Yearly Guiding Light Cancellation Rumor

[DToTheJ]

Re: $25,000 Pyramid

From TV Week:

‘$25,000 Pyramid’ Contender to Replace ‘Guiding Light’

Now that show... I could see Drew Carey hosting!

 

[Studio20]

, some "GL" characters
may be merged into "As The World Turns."



Sweet.

Alan Spaulding vs ..or teaming up with...Craig Montgomery.
Philip and Beth vs Holden and Lily
Alexandra Spaulding vs Lucinda Montgomery

 

[easttxtv]

The word from CBS comes exactly 10 years to the month after NBC announced the cancellation of Another World, the last long-running soap to be cancelled. At least GL gets a little longer to wrap up (if it doesn't move to another channel) than AW did.

 

[easttxtv]

, some "GL" characters
may be merged into "As The World Turns."

They had some Another World crossovers to ATWT, but it didn't last more than 2 or 3 years overall, now 'Bay City' is hardly mentioned in Oakdale anymore.

 

[only1moore]

CBS will keep the hour for a game or talk show...

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if CBS picks up "Days" from NBC, once their contract is up.

That would make sense. Both "Days" and "Y&R" are owned by Sony. Another option could involve those rumored talks about "The Bold & The Beautiful" expanding from 30 to 60 minutes

 

[Morgan Wick]

There's a reason The Price is Right is the only daytime game show on network television to my knowledge (read: immediate recollection).

I think it's more likely that what CBS really wants to do is start its own equivalent to The View (similar to what some people think NBC had in mind with the fourth hour of Today).

 

[imhomerjay]

There's a reason The Price is Right is the only daytime game show on network television to my knowledge (read: immediate recollection).

I think it's more likely that what CBS really wants to do is start its own equivalent to The View (similar to what some people think NBC had in mind with the fourth hour of Today).

Sad, but probably true. I wouldn't wager any money on a game show getting the nod---I'll belive it when I see it.

 

[brian4]

The CBS Radio news last evening did have an item about GL's cancellation--which is where I first learned about it (and despite not being a soap fan and with all the rumors of its demise the last several years, I was still at a loss of words when I learned about CBS's decision).

I actually found out from ABC Radio news!

On Thursday 2 April CBS Evening News with Katie Couric didn't mention it. She's still in London with a mostly financial news reports.

 

[Starbucks]

Folks get over it...it's been the sign of times. Look who's home viewing daytime television even before the bad economic downturn. It's the Jerry Springer Crowd. The unemployed, the Taco bell crowd, the lower common denominator which has ransacked daytime television since Morton Downey.
Look at the sponsors, McDonalds, Trade schools for the can't get off your a** and look for a job. The National Academy of Beauty, Auto Mechanics, and Sign Twirling. Now asked yourself why most of these daytime serials and games shows and variety have been dissappearing? I'll answer that.
Since the 60's , most women stayed at home and it was a day of fictional romance , while their suburban husbands took home all the bacon. They went to their corner luncheonettes with their neighbors and discussed their favorite soap operas. By the mid 70's, more and more women went to work. Yes many from upscale neighborhoods and young career female college graduates.
Now who's left over the years to watch daytime TV from 10-4 when networks ruled the schedule? You got it...refer to paragraph 1.

 

[DToTheJ]

The CBS Radio news last evening did have an item about GL's cancellation--which is where I first learned about it (and despite not being a soap fan and with all the rumors of its demise the last several years, I was still at a loss of words when I learned about CBS's decision).

I actually found out from ABC Radio news!

On Thursday 2 April CBS Evening News with Katie Couric didn't mention it. She's still in London with a mostly financial news reports.

Even ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" made a reference to "Guiding Light's" cancellation. Yesterday, their "Happy Trails" was not for anyone in sports but to the show "ER", which aired its final episode last night (since when did Disney start producing ER?) and it was actually Michael Wilbon who mentioned "GL" going off the air in that same segment. As an aside, I've seen "PTI" bid happy birthdays to non-sports figures frequently, but this is the first that they'd done a "happy trails" to a non-sports entity.

 

[bpatrick]

, some "GL" characters
may be merged into "As The World Turns."



Sweet.

Alan Spaulding vs ..or teaming up with...Craig Montgomery.
Philip and Beth vs Holden and Lily
Alexandra Spaulding vs Lucinda Montgomery

How would you like to see Reva shake up Oakdale?

 

[bpatrick]

The New York Post online had an article
about GL's cancellation. According to it, the
latest ratings were 1.6 overall/0.9 among women
18-49. Draw your own conclusions.

 

[bpatrick]

I should emphasize that a "GL"/"ATWT" merger of
characters is just one possibilty P&G is exploring,
if "GL" can't find a new home. Frankly, I've
always wondered why the two shows, both produced
by P&G, never did crossovers. The Bell shows, and
certainly the three ABC shows, have done their share
of crossovers.

One thing I'm willing to bet: whether "Pyramid" gets
the 3 PM (ET) slot in most markets, or something else
does, CBS is not going to let "General Hospital"
run unopposed. It usually ranks third or fourth, and
its ratings could go through the roof if CBS gave back
the time, as NBC does, with a possible domino effect on
"All My Children" and "One Life To Live." That's just my
opinion.

 

[azumanga]

Just for kicks, let's go back 40 years ago. 1969. ABC programmed 4.5 hours of daytime. Today, four. Wow, that's sure a huge abandonment (and never mind the de-facto network programming on the O&Os with the Disney syndicated fare). CBS programmed 6, today 4.5. (Two hours of that 6? Sitcom reruns.)

And lest we forget NBC. In 1969 -- 6 hours, mostly game shows and soaps. 2009 -- 2 hours (the fourth hour of the Today show and "Days").

 

[easttxtv]

I should emphasize that a "GL"/"ATWT" merger of
characters is just one possibilty P&G is exploring,
if "GL" can't find a new home. Frankly, I've
always wondered why the two shows, both produced
by P&G, never did crossovers. The Bell shows, and
certainly the three ABC shows, have done their share
of crossovers.

There were a few over the years, mostly indirect, and involving Another World. Michael (Gary Pillar) and Hope Bauer (Elissa Leeds) came from GL to AW's Bay City for a while in the 1960s; and earlier in the 2000s, after the AW-ATWT crossovers played themselves out, Cass (Stephen Schnetzer, who had already been on ATWT several times as Cass) came from Bay City to Springfield to represent someone on GL who was in legal trouble (BTW: Schnetzer was the 2nd to play a lawyer on 3 different P&G soaps... Geoffrey Lumb was 'Mitchell Dru' on ATWT, The Brighter Day, and AW) . Springfield was (I think) mentioned on ATWT at least once: there was an airport terminal scene where the Oakdale airport showed departure points/statuses to other well-known soap spots (I'm not positive, but other non-P&G soap settings might have been listed (?) ). I'm not sure why there weren't more Springfield-Oakdale direct crossovers either over the years.

 

[bpatrick]

I once saw a highway mileage sign on "ATWT,"
giving the distances to Oakdale, Springfield, and
Bay City, and while I don't remember the specific
numbers, I know they weren't very far apart.
I also remember when some of the kids at Oakdale
High were going to Springfield for a basketball game;
apparently this was a big rivalry, but it never went
beyond this mere mention.

The character of Mike Bauer moved from "GL" to
"AW" for a time to defend a character on the latter
show who was on trial, probably for murder.

 

[DToTheJ]

Here are the ratings for soap operas for the week ending March 27th:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/04/03/soap-opera-ratings-for-march-23-27-2009/15917

I don't blame CBS for canceling "Guiding" one bit. Look at all the categories they come in last in. They're even last in male viewers, lol.

In most categories, "GL" is neck-and-neck with its lead-in, "As The World Turns", for the cellar. It wouldn't surprise me if "ATWT" is the next soap to go.

 

[Board Editor]

MOVED: TIO: Yearly Guiding Light Cancellation Rumor

Some posts in this thread have been moved to Take It Outside.

[iurl=http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=124110.0]http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=124110.0[/iurl]

 

[bpatrick]

CBS should move Letterman to that slot. That would beat NBC to the punch of having Leno on at 10PM nightly!

Way to think outside the box!

Would it be out of the question for CBS to start airing "Dr. Phil" as a daily program across their network? CBS does co-produce the show - but it's probably a lucrative one for them at that, so I guess if it ain't broke...

It's been done already. NBC had Letterman at 10 AM in the summer
of 1980 and he failed miserably. He had the same problem Steve Allen,
Jack Paar, and Dick Cavett had before him: you have to watch
Letterman, and many people are distracted with other things at 10
in the morning. And I don't know if 3 PM would be any better; there
was a time when kids would rush home from school to catch a pre-
"Tonight Show" Johnny Carson on "Who Do You Trust?"--50 years ago.

 

[bpatrick]

I'm still surprised that CBS would cancel Guiding Light. I don't think the ratings were ever below a 1. Most weeks they were between 1.5 and 1.7 and had actually shown an increase since Grant Alexsander who played Phillip came back from the dead. I believe the lowest weekly rating GL ever got was a 1.4.

I'm not sure what CBS can replace it with that would get higher ratings, but of course today it is more about cheaper production costs than ratings as we see by NBC's Jay Leno move. I hope they don't turn the time back over to the affiliates. We are now starting to see the dreaded infomercials show up during weekday daytime hours in some markets. It is a bad trend to me when major network affiliates start showing paid programming during weekdays in the middle of the day. WKRG, CBS station in Mobile, now shows informercials from 9 am to 10 am. This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

Some of the Media General stations have infomercials disguised as
a talk show under the title "Daytime" (WKRG may be one of those
carrying it); Gannett-owned KUSA Denver has the same thing with
"Colorado & Company," while sister station WXIA has "Atlanta & Company."
The Atlanta show airs at 11 AM, against "The View" on WSB; I once asked
someone on this board which of the two he thinks is worse; he picked "Atlanta &
Company."

Is this, nevertheless, the future of daytime?