July 24-28, 2006

[PhoenixRising05]

It may happen before that. Y&R, Days, GL, and Passions are the only shows not falling. ATWT is being a little more consistent now but they are still in the middle of the pack. I can see Days beating B&B before Hogan takes over the way things are going since I am thinking B&B will be in the 2's relatively soon. I also think GL may beat an ABC soap, hopefully GH but probably OLTL.

It should be an interesting few weeks of numbers to say the least. The summer has been bad for pretty much all the shows but the five I mentioned above so we may see some surprises coming up IMO.

[King]

I think EVERYONE reading this should watch GL and TELL EVERYONE to watch GL and get the buzz going ALL OVER for GL and just for like two weeks BOOST GL's ratings enough to beat OLTL or AMC, and then tune out again.

[RogerNewcomb]

Is anyone here a Nielsen family or is anyone you know? I wish there was a system to measure what people are really watching versus a small sample size. It may statistically significant but I still don't buy it. With today's technology, they should be able to tell what everyone is watching without doing a sample like this.

[KBT]

ICAM Roger! If I were head of daytime I would be fighting for a new way to tally these ratings and wouldnt stop until something changed. Its pitiful with today's technology that there isnt a better ratings system in place.

[AbFabGL4ever7]

Happy that Y&R and GL have stayed consistant. ATWT should be higher cause it's really good. I think P&G should see ABCD slump and go in for the kill.

For starters, GL bring back Edmund so we can start the next Winslow clan...... Olivia/Ava/Edmund would be great. Bringing back Sebastian and Holly would give Reva a break. Bring the real Spauldings back (including Amanda and Vicky), Soras Kevin & Jason Marler, Soras Zack, Jude, & Clairissa. Add Danny, Michelle, Ed, Marah, & Shayne to the mix and GL will have enough characters and core familes to rejuvinate Springfield once again.

I know they have a budget to follow, but they need to at least give them enough to revamp the show. P&G and CBS needs to at least do that. New HeadWriter would be on the top of my list though then work down from there.

[Hartless]

ITA, all the ABC soaps are going down the tubes, and OLTL looks like it'll be the first. A 2.3? Yikes.

I wish ATWT was higher, though I didn't think that week was so great. And good for Y&R.

[cal3]

GL at 2.2 consistently? What's to keep OL from joining them? They've been pushing the same stories and the same agenda for months and the show's been dropping. Why would people start watching now?

[Bree]

This is good news for DAYS. An increasing focused approach on more traditional storytelling, combined with the return of Stephen and Mary Beth has done wonders. Let's hope this keeps up when Hogan takes over.

ABCD is totally in the shitter now. Serves them right.

[jpoliver78]

One of the problems of ABC Daytime (in addition to subpar writing) is the promotion. A quick visit to the "General Hospital" site on ABC.com directs a user to get acquanted with the "teen scene" of the soap.

Those featured are Ben Hogestyn (Lucas), Julie Marie Berman (Lulu), Kirsten Storms (Maxie), Lindze Letherman (Georgia), Scott Clifton (Dillon) and Ignacio Serricchio (Diego). What's the problem with this web advertisement? These actors/characters are rarely ever featured. That is especially glaring since most soaps give their younger actors more face time during the summer months.

Sisters Maxie and Georgie rarely share any screen time, while Georgie and her ex-husband Dillon are seen together even more rarely. Lulu and Diego are also often MIA, while Lucas is lucky to been showcased once a month. It is ironic that ABC.com would advertise characters that are rarely ever utilized.

While these actors/characters may not deserve to be prominently featured, but they should be on screen if the network is going to promote them.

Personally, if a soap can afford to have numerous characters that can be absent for days, or in Lucas's case weeks, they don't serve a real purpose. With all the belt tightening occuring on soaps, perhaps moving these rarely used characters off the canvas is a more attractive alternative.

[allatwitter]

Months? OLTL has had the same stories running for two years and still there is no end in sight. People can tune out for months and come back to find nothing has happened.

[rsmith2k2]

As much as I personally want McTravesty's AMC ratings to tank, I can't but be happy that all of ABCD is suffering.

It makes one wonder. Since Fronsie's put so much time and effort into synergy between the shows, branding them as one uniform ABCD entity, including sharing similar/exact and simultaneous themes amongst his soaps in an effort to bring in the ratings to ABCD that if his plan goes awry it could pull ALL ABCD soaps down simultaneously in the ratings.

Could his synergistic gimmickry for ratings gold turn into a ratings black hole for all three shows? Sorry 'bout the mixed metaphors, there. We know the similar writing styles the over-arching themes in stories (for my show, I've called it the GHification of AMC which is outside of McT's own special brand of twisted sickness) are already a Fronsie staple for all 3 soaps which is another contributing factor, imo.

Tankety-tank-tank. *insert ABCD HW here* and Fronise...Got. To. Go!

[alwaysAMC]

I'm a perfect example of this...

I haven't been able to watch OLTL since May and the only parts I catch are the 2 min. after AMC that my tape catches....and every episode this summer has started with Rex and Adriana on the beach and a stalker....everything I catch from the show is a repeat of what I see everyday. It's gross. That show needs a major overhaul!

[EricaKane4life]

I didn't know the ABC shows had to share a common theme.

No wonder they're tanking.

Each of those shows used to have its own distinct flavor as I recall.

[rsmith2k2]

I think it's been a campaign of Fronsie's since his arrival and the individual flavors of the shows have been diminished. I wouldn't go so far as saying they "have to share a common theme" but there are duplicated and copy cat themes (I think the Jonathan Lavery and Manny storyline were compared a lot). I think perhaps the darkness, the attitudes towards women (lots of violations flying around), a glaring lack of diversity, pushing criminals as heros, propping characters who've been annoited by the corporation at the expense of the overall show and cast, blah, blah, you've heard it all a thousand times before.

With Fronsie, the marketing drives the content, not the other way around. It's a short-sighted, short-term gain, long-term pain philosophy, imo because story and character MUST be the foundation of soaps. While I admire his work in trying to promote daytime and bring into the new milenneum how soaps are marketed and forward leaning in terms of alternative sources of revenue (SOAPnet, product placement, etc) he's going about all ass backwards.

I think he's astonishingly ignorant and retro about diversity issues. I know what he says about his focus group numbers but playing into people's ignorance and actively ignoring social responsiblity...bad idea for the good of the longterm brand, imo.