Official: NBC cancels soap Rumor: GMA to three hours?

[genius]

Variety has confirmed Passions cancellation. They say that NBC will shop the show to Soapnet and MyNetworkTV and other outlets to try to keep it alive in some form.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957538.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

And it seems there may be rumors that ABC may be expanding Good Morning America...The expansion of the Today Show to four hours has ABC thinking about expanding Good Morning America to three hours by this summer. ABC's plan is to cancel one hour of daytime programming and give it to the locals in exchange for snatching up the lucrative 9am slot that GMA will take.

 

[BDBopper]

Then what happens to Regis & Kelly or is that program syndicated?

 

[imhomerjay]

Then what happens to Regis & Kelly or is that program syndicated?

It's syndicated, though many ABC O&O's have it.

 

[RALfan]

No! No! No on expanded morning shows!!! What the...?! Forgive me, people, but I am so angry over this. Is it me, or are the networks planning on completely ruling morning television and in the process running it into the ground?

 

[Mediafrog+]

Is it me, or are the networks planning on completely ruling morning television and in the process running it into the ground?

It could be worse. What if CBS decided on a third of fourth hour of "The Early Show" ? ;D

 

[marko83]

CBS would get better ratings showing Walter Cronkite eating his morning mush.

 

[JayR]

Then what happens to Regis & Kelly or is that program syndicated?

It's syndicated, though many ABC O&O's have it.

As well as some ABC affiliates, like WZVN. They air "Regis & Kelly" live from 09:00-10:00.
WZVN also airs a local newscast at 10:00.

 

[bpatrick]

I suppose, theoretically, Regis & Kelly could
air live at 10 AM (ET), but why mess with the
number-three ranked talk show (behind Oprah
and Dr. Phil)?

"The View" is hot right now, and even though
ABC has reason to be concerned with the
ratings for "All My Children" and "One Life To
Live," I don't know that either is a candidate
for the boneyard, meaning that I don't know
which hour ABC would give back to the affiliates
if "GMA" went to three hours (does one of the
two soaps get canceled, "General Hospital" move
to 2, and the affiliates get back 3-4?).

Nothing about that particular rumor makes sense.

As for CBS, why mess with a winning lineup (and
that includes "Guiding Light," which isn't winning
its timeslot--at least at 3--but has been doing
better lately)? There is absolutely NO reason to
expand "The Early Show'" to three hours...who
watches it anyway?

 

[Baldecki]

IT should be interesting with this 4th hour of TODAY. The NBC station here in rochester ny, WHEC-TV, has Regis And Kelly and has had it for years and years now, more than 11 years. Well what they do is show Regis and Kelly from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Then they show the final hour of today from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, but it is tape delayed. It will be interesting to see what happens with TODAY has the 4th hour. When TODAY first came out with the 3rd hour, Regis and Kelly was moved to 10AM to 11 AM, but i guess ratings on the local station were down and they quickly moved it back to its normal time slot.

 

[ShawnHill1]

I just don't see ABC expanding Good Morning America to three hours and eliminating one of its midday slots to make it happen. The only way I see it happening (and it's rather far-fetched), is if GMA goes from 6-9am, and purge ABC's early morning newscast (whatever it's called now, I know it's not World News This Morning anymore) onto GMA. Again, I'm not sure about the GMA expansion, although I keep hearing the rumors about Regis and Kelly possibly splitting (with Regis retiring). It's not eliminating The View, even though (for now still) The Price is Right is king of their timeslot, nor the soaps, and I know that the individual stations aren't giving back the Noon ET/11am CT/PT hour to the network, with the local news and/or syndicated product.

 

[Irishfl]

Then what happens to Regis & Kelly or is that program syndicated?

Altough not on ABC in ever market, since its flagship station is WABC itself, it would probably move to 10:00AM anyway.

This would also give the view a better lead in (in the markets that Live with R&K air on ABC), instead of the current syndicated reck that gets replaced every 2 years most ABC stations air at 10:00

 

[tothedj]

I think NBC and ABC should keep their morning shows at two hours, most of
the afffilates of these networks would like to retain some local programming
and not alter their schedules, especially if they are contracted to carry shows
like, "Live With Regis & Kelly" or others, but if "The Today Show" is planning
four hours, what NBC ought to consider doing is moving "Days Of Our Lives"
to 11:00 AM in all time zones, and then their affilates could program local &
sydnicated shows from 12 Noon until 5:30 or 6:30pm, as for "Good Morning
America", if it goes three hours, cancel "The View", which would give ABC
affilates three hours of local avail on the East Coast and two hours in the
other time zones during the day before the daytime dramas airs.

 

[dave73]

In Chicago, WLS-TV airs Oprah at 9am CST & The View at 10am CST. Oprah does well in the 9am slot that WLS-TV doesn't want to cause Oprah to sink in the ratings, just to make room for another hour of GMA. But then again, WLS-TV is an ABC O&O station. As for WMAQ-TV, I don't know what to say about them. Their morning lineup after Today is boring. I don't watch Martha Stewart, or Megan Mullaly. Days of Our Lives was moved to 2pm CST some time ago. They were at 1pm. I wonder how long this version of Passions has been on the air. I remember the first time, which was in 1989, NBC had Passions on before, and only lasted 1 season, at least in Chicago. Makes me wonder if NBC is having trouble competing in the daytime soap opera category that they're slowly getting rid of soap operas.

 

[1069_KIFR]

The local O/O station here in the Bay Area, KNTV aka NBC11, airs their local moring news at 10AM followed by Martha. I wonder if they will move Martha for their news at 11AM. Then that would pit them against the ABC7 11AM news (KGO-TV, ABC O/O).

 

[network]

People...people...people. Some of you are not thinking this out.

NBC is not mandating that affiliates take all 4 hours of "Today". It is available, if they wish. The main reason NBC is expanding "Today" another hour is because many of the NBC affiliates struggle in the 10am ET hour. So, this is essentially to help them out. The availability of syndicated fare that actually works is very skeletal. If there are NBC affiliates that have strong programming, they are not going to dump it just to carry "Today". As you seem, some networks tape-delay "Today".

The same would go for ABC as well, IF the network decided to expand GMA to 3 hours. But then again, many of the ABC affiliates are not in the same boat as NBC's. Here in Cleveland for example, the ABC affiliate carries "Regis and Kelly" at 9am ET, "Martha" at 10am ET and then ABC's "The View" at 11am. A very strong 3 hours for them (and they win timeslots at 9 and 10am). If many of the ABC's stations carry strong programming like this, you will see them putting up a fight to give up ANY of that time. Plus, ABC would also have to consider if it's really worth expanding to 3 hours if many of their stations don't have a problem with programming between GMA and "The View."

Remember, the main reason NBC decided to expand "Today" to a 4th hour is because of struggling ratings on their affiliates.

 

[bpatrick]

In Chicago, WLS-TV airs Oprah at 9am CST & The View at 10am CST. Oprah does well in the 9am slot that WLS-TV doesn't want to cause Oprah to sink in the ratings, just to make room for another hour of GMA. But then again, WLS-TV is an ABC O&O station. As for WMAQ-TV, I don't know what to say about them. Their morning lineup after Today is boring. I don't watch Martha Stewart, or Megan Mullaly. Days of Our Lives was moved to 2pm CST some time ago. They were at 1pm. I wonder how long this version of Passions has been on the air. I remember the first time, which was in 1989, NBC had Passions on before, and only lasted 1 season, at least in Chicago. Makes me wonder if NBC is having trouble competing in the daytime soap opera category that they're slowly getting rid of soap operas.

KABC Los Angeles runs Regis & Kelly at 9, followed by The View
at 10. I doubt if they want to mess with that lineup.

As for KNTV, the competitive situation in San Francisco may be
different from Los Angeles, but KNBC and KABC go head-to-head
with local news from 11-12 (KCBS does 30 minutes, then starts
Young And The Restless at 11:30). So it may be possible
for KNTV to go head-to-head with KGO as well.

 

[genius]

. I wonder how long this version of Passions has been on the air. I remember the first time, which was in 1989, NBC had Passions on before, and only lasted 1 season, at least in Chicago. Makes me wonder if NBC is having trouble competing in the daytime soap opera category that they're slowly getting rid of soap operas.

Actually your thinking of Generations, the black-oriented soap set in Chicago that ran on NBC from 1989-1991. Passions didn't begin until 1999, two seperate shows. Although NBC daytime has had success, when compared to CBS and ABC, they haven't had that many long-running successful shows. (Only five really, Another World, Days of Our Lives, The Doctors, Santa Barbara, and Passions, where as CBS has at least 10 and ABC has at least eight). And for the most part, except for Days of our Lives(and AW in the '70s), NBC soaps have always suffered in the ratings.

So yes, NBC has always had trouble competing in daytime, hence why they are the most trigger-happy network. Santa Barbara won three best show Emmys in a row...cancelled. Search For Tomorrow, a prestigous long-running soap that NBC acquired...cancelled. Sunset Beach, Aaron Spelling's venture into daytime starring Lesley Anne-Down...cancelled.

 

[mostb1]

In Chicago, WLS-TV airs Oprah at 9am CST & The View at 10am CST. Oprah does well in the 9am slot that WLS-TV doesn't want to cause Oprah to sink in the ratings, just to make room for another hour of GMA. But then again, WLS-TV is an ABC O&O station. As for WMAQ-TV, I don't know what to say about them. Their morning lineup after Today is boring. I don't watch Martha Stewart, or Megan Mullaly. Days of Our Lives was moved to 2pm CST some time ago. They were at 1pm. I wonder how long this version of Passions has been on the air. I remember the first time, which was in 1989, NBC had Passions on before, and only lasted 1 season, at least in Chicago. Makes me wonder if NBC is having trouble competing in the daytime soap opera category that they're slowly getting rid of soap operas.

KABC Los Angeles runs Regis & Kelly at 9, followed by The View
at 10. I doubt if they want to mess with that lineup.

As for KNTV, the competitive situation in San Francisco may be
different from Los Angeles, but KNBC and KABC go head-to-head
with local news from 11-12 (KCBS does 30 minutes, then starts
Young And The Restless at 11:30). So it may be possible
for KNTV to go head-to-head with KGO as well.

KNBC no longer has a full hour of news from 11-12. They only run a half-hour from 11-11:30 AM then run the in-house produced (taped) fluff show "yourLA" from 11:30-12. This may change soon with Megan Mullally at 3 PM being off the schedule within days.

 

[mostb1]

People...people...people. Some of you are not thinking this out.

NBC is not mandating that affiliates take all 4 hours of "Today". It is available, if they wish. The main reason NBC is expanding "Today" another hour is because many of the NBC affiliates struggle in the 10am ET hour. So, this is essentially to help them out. The availability of syndicated fare that actually works is very skeletal. If there are NBC affiliates that have strong programming, they are not going to dump it just to carry "Today". As you seem, some networks tape-delay "Today".

The same would go for ABC as well, IF the network decided to expand GMA to 3 hours. But then again, many of the ABC affiliates are not in the same boat as NBC's. Here in Cleveland for example, the ABC affiliate carries "Regis and Kelly" at 9am ET, "Martha" at 10am ET and then ABC's "The View" at 11am. A very strong 3 hours for them (and they win timeslots at 9 and 10am). If many of the ABC's stations carry strong programming like this, you will see them putting up a fight to give up ANY of that time. Plus, ABC would also have to consider if it's really worth expanding to 3 hours if many of their stations don't have a problem with programming between GMA and "The View."

Remember, the main reason NBC decided to expand "Today" to a 4th hour is because of struggling ratings on their affiliates.

All NBC O&O's will air it. They clear everything from the network. NBC wouldn't produce the show if it wasn't expecting the majority of its affiliates to air it.

It's quite obvious that ABC is exploring a future beyond "The View" which will soon implode. Without the Donald vs. Rosie controversy this week in the news, overnights have been the lowest in weeks.

 

[rch66]

Then what happens to Regis & Kelly or is that program syndicated?

It's syndicated, though many ABC O&O's have it.

It's syndicated by Buena Vista, which Disney also owns - thus, Disney has a stake in the show and wouldn't want to see it adversely affected.

If GMA expands, it's either if:
-Regis retires.
-Or agrees to be live at the 10AM EST slot instead. Rachael Ray, by CBS Paramount, moves to WCBS/KYW.
-Or, Barbara Walters decides to retire The View, and Regis and Rachael move 1 hour later on WABC/WPVI, assuming Regis show becomes live at 10AM EST also.
*In Chicago, the 3rd hour of GMA may not be aired at all, as WLS wouldn't want to affect the Oprah live at 9am CST.

Too many complications for a GMA expansion.

Although Disney/ABC might be exploring a future beyond The View or Regis, it is a lot harder finding a success. There were numerous shows before, by ABC daytime, and by Buena Vista, which weren't successful. NBC and CBS has tried several shows in daytime also. If the existing lineup isn't struggling, why mess with it.

Right now, The View's ratings are up, Rachael's show has proven successful as well, and it is unlikely Rachael will move to WCBS, as WABC provides a better lead-in morning programs - the reason CBS seemed to submissively pass the show to rival WABC/WPVI in the east coast. With that said, I'm sure if Ellen had clearances on ABC owned stations, it'd likely be doing better than it is on the rivaling NBC owned stations.