Slightly OT: ABC has killed the soap - AMC/OLTL GONE

[Taeylor Collins]

THANK YOU Lydia for the article. Great shot indeed!

Brian--I am so sorry my friend.  Soaps are such a heritage.  Although no one in my family watched GH, I always had been eager to learn anything about TV History so I found out about Laura and Luke and was able to see the episodes from the 70's.  So when they returned I tuned in 1993. I have been watching 18 years. 

If anything "GOOD" can come out of it I hope they can focus more on GH and make sure another Soap isn't cancelled.

It truly makes me heartsick..

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wow:

Hoover pulls ads from ABC due to cancellation of 'All My Children' and 'One Life to Live'

Not that there's a high probability that their campaign will be successful, but talk about a sponsor making a statement.

If only one of DS' sponsors had been so bold...

[David]

I have a gut feeling that AMC & OLTL will get saved: the outcry has been unexpected and intense, with thge Writer's Guild condeming the cancellations and a major ABC advertiser pulling out over the soaps' demises.

ABC Daytime head Brian Frons has been killing the genre intentionally, and now it's biting him in the butt.

[Nancy]

No, the he campaign will not be successful - the decline of the soap opera audience translates into overall less advertisers/sponsors.  The fact that there is such an intense reaction from those soap opera fans isn't surprising, in fact, to be expected.  Unfortunately, this turn of events was a long time coming.  I feel badly for the fans of the two soaps in question.

Nancy

[David]

OLTL star Robin Strasser and a former ABC executive just publicly accused Brian Frons of intentionally trying to destroy these two shows and Soapnet along with it!
Dancing With the Stars ratings dropped by 13% because of the growing ABC boycott.
A second advertizer, Hershey's, is considering pulling out of ABC.

This is certainly unprecedented. The Daytime Emmys will be very interesting this year!

As for DS reruns, I've no doubt it'll return to the airwaves when the film comes out. Retro themed channels Me TV and Antenna TV have both gotten a lot of requests for it.

[Nancy]

The Hoover "boycott" of ABC is a brilliant piece of marketing strategy, IMO. The way they are taking this campaign to the fans now, they will gain more exposure from the angry fans of the cancelled soaps than they could the three or four times a week they paid to advertise on ABC.  The sad thing is that the fans really think Hoover gives a crap about reversing ABC's decision to cancel the soaps.

[David]

The latest: The New York Post and The Examiner both report that Brian Frons is now in hot water at ABC.
His days at the network may be numbered.
A third advertiser, Loereal, is now threatening to pull from the network over the soap cancellations.

[David]

Hershey's says they will pull their ads from ABC if they get at least 10,000 requests to do so.

Meanwhile, in a blow for soap fans, Oprah says her OWN network will not be the two show's saviour. In a video statement that can be seen in a link at www.SoapCentral.com. she pointed out both shows single digit ratings and said they were no longer financially viable.
Ouch!

Susan Lucci is now fielding several offers, including one from Desperate Housewives.

[Nancy]

Jonathan Frid's manager and business partner was an associate producer on "Guiding Light" then moved to "One Life to Live" and now is a producer on "General Hospital."  She told me many years ago that the soaps were steadily losing their audience and appeal.  What Oprah said isn't news to the folks in the soap opera industry.   If the audience isn't there to make the soaps sustainable I don't see what good boycotts of ABC are going to do.

Nancy

[David]

Both cancelled soaps just jumped ahead of GH in the ratings: the increases for both were substantial.
Interesting to see if that keeps up.