CBS informed Procter & Gamble of the cancellation “a couple of days ago,” according to Jeannie Tharrington, a spokeswoman for Procter & Gamble.
“It’s a part of our business that we will miss, and it’ll be hard for us to say goodbye to the show,” Ms. Tharrington said. Procter & Gamble said it would try to find a new home for the series. Given the current economic climate, though, that is considered unlikely.
Soaps typically cost around $50 million a year to produce. CBS replaced GUIDING LIGHT this fall with LET'S MAKE A DEAL, which costs about half that amount, and the network has seen increases in total audience and among the younger viewers that most advertisers seek.
“Is it the end of an era?” Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS, asked. “Sort of. Only the special soaps are going to survive. It’s certainly the end of the client-owned soap.” He added, “All good things come to an end, whether it’s after 72 years or 54 years or 10 years. It’s a different time and a different business.”
Perhaps Mr. Moonves should stop making statements today!
What is a special soap? GL and ATWT are pretty special to me!
ReplyDeleteWhat seems the saddest to me is that there seems to be no discussion of replacing ATWT with another soap. ATWT has seen better days, and it would be a fascinating time to see what someone could produce for 25 million a year in recurring drama.
ReplyDeleteBonnie Hunt got canceled today as well, but they will probably replace that with another talk show.
What is a special soap? Probably one that is owned by the network - and not one which is owned by Sony, P&G, etc... The remaining soaps should definitely beware...
ReplyDeletealso, riddle me this (as the joker used to say) - the soap's time is over but the cancellation of a soap is the second highest Google search of the day, soaps are two out of the five stories on Entertainment Weekly's site, and is covered in the NY times and all the major news sites?
ReplyDeleteSomebody seems to care.
"Is it special???" Seriously!?! This man has only one thing on his mind, and it's made of paper and it's colored green. I hope he never sees any of it because of this.
ReplyDeleteI watched ATWT for only a few years, but it was during the Douglas Marland years, and those were GOOD YEARS. It's always held a special place in my heart... probably because it was a sibling to my other favorite, now-deceased show, Another World. This is a tragedy, plain and simple. I'm very sad to hear this news.
I wouldn't be surprised if CBS was out of the Soap business very soon.