2 minutes ago, Errol said:

Exactly.

While the show will undergo a budget reduction for Season 2, as is customary for a show that just launched, it isn't for the reasons people are running rampant about.

The first season budget for any show does the heavy lifting in establishing a show's sets, cast, crew, equipment, and all other related production costs. Season 2 will streamline things going forward. Further, CBS would not air repeats for an entire week due to budget constraints for any show that already has nearly 90 unaired episodes in the can. As I said elsewhere (in another thread), they would have course corrected long ago if there was a budgetary issue.

Absolutely!

And I am sure with them, per their own admission, using every cent of their previous budget is going to go a long way with the network/production, even in the budget reduction. From my experience (in a non-entertainment business, mind you), the less budget you use, the more that gets taken away the next time it comes around. So, them using their budget, I am sure, helped them out.

11 minutes ago, Errol said:

There are several reasons CBS is/could be doing this, and only one or more of them are valid. No one will state the reason on the record, however:

• Make goods to advertisers (show underperformed in demos based on what the network promised).
• Like the above, the total viewership is nowhere near what CBS had hoped.
• CBS is looking to get viewers to sample the show during a holiday week when many are on vacation.
• The network is looking to run a new ad blitz under the "CBS Soapy Summer" banner.

(I'm not saying any of the above is true)

And all of these make more sense than anything else that's been spewed as "reasons" elsewhere. But people will do what they do. And, like you said, if there were budgetary issues, etc., they would have course-corrected a while ago, and we would have likely heard about it. And the same would go with casting decisions, etc., despite what [many] think, as well.

42 minutes ago, Errol said:

Exactly.

While the show will undergo a budget reduction for Season 2, as is customary for a show that just launched, it isn't for the reasons people are running rampant about.

The first season budget for any show does the heavy lifting in establishing a show's sets, cast, crew, equipment, and all other production-related costs. Season 2 will streamline things going forward. Further, CBS would not air repeats for an entire week due to budget constraints for any show that already has nearly 90 unaired episodes in the can. As I said elsewhere (in another thread), they would have course corrected long ago if there was a budgetary issue. 

There are several reasons CBS is/could be doing this, and only one or more of them are valid. No one will state the reason on the record, however:

• Make goods to advertisers (show underperformed in demos based on what the network promised).
• Like the above, the total viewership is nowhere near what CBS had hoped.
• CBS is looking to get viewers to sample the show during a holiday week when many are on vacation.
• The network is looking to run a new ad blitz under the "CBS Soapy Summer" banner.

(I'm not confirming any of the above as true, yet)

This is a question that I had before the soap premiered. By which metrics will the success of BTG be measured? Do we finally know the answer to this?

I remember when I first brought this up, some claimed that as long as BTG performed better than The Talk, CBS would be pleased. I found that to be completely unrealistic considering that the production costs of a talk show vs that of a soap are drastically different. Why would CBS be pleased if BTG slightly outperforms The Talk if they're spending multiple times over to produce it. Money is always the bottom line. 

Others said as long as it did better than GH. Honestly, I haven't followed the ratings much for the show besides the first two weeks and I believe the demos were outperforming those of GH, but lagging behind its CBS sister soaps. Whether that is enough or not, I don't know.

I do know that GH and DAYS seem to do pretty well on their streaming platforms. They are consistently on the top watched shows, but that isn't the case for BTG on Paramount+. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen a CBS soap on the most watched list on Paramount+ as that is where I usually watch BTG. I think it would only help BTG case if it was at least performing well on streaming. I also didn't love that Paramount+ did very little to showcase the soaps on their platform. There was no spotlighting at the top of their platform or anything. 

Edited June 28Jun 28 by GLATWT88

4 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

This is a question that I had before the soap premiered. By which metrics will the success of BTG be measured? Do we finally know the answer to this?

I remember when I first brought this up, some claimed that as long as BTG performed better than The Talk, CBS would be pleased. I found that to be completely unrealistic considering that the production costs of a talk show vs that of a soap are drastically different. Why would CBS be pleased if BTG slightly outperforms The Talk if they're spending multiple times over to produce it. Money is always the bottom line. 

Others said as long as it did better than GH. Honestly, I haven't followed the ratings much for the show besides the first two weeks and I believe the demos were outperforming those of GH, but lagging behind its CBS sister soaps. Whether that is enough or not, I don't know.

I do know that GH and DAYS seem to do pretty well on their streaming platforms. They are consistently on the top watched shows, but that isn't the case for BTG on Paramount+. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen a CBS soap on the most watched list on Paramount+ as that is where I usually watch BTG. I think it would only help BTG case if it was at least performing well on streaming. I also didn't love that Paramount+ did very little to showcase the soaps on their platform. There was so spotlighting at the top of their platform or anything. 

I feel like Errol has been pretty upfront in that it's demos that matter most to networks.

As for the week of repeats next week could it be a contractual or budgeting issue? 

I don't know how seasons for soap operas run. If it's September-August or year by year. But if it's a yearly thing, that would mean that BTG's first season would run Feb. 24 - Dec. 31. It was also mentioned that CBS ordered 200 episodes for season 1.

There are 223 weekdays in that timeperiod. Meaning 23 possible airdates that would not be filled with that previous order. 

I'm assuming Thanksgiving and Christmas will be preempted - so that's 2 less days. We had 4 day of soccer preemptions? Memorial Day was preempted (1). Also, now we know all of next week will be preempted so that's 5 more days. That's 12 days. Meaning, they would need to fill 11 days still. 

I am sure that contractually there may be some issues that would prevent BTG from airing season 2 episodes earlier, because of whatever negotiations took place. CBS may also not want to renegotiate more episodes for season 1 at the higher rate either. I may very well be over thinking this, but considering that this was done at the top...it is likely a cost saving measure, but not necessarily in a ominous way. 

If that is the case, they can always preempt Labor Day and then leave off on a huge cliffhanger Friday, December 19 and preempt the weeks of Christmas and New Years and come back Jan. 5 and that would cover those 11 days. 

25 minutes ago, Liberty City said:

I feel like Errol has been pretty upfront in that it's demos that matter most to networks.

Thank you. 

Do we know if the demos have been what CBS was hoping? 

Edited June 28Jun 28 by GLATWT88

13 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

Thank you. 

Do we know if the demos have been what CBS was hoping? 

Considering we got a second season pickup, I'd wager they were happy enough with them. But again, we also have [potential/unconfirmed] ideas, as presented by Errol here:

a.k.a., unless CBS states otherwise, we'll never truly know.

1 hour ago, GLATWT88 said:

As for the week of repeats next week could it be a contractual or budgeting issue? 

I don't know how seasons for soap operas run. If it's September-August or year by year. But if it's a yearly thing, that would mean that BTG's first season would run Feb. 24 - Dec. 31. It was also mentioned that CBS ordered 200 episodes for season 1.

There are 223 weekdays in that timeperiod. Meaning 23 possible airdates that would not be filled with that previous order. 

I'm assuming Thanksgiving and Christmas will be preempted - so that's 2 less days. We had 4 day of soccer preemptions? Memorial Day was preempted (1). Also, now we know all of next week will be preempted so that's 5 more days. That's 12 days. Meaning, they would need to fill 11 days still. 

I am sure that contractually there may be some issues that would prevent BTG from airing season 2 episodes earlier, because of whatever negotiations took place. CBS may also not want to renegotiate more episodes for season 1 at the higher rate either. I may very well be over thinking this, but considering that this was done at the top...it is likely a cost saving measure, but not necessarily in a ominous way. 

If that is the case, they can always preempt Labor Day and then leave off on a huge cliffhanger Friday, December 19 and preempt the weeks of Christmas and New Years and come back Jan. 5 and that would cover those 11 days. 

Thank you. 

Do we know if the demos have been what CBS was hoping? 

The other CBS soaps start their seasons in September, but what you are saying makes a lot of sense, padding out the time it takes to fulfill the original 200 episode contract. 

23 minutes ago, BoldRestless said:

The other CBS soaps start their seasons in September, but what you are saying makes a lot of sense, padding out the time it takes to fulfill the original 200 episode contract. 

Someone mentioned on reddit that one of the actors said they were going to start filming season 2 in September. Considering the roughly 4 months from film to air, that would make sense that seasons for BTG run yearly...as those episodes would likely air in Jan. 

19 hours ago, janea4old said:

I've seen short daily clips here:
https://www.youtube.com/@CBS/search?query=beyond

And lots pf highlights here
https://www.instagram.com/beyondthegatescbs/ 

Y&R recently did a huge promotion for behind-the-scenes of the Y&R summer storyline that's 6 minutes long -- 
(Link to the promotion)
so CBS does have the ability to promote if they want to. 

It's so weird they're doing all this and the BOLD IG page is posting clips from episodes that aired like 4 and 5 months ago. They're IG page is all old clips now 

13 hours ago, Errol said:

We'll find out on Monday. If they did, I'd be surprised. This sounds like a real last-minute decision on the network's part. I know they aren't too pleased with the lack of growth in the viewership numbers despite the steady demos.

IMO they should have put it on at 1:30 followed by B&B, that way both shows are "book ends" for it 

4 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

Someone mentioned on reddit that one of the actors said they were going to start filming season 2 in September. Considering the roughly 4 months from film to air, that would make sense that seasons for BTG run yearly...as those episodes would likely air in Jan. 

Well, they were only contracted through August 2025 for filming (November 2024 – August 2025), so it's likely they would be told they film "season two" beginning in September (as a result of the renewal), but CBS could still advertise for a second season for September, alongside the other two soaps.

Quote

Someone mentioned on reddit that one of the actors said they were going to start filming season 2 in September. Considering the roughly 4 months from film to air, that would make sense that seasons for BTG run yearly...as those episodes would likely air in Jan. 

If I remember correctly it was reported months ago that they're filming from November 2024-November 2025, I doubt Season 2 would start taping that soon. My guess is probably January or Febuary 2026

2 hours ago, Liberty City said:

Absolutely!

And I am sure with them, per their own admission, using every cent of their previous budget is going to go a long way with the network/production, even in the budget reduction. From my experience (in a non-entertainment business, mind you), the less budget you use, the more that gets taken away the next time it comes around. So, them using their budget, I am sure, helped them out.

Julie Hanan Carruthers used to be known for going well over budget when she was EP of All My Children while Frank V was known for running OLTl well under budget.  As a result of Frank V doing so, the unused budget portion was then reallocated over to All My Children to offset going over budget.

So I'm sure she knew right away to use as much budget as possibly to launch BTG.

The fact this decision was last minute from CBS does give me pause.  If ratings aren't as high as CBS was hoping for... I could see them deciding to not sir the soap during the week leading up to 4th of July if the ratings aren't holding up.

However... doing stunts like this last minute and not communicating this to viewers.. or even the show themselves, tells me that CBS is panicking.  If CBS owns part of the soap, I can see them starting to interfere down the line (a move of which hurt their previous soap properties like Secret Storm, LIAMST, Love of Life, etc).

I swear I read they're taping till Nov 2025 cause when I read it I remember thinking "They're only taping for a year and then they're done?" cause I know the other soaps take breaks but that seemed odd to tape all the way through with no breaks.

Wish I could remember where I read it, it was around the beginning of the year

2 hours ago, GLATWT88 said:

As for the week of repeats next week could it be a contractual or budgeting issue? 

I don't know how seasons for soap operas run. If it's September-August or year by year. But if it's a yearly thing, that would mean that BTG's first season would run Feb. 24 - Dec. 31. It was also mentioned that CBS ordered 200 episodes for season 1.

There are 223 weekdays in that timeperiod. Meaning 23 possible airdates that would not be filled with that previous order. 

I'm assuming Thanksgiving and Christmas will be preempted - so that's 2 less days. We had 4 day of soccer preemptions? Memorial Day was preempted (1). Also, now we know all of next week will be preempted so that's 5 more days. That's 12 days. Meaning, they would need to fill 11 days still. 

I am sure that contractually there may be some issues that would prevent BTG from airing season 2 episodes earlier, because of whatever negotiations took place. CBS may also not want to renegotiate more episodes for season 1 at the higher rate either. I may very well be over thinking this, but considering that this was done at the top...it is likely a cost saving measure, but not necessarily in a ominous way. 

If that is the case, they can always preempt Labor Day and then leave off on a huge cliffhanger Friday, December 19 and preempt the weeks of Christmas and New Years and come back Jan. 5 and that would cover those 11 days. 

Thank you. 

 

I had listened to a podcast interview from around the time the show was debuting that featured the actress that played Vanessa... and she had stated where they were in filming at the time of the interview (scenes from episode 54 to 60).  She also mentioned that they had only been picked up for 200 episodes.. not sure how many episodes soaps air in a season.. but I would think it's a bit more than 200.

Quote

Julie Hanan Carruthers used to be known for going well over budget when she was EP of All My Children while Frank V was known for running OLTl well under budget.  As a result of Frank V doing so, the unused budget portion was then reallocated over to All My Children to offset going over budget.

I remember reading that and that Frons also took some of OLTL & AMC's budget to give to GH 

CBS starts their seasons in late August, during September, or in early October, so basically fall seasons.  B&B and Y&R differ on their season start dates sometimes, but their start dates are usually within a few weeks of one another.

A U.S. soap season is usually around 255 episodes.

When it was announced that BTG got a contract or promise of 200 initial episodes, that doesn't mean that the first season is 200 episodes.   I'm assuming they simply got a promise of 200 episodes.

My preliminary guess:

• Some of the initial 200 episodes would be for a short Season One that lasts 5-7 months.
• The remainder of the initial 200 episodes would kick off Season Two, with more episodes to film gradually, to fill out a full 250-episode Season Two that would go a full twelve months from Sept 2025-Sept 2026.

That was my first guess/theory when the 200-episode deal was announced months ago.

The fact that BTG has more preemptions and planned repeats than Y&R/B&B -- that throws off my theory a little bit, but not by much.
But of course, I'm just guessing about all of this.

Edited June 28Jun 28 by janea4old