies that soaps and I wasn't hooked like the CBS and NBC soaps. Loving and AMC were okay but just never got into them much. Well AMC always struck me as a sitcom.

I do understand the significance thought ABC soaps have contributed to the genre and I've familiarized myself with major ABC stars. I must say I am saddened to hear the possibility of two historical major soaps being canceled at the same time. Unfortunately I have read over the years how ABC itself has declined much the same way P&G soaps were decimated by terrible decision making and bad writing. It's a plague that has now affected all soaps. I guess the grass isn't always greener.

[MontyB]

Riddle me this. How many effing sources are there at ABC? Why are they all not on the same page? Why aren't Jamey, Raven, Nelson and whoever else is out there not getting it from their sources? When ABC actually say it, until then, 'm going to sit back and enjoy my show.

[dragonflies]

Nelson tweeted this not too long ago:

I did hear from a GREAT source two weeks ago: "What do you think of ABC canceling both soaps?" I brushed it off....

https://twitter.com/#!/SudsReport/status/53940580434194432

[Vee]

Ravenbeauty is not an insider, she's a troll. The rest are united on one thing, they're all confused but scared. That's enough to give you pause.

[dragonflies]

Even Richard who tweets for ABC SID who wasn't putting alot of stock into the "rumors" is now saying:

Yes, I've seen the Logan piece saying #AMC and #OLTL are both goners. No, I don't know more. But ABC's non-denial denial scares me.

https://twitter.com/#!/soapsindepthabc/status/53984432113188864

[DeeeDee]

Frons

[DeeeDee]

Don't forget his favorite (multi personalities via sexual assault)!

[Jack]

GH moving to 1pm would probably provide a boost in the ratings. Look at Y&R and B&B, that air in the 1pm slot and have higher ratings. 1pm usually falls during your typical 9-5 workers lunch break. GH has a strong following that just can't watch at 3pm. But if GH was on during their lunch break I'm sure they would tune in and get reacquainted with the show. I could see ABC totally shuffling the schedule around. Regis & Kelly like talk show with Tori Spelling at 11am. 12pm slot goes to The View. 1pm is now where GH resides. Reality show at 2pm. 3pm given to the affiliates in exchange for the 12pm slot. With that kind of schedule the Tori & ______ talker would have a lead in from the affiliates 9am & 10am talk shows that are similar. The View at noon isn't a drastic change and wouldn't affect the ratings negatively, being on at noon might actually boost the ratings. The View would also provide a strong lead in for GH at 1pm. The reality show would air at 2pm to end the day and would be on just in time for the high school kids getting home from school.

I can assure you that no one behind the scenes on either show know whats going on. They don't know. They hear the rumors from the same sites and sources as everyone else. The network heads do not confirm or deny to them. If a decision is made the EP's will be informed early next week, cast & crew meeting held on set the next day, press release sent out soon after the meeting.

ABC's soaps do make more money than the other soaps. ABC gets all the revenue. There isn't a third party production company and distributor involved so the money isn't being split three ways. But, while ABC soaps make more money in revenue ABC soaps also spend a lot of money. 2/3 have gone HD, OLTL went 16:9. All three have amazing facilities and equipment. The cast and crew are essentially spoiled. Compared to where other soaps tape and have taped ABC's studios are like the penthouse while the other soaps are living in an efficiency apartment. So while they bring in more money the majority of the extra money goes right back in to the shows.

While alternative programming could potentially draw less viewers the risk is worth it. Even if the two shows coming in to replace AMC & OLTL draw only a million total viewers theyd still make more money. Talk shows cost significantly less to produce than soaps and are easier to produce. Reality shows are even cheaper to produce than talk shows. The cheaper cost for producing the program will result in a profit that is at least equal to what they were making from AMC and OLTL. As for reruns of primetime shows in daytime, thats just a messy situation due to a variety of issues

Susan Lucci doesn't know what is going on. She is an actress. Forget the fact that she's been there since day one, at the end of the day she is just an actress and is no different from any other actor on that show when it comes to network decisions. As for her schedule for the next year... I have not seen any soap, or scripted production for that matter, that has a production schedule ready for a year in advance. I call bs

GH will be fine without the others. Look at DAYS, they've done just fine.

Because it's a great way to target women 18-49, a key advertising demographic. There are viewers in daytime, you just need to find them. They clearly are not watching soaps so there really isnt anything for ABC to lose with this change. Maybe shaking the schedule up would draw some buzz for the daytime block and attract new viewers. "The NEW ABC Daytime"

I could see a few AMC and OLTL actors moving out west and relocating their characters to Port Charles. Majority of the AMC cast has permanently relocated to LA, select few still commute cross country. As for the OLTL actors, if given the opportunity most of them would relocate. They are actors, this is their career. Acting jobs are far and few between in NY, television is mainly done out in LA. If they want a job they have to be willing to relocate. Thats how television works. If you want to work in this industry you need to be able to go where the work is, if you can't then you will not get very far. They know this.

Edited to add: Also with the Guza rumors floating around I could see Frank and Ron taking over GH once OLTL is done. ABC has them contracted for 2 more years. Frank has a proven track record of staying under budget while maintaining production value. I think in time all the recent rumors floating around will link together to form one big picture.

[DRW50]

This was the reason given for why Soapnet got so much reality programming. Yet Disney did not hesitate to replace it with Disney Jr.

I think there's always something to lose. More viewers moving away from the overall lineup - or, as is the case with what CBS daytime was facing, older viewers replacing younger viewers. LMAD somehow managed to have a worse 18-49 demo than GL the last time I saw their ratings - maybe things improved since then, I don't know.

I just don't believe that Tori Spelling or The View for Men are going to bring buzz or attract new viewers. ABC is only good at drawing away viewers. They have had approximately one popular reality show and about a dozen failures, and some of their failures were wretched.

I really think if the soaps are going, original programming might as well go too. The networks don't know how to find popular talk or reality programs for daytime. Even The View only became popular after quite a few years, and no network would be that patient now.

The only ones who would even be asked are Budig, Easton, and Mathison.

[MarkH]

Really a heartbreaking time, to see soaps flicker out like this. But, honestly, it's been foreordained for so long due to simple market economics and viewership falling steadily. In retrospect, the analysis I did here on SON on 6/21/2008 was based on several false assumptions (I should have looked at 18-49 ratings, not households, for example). But it's looking a bit scary, no?

[SFK]

But Jack, do you think the lunch break thing will really figure in when we're probably talking about people watching little black and white TVs at their cubicles with no Nielsen hookup? I agree that GH for what it is would be fine without the other two. GH fans are GH fans, period, and like it or not, there are probably a healthy amount of people who in spite of themselves will be soap hungry and put their AMC/OLTL eggs in GH's basket. There are also a lot of passive TV watchers out there, young and particularly old, many of which don't even have cable, and they'll have the tube on playing whatever they plug into those 1pm and 2pm Eastern slots. Some of them will have Nielsen boxes.