Time for ABC/Disney to Improve Product Before It Is Too Late
For the week ending June 19, 2009, the ratings for GENERAL HOSPITAL (GH) plummeted to all-time lows. GH lost more viewers than ALL MY CHILDREN (AMC) and ONE LIFE TO LIVE (OLTL) combined in both total viewers and in the women 18-49 demographic according to the numbers reported by The Nielsen Ratings Corporation. GH also recorded its first ever 1.6 rating in total viewers and, for the first time in the history of any ABC soap, had a market share of 5. As GH fell to sixth place out of the eight daily soap operas rated (which will soon be seven when Guiding Light's cancellation takes effect), the question raised is: Will ABC/Disney continue with the status quo at GH and can they afford to?
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One year ago, GH, led by fan favorite pairings Sonny and Kate, Jason and Elizabeth, Patrick and Robin, and Jax and Carly, was comfortably in third place in total viewers and in second place by a wide margin in the women 18 to 49 demographic. Each of the four couples mentioned is consistently rated eighth or higher in polls by ABC Soaps In Depth or Soap Opera Digest weekly, even while two of them are no longer allowed to share screen time. This separation is depriving many viewers of what used to be an enjoyable experience. Evidence of this is apparent in last week's numbers when only 754,000 women in the 18-49 demographic watched the show, down 7,000 viewers from GH’s previous all time low of 761,000 (week ending April 24, 2009).
All of this, combined with analysis of last week’s ratings (June 15-19, 2009) vs. last season's numbers, shows ABC's GH is currently down 25% in total viewers and down 31% in the 18-49 demographic. Given this continued steep decline in viewership, and over six months of complaints from GH fans who are loyal ABC/Disney customers, it is clear that management has not listened to the viewers by taking steps to improve its product.
Having joined together to form the SOS/Save Our Soap! GENERAL HOSPITAL Campaign, fans of Sonny and Kate, Jason and Elizabeth, Patrick and Robin, and Jax and Carly share a common goal in asking ABC/Disney to listen to the viewers and make changes. Over 12,000 postcards have already been sent to ABC/Disney executives to that end. All involved in this campaign want GH to be successful and want to help restore GH to the position it once held. However, as one fan stated, “women, who are the backbone of GH’s viewership, and obviously the most important demographic, resent being virtually banned from their TV screens by being forced to endure the degradation of strong, independent and professional female characters in favor of showcasing immoral, manipulative, lying female characters on a day-to-day basis. Women viewers have had enough and have decided that GH is no longer entertaining or enjoyable to watch and the ratings reflect that.”
The number of fans joining the SOS/Save Our Soap! General Hospital Campaign continues to grow in support of working for a better GENERAL HOSPITAL. For more information on the campaign, contact Dana L. Meyer or Kecia K. Picard at [email protected] or visit the SOS/Save Our Soap! GENERAL HOSPITAL page on Facebook.
I hope TPTB for ABC/DISNEY wake up soon and start listening to the fans of all shows because they can not afford to lose them. GH that was once the best soap opera in daytime is now nothing more than a joke. This show has recorded alot of record lows and when getting 1.7 and 1.6 on original air shows has got to be addressed by the network so that can correct this and begin to work its way back. I hope they realize that these ratings is what lead to the cancellation of GL and at this rate GH may be on the same path with its stories and writing. If I had the chance to speak with TPTB I would seriously ask them what they were thinking when they decided to go this route with the show. Now they are going to have to seriously take a step back and see were they went wrong and try to find some way to correct it. The fans have lost trust and faith in TPTB and it is going to take alot more than talk to get the fans back and at this point they need every fan they can get.
ReplyDeleteI fully support the SOS campaign to save General Hospital. Disney has a great reputation for exceptional customer satisfaction. Viewers have been telling TPTB for over a year that they did not want to see violence against women and children, that they wanted to see strong, moral, intelligent, successful women be the heroines, and that they want romance and love in the afternoon back! What do we get: a woman ordering a hit which resulted in a child being shot in the head, a woman shot twice and almost killed, a baby kidnapped, and our favorite couples split up so that the male stars can be paired with the women who committed these crimes.
ReplyDeleteWomen are not interested in sleazy women characters as heroines. That is not delivering customer satisfaction and ratings have sunk to a new all-time low. Viewers are screaming for change; telling TPTB exactly what they want to see. Why aren’t TPTB listening to what the viewers are saying? What does it take to get ABC Daytime to live up to Disney standards? Viewers want Sonny with Kate and Jason with Elizabeth; we want romance not live in prostitutes. We want our soap to once again become the outstanding daytime drama it used to be.
The SOS Campaign represents so many GH viewers feelings about the downward trend of a favorite soap opera. Hope the folks in charge at ABC \ Disney are paying attention the continuing low ratings and to this campaign. Fans are trying to tell them what is needed to fix this show.
ReplyDeleteI am in full support of the SOS campaign. General Hospital used to be the show that I couldn't wait to see everyday and I never want to watch it at all. It has become a very dark show filled with vile characters and couples not worth rooting for. Bring back the show that I used to love filled with romance, adventure, humor and drama. Get rid of characters and couples that bring down the show. Viewers want to see the love and romance that was captured in the couples of Sonny/Kate, Jason/Elizabeth, Jax/Carly and Patrick/Robin.
ReplyDelete