April 17-21, 2006

[AgnesEckhart]

I'm glad that AMC went up. Contrary to popular belief I do want what's best for the show (I just totally disagree with pretty much every AMC fan here as to what that entails) and if the Tad/Dixie reunion had flopped, being the latest in a long, long line of flops, it would not have been good.

MEK and Cady proved that the adults are where the money is, the vets, the real actors, the rich history. Cady and MEK even got more teens watching! Imagine that...teen girls tuning in to see aged, out-of-shape MEK...why? Because CM & MEK are just so good together. Maybe T&D aren't the only reason AMC did well with teens, but I can tell you this: they weren't tuning in to see Colin Eggelsfield!

But alas it will be a temporary bump...and it happened at the worst possible time: McTavish's contract was up and, if there was any doubt as to its status, MEK and Cady just got it renewed for her.

[beachbum]

My god, you're still defending your show's ratings??? It's at its lowest ever and you're saying that NBC must be proud of those numbers. Wake up and smell the coffee honey, Days is in deep [!@#$%^&*] as is the rest of daytime.

[CCCapwell]

Interesting you forget to mention NBC had to make good with advertisers because the ratings are so low. If things are so good why did NBC have to do that? It's foolish to assume network execs don't care about one week's ratings. THEY DO! a difference of just 0.1 is a lot of MONEY! I have friends in the biz, writers, who feel pressure with the slightest rating movement. It's a bad thing network execs do because it interferes with the writers long-term story. Will NBC cancel a soap with just one bad week's ratings. No. Although to dismiss it as NBC doesn't care, you're wrong, they do!

[R!ck]

The article you are talking about if from the 4th quarter in 2005 no? Both CBS and NBC sold all of their advertising space for the 4th quarter, while ABC did not. Also, the make good situation you are referring to was an agreement from 2004, which the 3 nets still have not made good on.

I'm not oblivious to the fact that daytime as a whole is in the pits right now. Also, You cannot compare daytime to primetime shows. While a 0.1 slip in primetime ratings cause alarm and the writers are pressured to do something different. Daytime is a whole different ballgame. AMC and OLTL are currently down a great deal vs last season, are they seeing changes in the writing staff? Nope. Guiding Light hit it lowest ratings ever, are we getting staff changes? Nope!

Here is a clip of the article...

Complicating the situation is the fact that despite still owing certain advertisers makegoods from last season’s ratings shortfalls, the networks have gone out and sold $36 million worth of the available $44 million in scatter avails for the fourth quarter. That, according to media buyers, has left CBS and NBC virtually sold out in daytime. Media buyers said ABC still had some fourth-quarter avails left.

[SteveFrame]

Yes it does say that Rick. It is funny that NBC is the only one ever mentioned as having to make good to it's advertisers. The article says that "the nets are already in makegood situations". Notice it mentions all 3 networks and says the nets - not the net or NBC.

The ratings for all the shows stink.

If hitting new record lows should signal a shows cancellation then GL who has hit it or tied it a couple of times should be gone. Or if hitting 7th place should then just about all of them should be gone as AMC has it recently as have Days, ATWT, and OLTL. I think maybe GH is the only one in that middle pact that has not hit 7th place recently.

All the soaps are in danger. None of them are what they should be and they are definitely not what they used to be. And there is not just one bad show out there right now - there are several. There are at least 3 who have bad day to day writers (i.e. Days, Passions and GL). There are several who have bad head writers (i.e. AMC, OLTL, GL and GH) and one with a not so great headwriter (i.e. Days). And there is one with great day to day writers but an inconsistent headwriter (i.e. ATWT).

For most of the shows the performers are what is saving them. All the shows have those performers who can sell anything - they can take [!@#$%^&*] and turn it into diamonds. They are what keep many of us tuning in.

As far as behind the scenes, daytime needs a big influx of new blood, but I just don't see it happening anytime soon esp. with advertising dollars down for the whole genre and as this article says all 3 networks. At some point one of the network heads has got to say the status quo is not working, but I just don't know if any of them are smart enough.

Cancelling shows and making mass firings are not the answer until someone has some kind of plan in action. I for one am tired of being burned by thinking that anything has got to be better than what we have now. Hey I was one of those who said that when Malone was at OLTL the last time. I now regret ever saying that at all, because I believe Higley is 10 times worse than he was. Even at it's worst I enjoyed the show a lot more under Malone than I am now under Higley.

For the most part all of the networks have been stuck in a pattern of recycling writers for several years now and not just writers but producers too. All the ABC shows have recycled writers - 2 of them with writers that I think were fired by the shows once before. I know that McTavish was fired from AMC. NBC's both shows are written by the sometimes brilliant and many times not so brilliant James E. Reilly. And so on. Y&R is lucky now with Lynn Latham who was great in her primetime stuff but was only okay with her stint in daytime before at Passions. I am so glad that she is writing more for the show as she did on Knot's and not on Passions.

And another observation I have seen is that there are tons of former writers out there who were wonderful on their shows. They might have not been the greatest but they were good (i.e. Pamela Long, Claire Labine, Gary Tomlin, Millee Taggart, Donna Swajeski, Sherri Anderson, and many others). Sadly these are not the writers who seem to get recycled now.

And there are some good staff writers on shows who might make good head writers, but without some kind of test I don't even want to see them move up to a high position alone on a show. I got burnt when Days did that with Higley. She almost ruined the show and the show still has not fully recovered from her terrible stint.

The last several years TPTB or TIIC have made many many mistakes with their hirings and firings on the backstage forefront. Y&R made a big mistake with Jack Scott and have gotten lucky with Latham now. I still say that AMC made a big mistake bringing McT back and GH did with their writers too and OLTL definitely did with Higley. I think GL made the only decision they could make with DK (due to budget) but overall it has been a bad decision. ATWT is doing okay with Passanante but she has been too inconsistent for me. I love the show but there are times when the story ideas are not that great but the day to day writing is still some of the best in daytime.

With all the bad decisions the shows have made in the last few years - I am scared of change and rightly so. I just don't think until the networks sit down and try to figure out what is wrong and stop recycling the same old [!@#$%^&*], I don't want big changes. Big restructuring of the whole format needs to be done and all the networks need to make big changes, but they need to know what they are doing before they make them.

[DanTheMan]

I like how Y&R owns almost all the Demographics, though I don't get how they can be 1st in 18-34 yet be third in 18-49?? That must be the area where DOOL and PSSNS most shines in. I'm looking forward to the week where Y&R is #1 in everything!!! I'm sure with Victor grabbing life by the balls again this will soon happen. His increase in airtime has caused some increase in viewers, especially women 50+. It can only get better from here I hope.

[PhoenixRising05]

Great posts Steve and Rick-I agree .

[SteveFrame]

On my post above I replied to a post made by Rick which he had edited and it may or may not make sense. But the article did state as I said that all the networks had to make good and not just NBC.

Here is another article that states that all the networks are off some and all are having trouble - not just NBC.

from http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cf...e&art_aid=42177

And as far as this Make-Good thing this kind of explains what it is:

From the National Media Forum Glossary of Terms it defines a Make-Good as:

And here is an article from About.com's Advertising section in terms of Make-Good Ads and a Blackout:

Rick, Here is another article that shows all the networks are having to do the make-goods and not just NBC. It also shows that all the networks have shows that are in trouble and all have shows that are down in double digits in young viewers and it is causing big troubles with advertising for all 3 networks:

from http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_di...t_id=1001478636

[CCCapwell]

I don't believe anyone claimed it was only NBC who had to make good. Those articles you presented, clearly states NBC is down in the 18-49 demos and teen viewers. Some rush to praise Reilly when he gets DAYS to 2.9 (two weeks January 2006) but some just can't stand him getting blamed when its 2.3! You can't have it both ways!

[SteveFrame]

I don't think you heard of any of us saying that JER should not be blamed - what we are saying is that JER should not be the only one ever blamed. You do not hear the same thing said when AMC, GH or any of them drop or hit new lows. And quite a few shows have hit them.

Notice the article talked about Days but it also mentioned 4 other shows who are down double digits in those same demos.

Quote from the article:

So with that in mind then Passanante, Kreitzman, JER, Guza, and McTavish need to all be handed their walking papers this week. Because all are down double digits in key demos. And I guess since all are down the same digits the same reasoning needs to be applied and why just fire the writers just hand all them their cancellation papers because that is what everybody is hollering for Days.

[CCCapwell]

No other soap writer has been sold as a savior as Reilly was. That is why he receives the attention, especially on soap boards like this. I don't remember ever seeing a screenname QueenMegan or KingGuza, if posters want to elevate James Reilly unto a level other soap writer and producers are not, expect Reilly to be the focus of attention. This is not a slam to those who like Reilly, although to question why Reilly is the focus, its Reilly's own fans who bring him into the center stage and in doing so is why he is criticized more than some other soap writer/producer. If it was up to me most of these bastards would be fired and replaced with new talent like some on this very message board.

[SteveFrame]

I think you need to look around at some of the other postings just a little more. There are a few OLTL fans who paint Higley as teh greatest thing to hit daytime and hate anything negative being said about her. And the same goes for McTavish fans at AMC. I have read some who just absolutely worship him. And I have read a few who feel the same way about Kreitzman at GL. If you will look at the percentages the ones who think those writers are great equal the same percentage of fans who think Reilly is great.

King might have King Reilly as his nickname but I have heard King say many times about how boring Days is. I don't think JER is the greatest thing to hit Days or Passions, but I don't think he is the worst either. Higley to me was far worse and the writer who wrote the teen crap - was the next worst. I absolutely hated Days under them.

I am the first to tell you that Days can be better and that Reilly can do better but I do not think Reilly is all of Days problems but he is the one that gets all the blame. The reason I am arguing is that I just want some consitency in the arguments. NBC is the only one ever mentioned with the make-good - it is brought up almost every week in the ratings thread but every network had to do it. Days is the only one with the exception of GL and Passions who is ever cancellation called for - while the ratings experts show that Days, ATWT, GL, AMC, and GH are all down in viewers in the double digits for the last quarter. So if one is going to be cancelled or one writer is going to be fired then I want fairness and call for all the be cancelled or fired.

Then we all can come on here and talk about Y&R, B&B, OLTL, and Passions. Because if the shows that are the most down in ratings are cancelled then that is all we will be left with. Because let me tell you if they are having a hard time interesting advertisers (and the articles clearly state that) for the shows that have been on and are proven, advertisers are definitely not going to jump to advertise on an unproven new show.

[darraholic]

I agree. I love DAYS right now but I do wish Reilly would get fired. I think it would be the best for DAYS. I think firing alot of the writers would do the show good. Get some old writers back or bring in some new blood.

[OneLife Fan]

I see there is more Days fighting going on around here .

[PhoenixRising05]

Steve is right. ATWT is one of the best shows on the air right now and constantly gets praise and last week it hit a record low of 2.4 so let's go fire Jean Passanate then. I have never cared for JER. I liked his first run for sure but his second run mostly has sucked. The show could be alot better right now but its the best its been in a long while so I see it as an advancement.

The fact of the matter is soaps are in trouble. Even Y&R has dropped in numbers but it has held on the most to what it had. I think what people like me and Steve are asking is for people to stop acting like NBC is the only one with problems. They aren't. I wouldn't mind if JER got fired but it would depend who was hired. Usually the same writers are recycled and I don't want another Higley promoted since we still can't shake what she did to us. The only writers I would like to see return are B&C. I would also be interested in Sheffer. That is it. New blood would be fine but if I was Corday I would get a breakdown first of that writer's plan. Otherwise, I wouldn't make a change-not because I am a JER advocate or are making excuses for the show's ratings but because I am fearful that someone could do worse. It has happened to so many shows already in the last few years-with every change things get worse. I think too many writing changes is what has hurt soaps the most any ways since it constantly changes the show's story and feel. It becomes too choppy. JER isn't the worst writer-Higley and Langan have done far worse. McTavish and and Pratt and Guza (his second run) rank up there too along with Higley.