June 6-10, 2011

[jpoliver78]

For full disclosure...I never really liked Reilly. His first stint at "Days" was okay, but "Passions" and his return to "Days" were, in my opinion, awful. I was never really a fan of "Passions", but weren't some storylines that started when the soap debuted, still going in the same circles (i.e. some of the love triangles) when it finally went off on DirecTV?

Personally, simply going back into TV history and looking at the ratings does not prove - or disprove - that a certain story telling does or does not work. Every soap on the air today was getting better ratings from 1993-1997 then they are today. That is true in daytime, as well as primetime. Look at the ratings for the Top 10 primetime programs in 1993-97 and look at them today...drastically different. A series in the Top 10 in 2010-11 wouldn't be anywhere near the Top 10 in 1993-97.

[jpoliver78]

I agree with your first statement. I quit watching OLTL shortly before the bullying storyline began (and just before OLTL's cancellation was confirmed), and one of the reasons I quit watching - there were many - is because the stories did not seem to have a clear direction and had the feeling the writers were making it "up as they go along".

If soaps had a clear vision for a storyline - beginning, middle, and end - and implemented it, then the telenovela format may work. Instead, soaps tend to lurch from one big event to another (witness, GH) and the story in between is simply thrown together to try and hold the audiences attention.

However, I do disagree about the level of patience for the standard TV viewer. In this world of instant gratification, I don't believe the average viewer has the ability, or time, to devote to long form storytelling.

Finally, I agree that the telenovela format is somewhat unique (and can be developed for American audiences, look at AMC's well received "The Killing"), and is difficult to transfer over from Spanish to English audiences. If the powers that be behind the soaps can find that balance, the genre may be brought back from the edge of extinction.

[dragonflies]

Yikes it looks like people are flocking from AMC in droves.......

[DRW50]

I think that in some ways everything is very rushed, especially news cycles, but in other ways I feel like we are in a loop. How many times over the years have we heard the same 3 stories about Brad, Angelina, and Jen? Yet this must sell, as it continues to get tabloid coverage. It's the same with the Bachelor stuff...it goes on and on and on with a man from a Bachelorette season becoming the new Bachelor, or an old Bachelor returning for a second try, etc. Or the endless stuff with Ziva and Michael Weatherly on NCIS.

Bill Bell used to be able to pace a story where it seemed like something was happening even if it wasn't. That's what people on soaps now can't do. If you get writing like that again then viewers will be more likely to tune in.

[NYC123]

Once DAYS contract is over, DAYS is canceled. Man DAYS has just been struggling.

Honestly I don't find anything good about DAYS right now. And now getting rid of the characters I like will not get me to watch anymore. Period.

[Carolyn1980]

I think that goes for B&B, as well. So GH off in Sept. 2012, DAYS in Sept. 2013, and B&B in Nov. 2013. That leaves Y&R, which is already renewed through Sept. 2014. If it's not canceled then, I suspect the renewals for the show will then be annually instead of multi-year. I suppose it might last a year or two at most after that if it is indeed renewed.

ETA: I must say, this has all gone down a lot faster than I anticipated. Just last year, I thought at least four of the shows had maybe 5-10 years left.

[jpoliver78]

At least "Days" is doing something. No change is going to make everyone happy, but look at how long the producing and writing regimes were in place at "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns" before their cancellations. Ditto OLTL. While AMC has had several head writers over the past couple years, producer Julie Hanan Carruthers has been in place for nearly eight years. Even Y&R and B&B could use some infusion of new blood in the writing and producing offices.

Even if "Days" is ultimately dropped in 2013, at least it doesn't appear to be accepting its ultimate fate without a fight. Keeping the same producers/writers in place in the face of declining ratings and hoping for better results is nothing short of insanity.

[jpoliver78]

Maybe I'm an optimist, or perhaps naive, but I don't automatically assume that the remaining soaps will not survive their current renewals. No offense, but it can be downright depressing to read these boards...what with the constant pessimistic doom and gloom post after post.

Who knows what ABC Daytime will look like - ratings-wise - this time next year. While ABC will likely accept lower ratings for "The Chew" and "The Revolution" as opposed to AMC and OLTL, the question is how much lower. No matter how cheap a program is to produce, the ratings still ultimately determine its future. If one or both of the new shows tank, GH could easily survive the arrival of Katie Couric.

B&B could easily be the final soap on the air, if for no other reason than its international audience. Bradley Bell could offer CBS an ownership stake in B&B, allowing the network to reap some of the profits from those overseas markets, thus giving the network an interest in seeing it succeed.

Sure, the soap genre is having some dark days. But, it is always the darkest before the dawn. If viewers and posters on message boards continue to have a defeatist attitude...guess what? You will be defeated (i.e. your soap will get canceled). Again, maybe I'm being naive, but I just don't buy into the current prevailing argument that there is nothing left to do except enjoy your soap while you still can.

[JaneAusten]

ABC has already decided to end soaps. ABCD is turning over an hour of its daytime back to the affiliates for Katie Couric and their plan is allegedly to syndicate all of daytime. Yes even The View will go into syndication. Sweeney has allegedly already green lit 3 more shows for daytime syndication. You will also start seeing primetime changes on ABC starting next year. The soaps are not deemed profitable enough for the synidication model. As far as the rest who knows. It almost feels to me this is Days swan song bringing back longtime faves but who knows. As for CBS, no clue

[JNewt]

One Life to Live although its been canceled seems to be the only soap that has any momentum as far as growth is concerned because the product is now respected.

For me for the sake of the soaps OLTL not being around will seal the deal of this genre's predictable death in 2014. It's way too late for any changes to be made at this point which is why I'm not that high on the fixes for DAYS although personally I love this soap right now b/c of the energy that Tamara Braun as Taylor has given to that show. You've got to have your strongest growing soap in OLTL around or there's no hope.

As far as the whole Telenovela debate goes I don't think anybody can really answer this due to the fact this genre has never been practiced enough stateside in order to really give an opinion if it can work here. International viewers are accustomed to that format so for them it works but that doesn't mean its going to work here.

I'm just puzzled how the soap genre is still very strong internationally and has died here.

[JNewt]

I like you being optimistic I wish there was more people that were optimistic instead of always wanting to gloom everything.

Who really knows what will really happen to the last three soaps? People were so wrong about the ABC soaps except for AMC's future so I'll definitely play the wait and see game for now. DAYS has proven people wrong so many times as the soap was supposed to have been canceled years ago and is still around today. B&B is a wild card and Y&R at least has a few more years on it.

Again who really knows?

[jpoliver78]

No offense, but your post just drives home my point. We don't know if "The View" will be syndicated or not. You use the word "allegedly" two times in your post...so these shows that have been greenlit may or may not exist, and ABC's plan to totally syndicate daytime may or may not happen. It seems that people are so much more willing to believe in rumors than actual fact. I can see both sides...ABC continually lied about the safety of AMC and OLTL all the while planning their replacements.

As far as these "primetime changes", I don't know what you mean, as ABC has already announced their 2011-12 primetime schedule and they still conduct business - in primetime - just as CBS, NBC, and Fox do. However, I don't watch any ABC series - by choice, not as a result of any boycott - so whatever changes they may make is really of no consequence to me.

[JaneAusten]

The issues for ABC and all the networks is much larger than daytime soaps or nightime schedules. Its being able to remain profitable and competitive in a broadcast television environment thats continues to lose viewers to cable and a TV model that needs to better cater to an on demand type of viewing experience. There was an article in the WSJ a couple of weeks ago that touched on this. I am not going to get into the specifics about ABCD and how they are the first area being transitioned so to speak but the next 2 years will tell the story. And again keep your eyes on changes coming over the next few years for ABC primetime and its not just cancellations and schedule shuffling

[DRW50]

B&B's biggest mistake beyond refusing to move on from certain stories is that the stories they do to try to grab attention just seem so desperate, go nowhere, and are too obviously stunts (the stuff with the masks, now the berries). And their main characters are so tired...even people I know who don't read boards, aren't very cynical or jaded, pretty much refer to Taylor and Brooke as sluts. If you can't invest in the lead characters then you're less likely to want to watch.

[Ann_SS]

I wonder how much of recent GH's steep decline in its 18 to 49 women demo is linked to the loss of Oprah. In most of the key eastern markets where ABC soaps do best, GH was the lead in to Oprah. With Oprah gone, people may not be turning the channel to ABC.