AMC & OLTL Get Summer Run On OWN

[Cheap21]

Its also very poorly lit. Thats fine when its running as a nightcub but during the day or when they have it as a restaurant, its just too dark and looks bad. Its also inappropriate as a venue for all events. The MotY gala should have never happened there. They need to bring back The Palace as a thing

[applcin]

Let's just say they might as well rename OWN to TPN. They've got a contract with him to continue developing content for the network.

[rhinohide]

[allmc2008]

http://www.tvmediainsights.com/highlights/30025/amc-oltl-own-week-of-august-26-2013/

ALL MY CHILDREN

Mon Aug 26 1:00PM 186,000 total viewers, 93,000 viewers in Adults 18-49
Tue Aug 27 1:00PM 182,000 total viewers, 77,000 viewers in Adults 18-49
Wed Aug 28 1:00PM 205,000 total viewers, 63,000 viewers in Adults 18-49
Thu Aug 29 1:00PM 196,000 total viewers, 73,000 viewers in Adults 18-49

Last Week AVG: 161,250

This Week AVG: 194,750

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

Mon Aug 26 1:30PM 130,000 total viewers, 72,000 viewers in Adults 18-49
Tue Aug 27 1:30PM 157,000 total viewers, 75,000 viewers in Adults 18-49
Wed Aug 28 1:30PM 185,000 total viewers, 68,000 viewers in Adults 18-49
Thu Aug 29 1:30PM 123,000 total viewers, 38,000 viewers in Adults 18-49

Last Week AVG: 114,000

This Week AVG: 148,750

[Chris B]

See now that is positive! I still say these same episodes could have anywhere from 500,000 viewers to 1,000,000 with actual promotion.

[marceline]

It's nice to see the numbers ticking back up. Unfortunately, I guess it's all for nothing. Even if OWN wants to keep airing the shows, PP's production issues make it impossible to supply enough content.

[JONNYSBRO]

Amc is still the more popular soap

[BadAddiction]

It's a shame about OLTL. When the relaunch started out, it seemed it had the most potential for succeeding. But, then the stories began not really going anywhere. It didn't feel as if actual stories were being told. It didn't feel like a soap. It felt like ATWT and GL did in their finl days. Conversely, AMC's initial relaunch felt stagnant and a bit staid. The storyine seemingly notreally going anywhere. But then the writing found its footing, and it began to feel like a Soap in the sense the storylines had direction and method. At the start of the shows' relaunch, I was more invested in OLTL, but though I continue (stopped watching online, as I prefer watching on OWN) to watch (out of loyalty) it, I get the most Soap enjoyment/satisfaction from AMC. I hope PP decides to continue to produce AMC and OWN adds it to its permanent schedule.

[JackPeyton]

I wouldnt go that far, but i do think they could get 250-300,000 daily with some more promotion

[Chris B]

Jack, with promo I could see them around there, but once they promote how well they're doing (or cross promote with The Have and Have Nots), then I could see the ratings doubling once people know they're there and start to like them. If The Have and Have Nots could pull viewers, then there is no doubt in my mind that AMC and OLTL could pull in a big audience for OWN.

Maybe they should've considered airing both Mon-Thurs in primetime. I could see that working. And then of course it would be a win-win for OWN and Prospect Park, because OWN still wouldn't be paying to produce these shows, but would be getting better returns and then Prospect Park would have better revenue. These shows can make money, they just aren't being handled right. No TV promo, no DVD, no talk show appearances, no weekly promos with story info (at least in a timely manner).

[marceline]

Yeah. Does any show on OWN besides THATHN get 1,000,000 viewers? Certainly nothing in the daytime.

I kind of understand the reason OWN hasn't done any promotion. This was a short-term experiment from an unreliable "supplier" designed to do nothing more than plug a hole in the schedule.

[Chris B]

Nothing in daytime gets those ratings, but The Haves and Have Nots is getting blockbuster ratings and is a daytime soap airing in primetime. Based on that, they should be looking at affordable ways to get MORE soaps airing in primetime so they can continue to get ratings like that again. If AMC and OLTL were to keep the 2 episode-per-week format, then they could air in one hour primetime blocks on OWN and Hulu could still show them as 2 episodes weekly. I could see it working.

[John]

I bet both AMC & OLTL will be back for S2. Question is when

[applcin]

Maybe it's not the soap/serialized format that's the problem. THAHN is brand new, hip, fresh, people can start watching it from the beginning (plus it's Tyler Perry's brand and he obviously carries some clout, appeal, whatever you want to call it). AMC & OLTL carry a lot of history with them, which can be a double-edged sword:

1) It's harder to get people to watch something that's been on a long time that they never or seldom watched before (version 1.0 or 2.0 makes little or no difference to such people, they perceive it all to be the same).

2) Daytime soaps still have a stigma to some people, even more so I would think, knowing they were cancelled off network tv.
3) Daytime soaps also carry certain stereotypes or conceptions in people's minds (overacting, bad acting, repetitive stories, "far out" stories that get parodied, etc.) that the soaps themselves, sad to say, often live up to (or down to).

One might argue that Dallas is an old soap given new life but its recognizability, popularity, "bigger than life" style and presence in culture, I think, helped it to appeal both to nostalgic viewers and new ones. Plus it was a "nighttime" show. The most recognizable thing about either AMC or OLTL in the broader pop culture is Susan Lucci or, rather, Erica Kane....and I would argue a) as an actress/character, they have about as much interest in her or take her as seriously as Zsa Zsa Gabor and b ) her appeal is limited to a certain genre and demo.

AMC and OLTL had a limited pool of viewers to start with for a variety of reasons (loss of interest, anger/confusion over cast changes, time jump, unwillingness to watch online) and has been bleeding them ever since. While all the scheduling changes may be wise from a creative, financial, learning experiment vantage point, I don't think it inspires a whole lot of confidence in PP's ability to be consistent or reliable, contractually speaking. What is perceived as flexibility and willingness to adapt to a new order of things may also be flipped around to be perceived as ineptitude, unreliability and the sense that PP took a big gulp of something and keeps spitting it out bit by bit because it's still too much to chew.

I have no desire to see PP fail. While I don't follow either of the shows as closely as I once did, I do put on AMC for my mom and happy to do so. But as someone else posted, PP needs to get its act together.

[Chris B]

applcin, everything you used to describe daytime soaps describes The Have and Have Nots. As Sara Bibel so aptly put it, they're dressed like they shop at Dress Barn in 1987 and EVERYTHING about the show is dated and very daytime soap. It's entertaining, but it's a knock off of a Bill Bell soap 30 years ago. It is not fresh or hip in any way. I think it did prove that OWN should focus on soaps, hence my suggesting OLTL and AMC in primetime and since both are actually good, I could see both shows eventually doing as well as The Have and Have Nots. You show regular promos with Debbi Morgan pouring her heart out and people will watch.