November 7-11, 2011

[Saving ATWT]

NBC will never give an hour back to local stations. Why would the network want to give anything up when affiliates already have two hours free to air NBCU produced syndicated fare. When NBC quit soaps, they were smart to grow the Today brand at low cost (pre-exisiting studios, staff) and avoid any sort of The Chew The View or The Talk risk. NBC was also smart to realize that daytime viewership was tanking and that early morning was premium.

I have no idea what will happen with Days. I was suprised when they got the two year pick up in such uncertain times. I will say that Days is low cost TV and that NBC currently has nothing better to offer aside from Access Hollywood Live that is currently airing on o/o stations.

People seem to forget that NBCU is very much part of syndicated daytime with five of the Jerry Springer type of low rent shows plus Ellen. It would be very easy for the network to develop a new show. Then again, Days may just benefit from the end of ABC soaps and pull ratings up a little bit.

Question: how do the Bell shows maintain steady numbers when compared to other soaps?

[DRW50]

Y&R has lost almost a million viewers in the last year.

[Saving ATWT]

Yes, they did but Y&R still pulls in 3.4HH which is far better than the 2.0s and 1.9s we see for ABC and NBC

[DaytimeFan]

Y&R simply started with higher numbers to begin with. It's been #1 since 1988 and it's ratings only look good because they started out much, much higher than the rest of the daytime pack post-OJ Simpson.

Y&R's losses have been enormous, the biggest in daytime this year.

[sheilaforever]

Y&R airs in a much more comforatble timeslot in many markets which also puts in under higher pressure to pull in those viewers or the will lose those cushy 4 pm slots...

[aMLCproduction]

Y&R sucks. i am surprised Bell and Sony has not acted against Ma Bell yet

[DaytimeFan]

How? She's the bosses wife?

[Saving ATWT]

I always hear talk about the Y&R time slot being so great. If a super time slot is all that it takes, why doesn't NBC do the same with Days? Instead of Loving, The City and Port Charles, why didn't ABC do the same with AMC?

Yes, Y&R has lost viewers but not at the same pace as other soaps. Back in 1988, Y&R and AMC were fairly close; however, even for its finale, AMC could not muster a 3.0HH. Personally, I think Y&R spoke to Gen X in a manner that no other soap was able to achieve and, even with the current year to date losses, this still continues to be the case.

I think the same, to a lesser extent, is the same with B&B which in many areas has a crappy slot. I, for a long time, thought that B&B pulled a lot of ratings from Y&R as a lead but don't see the shows as so connected anymore. Furthermore, ATWT didn't pull anything from Y&R in markets where they ran together.

The Bell soaps still feel more current than the other remaining stories. I think a lot of this has to do with the strong production values.

[Eric83]

When you think about it, Y&R has lost the most viewers in all of daytime. They went from what? 8's and 7's to the low 3's even hitting 2.9 in dailies while ABC and Days went from mid/high 4's and low 5's to 2.0, 1.9. That's not as good as people think.

CBS is in a position where I think they want to get rid of Y&R as its demos are almost as bad as the others, but they can still pull in 4-5 million viewers to CBS everyday. Its the same thing NBC is dealing with Harry's Law (low demos/high viewership)

[DaytimeFan]

Exactly, Y&R's losses have been tremendous in the last year and really the last 3 or 4 years. Certainly, they experienced ratings erosion like the rest of daytime prior to 2007, but in the last couple of years the losses have been getting bigger and bigger to the point that they've lost a million viewers over last year. The rest of the soap pack has lost only a quarter of that.

Y&R's demos aren't atrocious, but when you consider that Y&R has the highest budget among the soaps it isn't giving much bang for the buck compared to DAYS which is doing similar business on a shoestring budget.

I do hope Y&R ends before Jeanne Cooper dies, morbid as that sounds...I'd like to see it cancelled with Katherine Chancellor still grande dame of Genoa City.

[edgeofnik]

If CBS wanted to get rid of Y&R, Les Moonves would not have have gotten involved to get EB back on the show - that would've have been an easy way to let it die. And, they wouldn't have resigned Melody this year. Y&R is far from perfect and it's had losses, but it's still the highest rated by far. I doubt CBS wants to let all those viewers go away. I'd bet they cut it to 30 minutes and pair it with 30 minute B&B before cancelling it.

[aMLCproduction]

Ok and at the end of the day it should be about buisness. You mean to tell me Bells are going to let MAB cancel this show? I think not. Damn who ever the hell she wants to be.

[DaytimeFan]

The Bells are going to allow a Bell via marriage to write this show...of course they are. Y&R's in its twilight years, there's no going back now.

[DRW50]

It's pretty damn sad how little the Bells have done to help keep the show together. They apparently did nothing when Smith or LML ran riot, and now there is MAB, who only got in because of her last name, and who supposedly isn't even really involved in anything with the show, other than spite moves (like what they did to Maura West).

[Khan]

So do I. In fact, the very last image of Y&R that I want on my screen is Kay inside that fabulous Chancellor living room, surrounded by friends and family (and Jill), and giving us all a final toast (with sparkling apple cider).