Y&R to become Hollywood Heights for the daytime

[SOAPSFOREVER]

And where is PASSIONS now? Dead. They were number one in the 14-17 girl category. And dead last most of the time in all the other demos. They had very weak younger actors, except for a few. Most couldn't bring off the stories or the characters they were given to play. Yet another lesson the network suits have never learned.

[JaneAusten]

I dont get why people keep blaming the networks for going after younger viewers. It's the advertisers who set the rates and they are the ones influencing the desired demographics based on what they are willing to pay for or pay more for. People under 50 watch less TV than people over 50. Would you pay more for something that there is an abundance of. Its all about supply and demand. There is a reason ESPN commands the highest ad rates.

[DRW50]

Claire Labine has a very mixed track record.

I agree with you that people want to see the older characters, but can you really say the last 4-5 years have done the older characters any favors?

[JaneAusten]

I did say maybe didn't I. She did a decent job for a while on GH with integrating younger cast members. And I did say for a while not her entire tenure. And I don't even like the woman.

[SOAPSFOREVER]

Check out the number of Emmys and WGA awards this woman has won. She knows how to write soaps. She knows characters. She write with heart. She is a huge talent. JG isn't even in the same league.

[DRW50]

I think Claire is a great writer, much better than anyone in daytime now, but she prefers half-hour shows, and the only hour show she seemed to excel on was GH. Her OLTL was a mess. (GL was probably not her fault)

[dragonflies]

cause it's a demo that gets them nothing, it sure doesn't bring ratings, older demos have proven time and again that they bring ratings, alot of shows in CBS primetime fall under the 50 plus demo.

I remember once Frons called CBS the "nursing home network" cause he's a douche, but that demo pays off for them alot.

Where do teens and tweens get their money from?? THEIR PARENTS, that's who they need to go after, it's not the teens who have disposable income, it's their parents

[JaneAusten]

The point is its the advertisers setting the rates not the networks. That has zero to do with Brian Frons.

You need to ask advertisers not Brian Frons or whoever why they pay more for viewers under 50 than over 50

[Y&RWorldTurner]

If we went by awards, would Jill not then be the ideal person for the show?

[frequentsoapfan]

Katherine, Victor, Nikki, Jill, and Jack will not live forever. Y&R does best when it's balanced between the younger and older characters. All these old characters were young characters way back when. I'm not understand why people are mad that a show called the Young and the Restless wants to build up a younger audience in additio nto their aging one. Bill Bell was setting up the next generation take take over before bad HW's like MAB ruined them.

[Eric83]

No they weren't. They had better 18-49 demos than ATWT and GL and was #2 in the 18-34 demo during the year they were canceled.

[frequentsoapfan]

I thought so! Cuz I remember they were a huge summer favorite for the younger audience. Back then all my friends watched Passions. I would open my Teen People and see photospreads with the men around June. They did alot of interactive online stuff close to the end.

[Skin]

The number doesn't really matter, it's who is watching. Advertisers want people under 50 watching their programs and so they go after shows with that specific audience because that is what advertisers want. Soaps are beholden to their advertisers, not the other way around. There could literally be 30 million viewers watching but if the desired demo is something like a .3 advertisers still wouldn't want to touch it.

He said that about Y&R and that was back in the day when Days and GH were in the coveted demos for women 18-34, 18-49 and teen girls. CBS isn't a nursing home network, they do very well in the 18-49 age bracket with CSI, Law & Order and other crime based syndicate shows because the episodes aren't serialized.

Advertisers go after teens and younger people because they don't have set brands yet, the people in the demographic are more susceptible to certain brands, products and the like and that's what adverts are going for people willing to try their product and willing to take chances on something new, innovative and hip. Simply put people in those demographics haven't developed brand loyalty yet and haven't defined or cultivated their buy practices or routines. That's why they are valuable.

[DRW50]

Something soaps used to know how to do was write age-appropriate behavior. When I was young, I was fascinated by characters like Roger Thorpe and Lucinda Walsh and Kim Hughes and, yes, Nikki Newman and Jill Abbott. They behaved badly (well, except for Kim), but they still had a certain class, and an elegance, in spite of their sometimes very stupid decisions.

Now the older characters are all written like they are stuck in MAB's teen lit class. Just look at the ridiculousness of Genevieve, or Tucker.

If you get the balance right, then there are young characters some teens want to see, and some older characters for other teens to look up to.

[frequentsoapfan]

Claire Labine while a good writer could be too PSA alot. I enjoyed 90s Y&R much more than 90s GH which could be boring. Stories were heartfelt and sad but I do not watch soaps for PSAs and one heartache after another gets kind of tiring. They were all well written but I like the excitement too. Those characters that are bad but get called out for their bad behavior and no one tries to reform them. Y&R has so many strong characters back then and the women were watered down like they are now. Y&R needs some heart back into it but I wouldn't want every week to be a tragedy.