http://www.tvguide.com/News/Disney-Junior-SoapNet-March-1041380.aspx

This network is going to flop, I say that because I'm going by comments people who have kids(and aren't even soap fans) have made that there isnt a need for a channel like this, kids don't even stay up that late

Well at least I'll have more time on my hands.

Thanks for the info. I've been waiting for the date.

Edited January 9, 201213 yr by SalemPlace

Eh, I have no use for the channel anyway. All I watched was OLTL and I'm only watchin clips of Will on youtube for Days.

Glad we get a date, figure my next cable bill will confirm the news. That's what I use for channel line up data...

So sad. Looks like it's back to Three's Company reruns on TV Land at 3am for me.

It's sad that, for whatever reason, SOAPnet never turned out to be every soap fan's dream channel come true. I can't say that they didn't kinda try, at least at the beginning, with their repeats of classic primetime (and some daytime) soaps that will live on. I really wish it could have worked!

I get, in theory, why tthe change is happening: Ratings for the Junior block on the actual Disney channel are great, so why not a channel? And, conversely, for whatever reason, Soapnet ratings tanked overall. (I think I recall reading someplace that AW was averaging a baely there 0.2 or 0.3 before its repeats were pulled, for example, but I forget where and it bugs me!)

But a 24/7 kids station? Who the hell - good parents, anyway - has their kids up at, say, 3:00 a.m.? Such a channel when put in this context seems wasteful and ridiculous. But, oh well, it's all about the money, honey.

Soapnet in its first two or three years was a cool concept and I thank Deborah Blackwell. And say thanks for nothing to Brian Frons for taking her place and running the channel iinto the ground.

Edited January 10, 201213 yr by Wendy

I get, in theory, why tthe change is happening: Ratings for the Junior block on the actual Disney channel are great, so why not a channel? And, conversely, for whatever reason, Soapnet ratings tanked overall. (I think I recall reading someplace that AW was averaging a baely there 0.2 or 0.3 before its repeats were pulled, for example, but I forget where and it bugs me!)

It was 0.0 for AW.

Nickelodeon rebranded Noggin into Nick Jr, a 24/7 preschool channel back in 2009 and it's now 2012 Disney couldn't even think of a unique name? I think Nick Jr is a doing well, so this could do well, but Disney is so behind launching this almost 4 years after Nick did their's. Reminds me Disney launched Disney XD to go after the boys that Nickelodeon usually has locked up, Disney had a rough time, so they took the easy way out & bought Marvel. LOL

^ Nickelodeon already has a 24 hour kid channel called Nick Jr, which touts itself as "preschool on tv." It's commercial free as well, which many parents enjoy, and by marketing it as educational, it tends to make many parents feel less guilty about leaving it on all the time.

Yes, Disney has programming for young kids on in the morning, but it reverts to shows for older children at some point in the afternoon, when parents of younger kids are likely to switch off the tv or switch the channel. If I want to distract the kids with TV so I can get some peace and quiet while I cook dinner, I don't put on Disney because their programming at that time of day/night is usually not meant for little ones. I put on Nick Jr.

I'm sensitive to this because my kids are young, but I've been one of those parents with a teething toddler up at midnight who will not go to sleep, and yeah, I've put Nick Jr. on. I'll admit it. I've put Nick Jr. on at bedtime too from time to time if I can't get the kids to wind down for the night.

So what difference does that make for Disney? It means that my oldest was five before she gave a rat's patootie about any of the Disney Princesses, which means I wasn't spending $$$ on a bunch of Disney toys, books, DVDs and other crap because my kids were more interested in the toys that went along with the characters they saw on Nick Jr. shows. I've never dropped $$$$ taking my kids to Disneyworld or Disneyland either because they don't care.

Disney doesn't gain much from SoapNet. None of us are rushing out to buy products linked to soap operas because that's what our kid really, really wants for Christmas. Most of us aren't buying soap opera DVDs based on the shows we see on SoapNet because they don't exist. I am beyond upset about losing SoapNet and the ability to watch older episodes of AMC, but I get why Disney is doing this. It makes a heck of a lot more sense to me than ABC canceling AMC and OLTL.

Jim Romanovich is saying it's not going off the air in March, and that a retraction will be printed soon

JimRomanovich: SOAPNET IS NOT, REPEAT, NOT GOING OFF IN MARCH

JimRomanovich Jim You will see a retraction soon. Hang tight.

JimRomanovich Jim If I'm wrong, I will cancel my Twitter account

Edited January 10, 201213 yr by dragonflies

LOL. Wow @ Romanovich's reaction.

I stopped watching SOAPnet a while ago, so I'm okay with it. Over the last three and half years I've watched the entire series of Beverly Hills, 90210 and The OC, so I'm pleased. Guess we should've seen it coming with the fact that they announced their decision to fold in the summer of 2010, nearly 9 months later they pull the plug on AMC/OLTL. Omen.

LOL. Wow @ Romanovich's reaction.

I stopped watching SOAPnet a while ago, so I'm okay with it. Over the last three and half years I've watched the entire series of Beverly Hills, 90210 and The OC, so I'm pleased. Guess we should've seen it coming with the fact that they announced their decision to fold in the summer of 2010, nearly 9 months later they pull the plug on AMC/OLTL. Omen.

The only good thing I have to say about Soapnet is that I got to see Ryan's Hope, AW, and Knots Landing. And a few nice marathons of OLTL and AMC. Other than that it's generally been a [!@#$%^&*] pit for at least six or seven years. I still laugh at the memory of all the breathless hype over what a good job Frons was doing because he flooded the channel with Real Hosuewives of Dogpatch.

It was 0.0 for AW.

OUCH. I knew it was bad, but that bad? I hate to say it, but no wonder TIIC pulled them then. And ratings such as this makes me wonder how AW's eventual DVD release will sell, too.

Edited to add: And Jim Romanovich had better tell that bit about Soapnet not ending to Nikki Finke over at Deadline. Because the prevailing thought is Soapnet leaves once Disney Jr. launches.

Edited January 10, 201213 yr by Wendy

I think SoapNet was pretty terrific once upon a time, at least in terms of what I was interested in watching. The network became useless for me. This is why I'm a strong proponent for any and every series making its way online to be downloaded/streamed via sites like Amazon Video. If we could just go and get Falcon Crest or Ryan's Hope for ourselves, we wouldn't be so disappointed when networks like SN make seemingly inexplicable programming choices.