June 20-24, 2011

[BlueLick]

Yeah that's crazy and I'm amazed at the growth on each day of the week and how much GH bleeds from OLTL now.

[Soapsuds]

I guess that's why the are keeping it a little longer and getting rid of AMC first. AMC hasnt budged one bit since its cancellation news. Its GL all over again.

[Max]

I think the only reason why OLTL is getting four more months than AMC is because ABC wants to give the more desirable 1:00 P.M. Eastern time slot to The Chew instead of The Revolution. Based on the level of promotion each show has received, I don't think it's any secret that ABC much prefers Chew over Revolution. Revloution also has a weaker concept, evidenced by the fact that its debut had to be delayed four months (so that its kinks could be ironed out).

Regardless, the fact that OLTL had a mere four additional months than AMC is not "evidence" that ABC favors OLTL (as some AMC fans have whined about). When one considers the fact that AMC--unlike OLTL--was both (1) moved to L.A. and (2) upgraded to high definition, it's obvious to anybody (who's intellectually honest with oneself) that AMC was the preferred soap among the ABC executives.

[jpoliver78]

I don't know how much more "desirable" one time slot is over the other in daytime ("The Chew", airing at 1:00 p.m., has to contend with the #1 soap; while OLTL is the only soap in contention at 2:00 p.m.), but the reason that "The Chew" is getting more promotion is probably due to the fact that it premieres in September 2011, while "The Revolution" doesn't premiere until January 2012. Now, I have heard that "The Revolution" was delayed because it wasn't quite "ready" to air at the same time as "The Chew", as you alluded to. If both were debuting at the same time, the network would probably be advertising them in tandem with one another. Another factor working to the advantage of "The Chew" is that it premieres in September, when most of the other new and returning primetime series premiere their new seasons. So, it would seem natural to promote the newest show in daytime along with those new/returning shows in primetime.

[jpoliver78]

I know that "Days of Our Lives" producer Ken Corday has mentioned having to re-write some material with the changeover of head writers, but does anyone get the impression that such re-writes have happened with the Sonny storyline? He debuts on Thursday and isn't seen again until Tuesday and in each case, his scenes seem to end with a "to be continued" feeling. Last Thursday, his final scene had Sonny talking with his parents about now telling Uncle Victor about him (i.e. that he is gay). Then, on Tuesday, Sonny and the parents are again together, this time at a restaurant. This scene ends with Sonny insulting his dad, telling him that he (Sonny) doesn't kiss Victor's butt like his dad does. Then, Sonny is MIA on Wednesday.

Based on what I have mentioned above, I don't think "Days" has handled the (re)introduction of Sonny well.

[Kimmiemae]

Thanks for posting those Toups! I was looking at OLTL's dailies, and going WOW! I didn't realize how impressive these numbers are compared to the other 2 ABC soaps.

[TeamEric]

Last June is when the Fords and the teens ate Llanview and the ratings AND demos plummeted as a result:

May 2010 2,375,000 725,250

Jun 2010 2,300,467 665,600

Yet as bad as June 2010 viewership numbers were, its demos average still beat 2011's numbers:

Jun 2011 2,570,056 644,500

And therein lies the problem for any soap, any big viewership gains aren't coming in the key 18-49 demos.

GH's demos have collasped going from 800,000 to as low as 628,000 yet OLTL has only managed to beat them once this year. Now GH's demos are rebounding some as they almost hit 700,000 this week which was first time in 6 weeks they are near that mark. OLTL hasn't hit 700,000 18-49 viewers since the big blizzard inflated numbers last December.

So ITA Angela, unless OLTL spike its 18-49 demos it won't matter to ABC.

[Soapsuds]

Did you all read what Errol posted on the status update? OLTL still might have a chance if ratings continue to grow.

[dowwwe]

This is clearly a case where quality doesn't reflect viewership. DAYS has been excellent (as another poster mentioned earlier) and these numbers are very disappointing. They REALLY need to start advertising these upcoming stories during their primetime shows. I haven't seen a DAYS promo in over two years on NBC Primetime and they used to be on regularly.

[Carolyn1980]

Well, ABC already said one of the options to keep GH alive when Katie Couric starts is to cut it to a half hour and pair it with a half hour The Revolution; maybe they'll cut OLTL to a half hour in January, and debut The Revolution as a half hour instead of an hour.

But seriously....I kind of doubt it. I always figured the options they threw around to potentially keep GH alive were just to keep people from freaking out too soon, like when they denied the AMC cancellation.

ETA: One more thing, if, and that is a mighty humongous "if," they decide they want to keep OLTL around in some form, there is no way they would announce that publicly until AMC is off the air...or at the very least, done filming. Otherwise, fans might get the crazy idea they could save AMC, also.

[TeamEric]

Not to diminish Errol's source or post but it reminds me of the hope held up to ATWT fans. And reminds me of ABC holding out hope to GH fans that losing its slot to Couric didn't necessarily mean cancellation. I think there are folks invested in trying to keep fans hooked as long as possible with these there's hope leaks.

The ratings gains are meaningless to ABC's bottom line if the demos don't spike up too as demos control the ad revenue. OLTL has already begun to let go early some main players like RS, GT, and TSJ. That's a sign they really do not have hold of continuing IMO.

[Jane1978]

The rewrites are from 8/22 to 9/23, 9/26 should be the start of new material. Atleast that´s what´s assumed from what the new team tweeted. I think current episodes were taped sometime in April and outlined between end of Feb and March so whatever is going on right now is still sole Higley. Of course, she is not exactly known for focused or consistent writing and her stories are usually all over the place. Plus Sonny is still part of the teen scene and Higley´s writing for the teens was always beyond terrible and she mostly uses them as a filler whenever there is a little airtime left. She never did anything with Mia and Will, she never did anything with Gabby (original or recast), she created Chad three years ago, turned him into a DiMera last year and it´s only now when he is starting to get a little something to do.

[EricMontreal22]

The prob is by then it prob will be too late. I don't think there are any real examples of a soap changing networks or stopping and coming back (at least in the past 20 years) that have held on to their own numbers. Unless they decide to bring it back within a week or something...

[EricMontreal22]

What I wonder, and this may sound defensive, but do lead ins count as much as they used to? Of course they still count, but I don't think even my Grandma now watches the same network in a row--she flips after each show to something else (I'm talking primetime, she has never watched daytime). Of course many people do get hooked on a block of soaps initially--but I mean B&B and Y&R's ratings don't seem to correspond all that much...

[EricMontreal22]

And isn't the bottom line that, as reportedly cheap as OLTL is budget wise, The Revolution or whatever will still be MUCH cheaper? (Yes it does make sense to keep OLTL instead of GH but I just get the same feeling as everyone else that they're waiting till at least AMC is gone to announce GH is gone too).