Today the news was made official that Katie Couric is going to have a syndicated show that is currently untitled. It will air on owned and operated ABC stations at 3 pm starting in September 2012.
To read more about this news including the memo that went around ABC visit these places.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/06/katie-couric-abc-talk-show/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/06/katie-couric-abc-talk-show-deal_n_871635.html
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Katie-Couric-General-Hospital-1033983.aspx
http://www.tvline.com/2011/06/katie-couric-abc-general-hospital/
Okay and what does that mean for us soap fans? I don't think it means anything good. These are the people who stated don't worry about All My Children or One Life to Live and we can see what happened in that situation. So if I weren’t concerned about General Hospital I'd be deluding myself for no good reason. If it does go away, then we will have lost a soap opera four years in a row in September and one in January. September used to be the time to look forward to new television programs, but instead it has became the bastion of goodbyes.
In the TV Guide article, an unnamed rep tells Michael Logan that perhaps GH would go to 30 minutes or change time slots so Katie can be on in the afternoon. First off, a soap moving time slot usually hastens its end. Every soap opera I can think of that lost its "regular" time in many different parts of the country has gotten canceled; this has been the case for over 20 years. Ryan's Hope was moved from 12:30 to noon for Loving and couldn't survive that. Santa Barbara wasn't on in the afternoon in all markets, and for years it at noon (with Generations at 11:30 am) in NYC destroying the potential of teenagers viewing it after-school. Plus the last 30 minutes of The Price is Right was incredibly strong, which pretty much sealed the fate of Generations. Santa Barbara lasted for two years longer, and for a time they moved Another World to that slot. WNBC did eventually move Another World back to the later time, but I wonder if the damage was done.
Another example of time swapping was from the mid-1990's Guiding Light aired in some parts of the US in the mornings (including NYC) a day behind the rest of the country. Eventually they played the same episode regardless of time slot, but that change happened more than five years later.
Showing a program at the same time everywhere is a powerful thing, even with DVRs as if they are on different times, people may just read twitter to find out what happened and not tune in at all. If General Hospital stays on the air, but is at different times that are less convenient to watch so goes the viewers. If someone watches another soap opera, they may drop GH anyway if it would air over lunch.
General Hospital losing their lead in soaps may hurt them. That’s one thing I am curious about, but of course it may be moot. They may just be holding off the announcement of the end of GH because it is prudent. The people at ABC really don’t want to deal with more fans revolting, making phone calls and writing letters. They have enough problems in their nighttime schedule. I doubt ABC wants more daytime strife.
When it comes to General Hospital, I plan to enjoy as much of the show I can for as long as I can. I hope it doesn't end fall of 2012, but at least this time we had some warning.
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