ABC vs CBS Daytime vs NBC Daytime

[Planet Soap]

Who was the king of soaps ABC, CBS or NBC?

Personally I think the real competition is between ABC and CBS  but we can consider NBC. My pick is ABC because it had a solid lineup with AMC and GH plus OLTL. All three shows had a great period in the 80s and 90s and had a decent timeslot of 1-4pm for the later years of their run. ABC is great at youth oriented and socially concious storylines and I think they do supercouples bigger and better than CBS. 

I do like CBS however in that it appeals to an older more classic soap audience especially the multi generational ATWT. Morverover 'Young' and 'Bold' have both done a decent job at retaining their older cast memebers and giving them actual storyline. Y&R and B&B have been at the top of the ratings for over 2 decades and ATWT had a solid period as #1. Plus CBS daytime had better promo campaigns in it's prime with promos like "Clarence", "Try Me" "eveything is everything" and "get it on".

[Khan]

I'd say CBS was king.  ABC's soaps appealed greatly to younger viewers, but CBS's soaps overall had better writing and acting.

NBC...?  Well, they had good game shows.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Khan

[kalbir]

CBS for it's impact on the genre, but I will admit that ABC and Days had a bigger impact in terms of soaps being a part of pop culture.

[Errol]

Despite my love and passion for ABC, I'd have to go with CBS for this one reason: Only network with more than one soap still on the air.

However, considering that at the time of their cancellations, All My Children and One Life to Live were 41 and 43, respectively, and GH was already 48, ABC ultimately had the best success with soaps based on overall length of its three shows. CBS previously held the mantle, again, during the time of As The World Turns and Guiding Light being on the lineup.

[Paul Raven]

CBS got the first successful TV soaps on air with SFT and LOL. 

Brought the first soap over from radio with TGL and followed with Brighter Day.

Introduced Secret Storm and then the first half hour soaps ATWT and TEON.

In the mid 60's ATWT was huge, outrating many nightime shows.

Y&R was hugely influential in the 70's and #1 till this day.

Although they faltered in the 80's they were still competitive throughout.

[Khan]

Plus, P&G was arguably the leading soap sponsors, and most of their shows were on CBS.

[Melroser]

I grew up an NBC fan. Maybe that's why I've learned to never have high expectations in life.  AW was my show. I also enjoyed Texas, Generations, Search for Tomorrow (after it moved to NBC), and loved Sunset Beach. Santa Barbara was so-so for me (and I switched between it and Guiding Light). As I've posted before on the boards, I boycotted Days after they killed Renee. (I watch it now...and have off-and-on later years).

I will say that CBS had the most successful run at daytime. Even Capitol, which wasn't considered a ratings "winner" had more viewers than a lot of NBC and ABC shows at the time. I don't ever remember CBS shows being at the bottom until later on with GL before it was cancelled. But growing up, Ryan's Hope, Loving/The City, Port Charles all had low ratings for ABC. 

Edited February 21, 2022 by Melroser

[Khan]

NBC could have had a much more successful lineup if the network would have just gotten out of the shows' way.  Otherwise, at its' best, it was sort of a cross between CBS' traditionalism and ABC's youth-targeted aesthetic.

[soapfan770]

I

So true NBC Daytime made some serious mistakes/missteps in the 70’s and 80’s it never recovered from except for Days.

To put into perspective, here’s the number of soaps that lasted more than 10 years by network: 

ABC: 5

CBS: 8

NBC: 3

And that is 3 is out of 30+ soaps that have aired on NBC since the dawn of television. Yikes! There was definitely unnecessary interference and impatience going from the Sarnoff/RCA era straight into the Zucker era. 

[Soapsuds]

King

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[Planet Soap]

As I watch more older episodes of both ABC and CBS dramas my opinion wrestles with who was king.

I will say I see more mention of ABC soaps in pop culture spaces. Susan Lucci, Luke & Laura and Jessie & Angie are who I hear brought up alot by general layman audiences. Those names more so than Stephanie Forrester, Reeva Shayne or Katherine Chancellor.

Then I love CBS because of these ads!:

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Edited February 22, 2022 by ironlion

[AMCOLTLLover]

ABC! GH still King out of all 4! 
I would‘ve said CBS in the past but since Atwt died it became boring.

NBC Soaps were fun but overall outlandish and campy compared to CBS/ABC

[Planet Soap]

If we break things down by decade, ABC was definitely better story quality wise in the late 2000s/2010s.

OLTL & GH in 2009-12 were more action packed than GL & ATWT and to a degree Y&R. Moreover, 2010/20s GH alone is far more entertaining than today's slow moving Y&R and repetitive B&B, despite it's crappy writing. 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by ironlion

[Planet Soap]

Even in the night time the competition was soely between CBS and ABC. CBS had Knots, Falcon Crest, and Dallas. ABC had Dynasty. What was NBC's answer to this? All I know of was Flamingo Road.

Edited March 7, 2022 by ironlion

[Khan]

NBC tried and tried and TRIED to develop a primetime soap to rival DALLAS and DYNASTY, but I don't think the network ever had the kind of people who could develop and nurture that type of programming.  Their execs' forte was clearly sitcoms and "straight" dramas.