A new low in daytime television

[MBird]

Summertime was always the teenagers at home, air conditioner running, while soap operas ruled the airwaves with love in the afternoon.

A distress signal from the Soap Opera Network board -- soap operas in the last week of July have reached shockingly new lows. Emergency decisions behind the scenes (Ed Scott, a Y&R fixture from 1976 until today, new co-EP at Days of our Lives?) are now the rule, and not the exception.

In a month, NBC will have one daytime program on its schedule besides iVillage Live, which is a talk show. Sad. CBS, after 20 years as the crown jewel, is tanking. ABC is looking good by these standards, but there's backstage drama over there as well (the digital FilmLook process being used at All My Children, for one).

Here are the shocking numbers.


Ratings for the week July 30 - August 3, 2007
(Compared to Last Week/Compared to Last Year)

Total Viewers
1. Y&R 5,283,000 (-216,000/-360,000)
2. B&B 3,381,000 (-344,000/-723,000) <----- new low
[EDIT]

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[arnoldevns]

Two thoughts:

1. the numbers aren't that bad in the context of a 500 channel universe.

2. with so many other choices and entertainment options - including the internet - it's to be expected that the overall numbers would drop.

The networks have to decide what works best for them. NBC has decided against soap operas with the exception of Days. Aside from that one show, NBC has had a real problem being competitive with soaps. It's not a surprise that they've decided to add more Today and shows like ivillage live.

CBS and ABC both have some challenges, but still remain pretty competitive with their daytime fare. I wouldn't look for them to ditch soaps anytime soon.

 

[FightingIrish]

In a month, NBC will have one daytime program on its schedule besides iVillage Live, which is a talk show. Sad. CBS, after 20 years as the crown jewel, is tanking. ABC is looking good by these standards, but there's backstage drama over there as well (the digital FilmLook process being used at All My Children, for one).

A little off-topic, but you did answer a question that had been burning in my mind lately. I happened to flip through the channels not too long ago, and happened across All My Children. The first thing I noticed was the look of the picture. Now, I'm a bit of a rube on this stuff, but I do know that there's no way they're shooting that show with film. I assumed it was some kind of digital video/hi-def. The FilmLook explanation does make sense. Doing a little quick research, I found that it's been used quite a bit by the BBC, and in some U.S. shows like Arrested Development. Personally, I like the look, as it appears quite different than the other soaps out there. But I'm sure there are die-hard fans who detest it.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Going back to the point about a 500 channel universe, could it be that the drop in ratings for soaps is subsidized by few a sister stations that those viewers may have gone to?

Don't forget the DVR viewers that now get their fix when they want.
Do they count in the ratings at all?
I would be nervous to include them, since they just fast forward through the ads anyway.

 

[anotherguyTN]

With all this how are the ratings for The Price is Right, with Bob Barker's retirement? I guess there will be a spike when Drew Carey takes over, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the long run.

 

[genius]

Actually I think Young and the Restless hit a 3.8 a few weeks ago. Anyways, the reason for that show's decline: bad writing! In all of it's 34 years the show has gone from classy to trashy. Not only did they kill off characters like John and Dru, but now they have that girl from Bold and the Beautiful with a campy story about pornography addiction! I know when Bell was still alive he wrote some rather kinky stuff back in the day(Brad locked in a cage and babied by his crazy ex-wife, Michael living in Christine's closet) but at least it was well written.

I should add that Ed Scott was fired by the new lady, Lynn Marie Latham earlier this year.

 

[MBird]

The low numbers may represent changing tastes and times, or even the role of daytime network television in a 500-channel universe.

BUT...

In my view, the quality of production (say, lighting and set design) on soap operas may have improved, but the quality of writing, acting, and directing seems to be headed in the opposite direction.

The same writers cycle around to every show several times, and rewrite stories that worked on another show. There are only, what, seven or eight stories to tell?

I think Colleen Zenk Pinter (As The World Turns' Barbara) said that the only stories were either from the Bible or Shakespeare. That's about right. But we can take the same things over and over if it is presented with integrity.

Personally, I have a problem with the violent content on some shows. It is disturbing to eat lunch and see someone be knifed to death. I prefer the old days of the 1980s, when we had gratuitous sex scenes, as opposed to the gory stuff we see so often today. Come on, this ain't CSI.

My point is -- give the people quality and they will come. Why is Young & Restless #1 for the 20th year running? Bill Bell and Co. designed that show for success. The directing, lighting, camera work, music direction -- it all worked with great writing, acting, and directing. I realize it is changing lately, but when I think of "soap opera", Y&R has been the gold standard.

The exciting news is that with Ed Scott at the helm of Days of our Lives, we may see some great changes on that show. I was a lifelong viewer of that show until it became so unrecognizable that I couldn't take it. The day Marlena stabbed Doug in the cemetery was it for me. I had been watching those two characters my whole life, and here they were acting out another crazy James E. Reilly plot. Reilly is a smart, creative guy - but I think he was grasping at straws on this last visit to DOOL. He just about ruined the entire program.

Another thing..the Procter and Gamble shows are the ones I mostly follow, and I fear for their security in today's daytime landscape. Will CBS cancel Guiding Light or As The World Turns if the ratings go any lower? When these programs leave the airwaves, daytime will bear little resemblance to its former self.

 

[bostonmediaguy]

Another thing..the Procter and Gamble shows are the ones I mostly follow, and I fear for their security in today's daytime landscape. Will CBS cancel Guiding Light or As The World Turns if the ratings go any lower? When these programs leave the airwaves, daytime will bear little resemblance to its former self.

"Guiding Light" has been on its last legs for 10+ years. It's time to put it out of its misery and return the time to local stations.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

The networks have to decide what works best for them. NBC has decided against soap operas with the exception of Days. Aside from that one show, NBC has had a real problem being competitive with soaps. It's not a surprise that they've decided to add more Today and shows like ivillage live.

One thing -- ivillage Live is NOT an NBC network show. It only airs on the NBC owned-and-operated stations. I'm not sure if it's going into wider syndication this year, but it's a terrible program nonetheless.

 

[bpatrick]

If you look at GL, all the action seems to take place
in one setting: the Beacon apartments (or boarding
house or whatever it is); a large number of characters
are teenagers (I recognize maybe seven characters now:
Josh, Reva, Billy, Alan, Buzz, Harley, and Frank). They
even held the Fourth of July Bauer barbecue downtown!
I wonder how longtime fans reacted to that? And the
show has gotten so cheap they can't seem to furnish
Harley and Gus's place.

I have one suggestion: if NBC cancels Days Of Our Lives,
CBS should cancel GL, pick up Days, and rearrange its
schedule if it has to (Days and Y&R have long been owned,
at least in part, by the same studio: Columbia, or whatever
they're calling it now).

 

[imhomerjay]

An earlier post mentioned bad writing on Y&R. I watched that show through college most of the time (that's the way my classes tended to fall), and recently had a couple of days off and checked it out again lo these many years later. I'd suggest the writing is better now than it was then. Granted, that's not the highest praise, but, still, the dialogue was faster paced and seemd less stiff than it did years ago. Characters talked more like real people.

As for a porn addiction storyline, I don't see the problem. That kind of stuff happens--why not let it be part of a story?

Overall, of course network daytime ratings are down. More choices and fewer people to hit during that time. Comparing today's ratings to a decade ago or more is absurd. It's a different universe.

 

[Studio20]

RE: the beacon and cedars...

They do this for one reason: Money. The show has access to about four sets, two of which are the Beacon and Cedars Hospital.The other two sets are changed as needed. This took place about a year and a half ago, remember both As The World Turns and Guiding Light did a lot of outdoor shooting as both shows changed studios.
..and don't forget all the wee ones that Beth and Harley have that are hardly ever seen.

Instead of introducing new characters fresh off the canvas, theyre simply reproducing in house families or bringing back b-listers like Dylan...

 

[bpatrick]

Re Guiding Light's money problems: believe me,
it shows.

GL and ATWT are both money-losers for Procter
& Gamble. Why does the company even continue
to bother with them?

 

[briancraig]

Do you know for a fact that Guiding Light and As The World Turns lose money or are you just assuming that must be the case?

 

[bpatrick]

No, it's a fact. Indeed, P&G has little to do
with the production of the two shows anymore;
most production decisions come from CBS now.
But P&G has pink-slipped a number of actors on
the two shows (especially on GL) in the last couple
of years in an effort to cut costs, which is why you
see so many teenagers on their shows now: they
don't have to pay them as much. Also, about a
year or so ago P&G pink-slipped several production
people as well. The reason the company gave:
they were losing money on both shows.

 

[bpatrick]

I might add that money problems are not
confined to the two P&G soaps. For a
perceptive look at why soaps are losing
money and not attracting younger viewers,
go to www.soapcentral.com. There's an
article on the past, present, and future of
soaps that you may find interesting.

 

[easttxtv]

Another reason Guiding Light has used fewer sets, I've read, is that their current studio space (CBS Broadcast Center) is smaller than the previous facility they used (EUE/Screen Gems, also used in the past by Edge of Night and Search for Tomorrow), which was a way to cut the show's budget in itself.

I've read in the recent past that Sony had ordered some kind of budget cuts for Y&R and Days as well; not sure if they were losing money at the time or just wanted to run a leaner, tighter ship.

I've seen many past postings on the former World of Soap Themes board about how As the World Turns has been getting away with showing characters' homes less in the last few years...most character interactions seem to take place collectively at a nightclub, a diner, the Lakeview, Oakdale's hospital, police station, or someplace similar. No one seems to have a home or a home-life from what the posters say.

Kinda sad to see the trend, even though $$ supposedly needs to be saved. They want viewers to watch, but there's little to ground the characters when fewer sets are used.

 

[bpatrick]

It's almost a wonder any of the networks are
continuing with soaps; the ratings today are
about on the level of the last years of radio
soaps (1956-60); in fact, when the radio
"GL" ended in 1956, its rating was 3.6, nearly
twice what it's getting on television today.

By the mid-1960s about the only daytime network
radio shows (aside from hourly newscasts and NBC's
five-minutes-every-hour "Emphasis") were in the
mornings: Don McNeill's "Breakfast Club" on ABC
and Arthur Godfrey on CBS. The rest of the day
went to the affiliates. Could it be that the future
of network daytime is expanded news shows (like
"Today") in the morning, followed by affiliate time
all afternoon?

 

[pkffrom724]

This is a very interesting scenario. Right now, I am puzzled as to what my local NBC affiliate (WPXI-11, Pittsburgh, currently airing at 3 PM, weekdays), will they do about Days when NBC adds its 4th hour of the TODAY show on September 10th. How much time does NBC have left with Days anyway?

 

[FloydB]

I doubt they'll be on much longer, as they'll all probably move to the Soap Opera Channel. The Saturday morning and weekday afternoon cartoons moved aside after the start of the Cartoon Network and the like. I used to love to watch "An Evening At the Improv" and "Caroline's Comedy Hour" (on A&E, I think), but they were cancelled after the 24hr comedy channels (Ha! and The Comedy Channel) started, then merged to become Comedy Central.