Thursday, September 17, 2009

Y&R to Compete with GH in Atlanta, 8th Largest TV Market

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS is moving to GUIDING LIGHT's old timeslot starting on Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 in the Atlanta market. Nielsen Media Research recently published a report stating that Atlanta is still the eighth largest television market in the United States.

Y&R will now compete against GENERAL HOSPITAL in Atlanta. BETTER ATLANTA will fill Y&R's old timeslot, at least for now. No word on what is happening with LET'S MAKE A DEAL once it debuts on October 5.

Thanks to Kecia for the tip.

9 comments:

  1. And so it begins...the end of Y&R.

    First, time slot heterogeneity is precisely what killed GL.

    Second, Y&R works well in most markets because of the Price Is Right and local news lead-in. With that gone, Y&R is wounded.

    Third, Y&R profits from "lunch break" ratings. Now, airing at 3 pm, when few students are home and when many families are making the home-school transition gives Y&R the weakest timeslot...just like the one that helped kill GL.

    Fourth, for the all-important "live views", this breaks the Y&R-at-12:30 habit. Soaps are habit. Interfere with the schedule and you break the habit.

    I now see where this is headed. Other markets will follow. Y&R (which is currently averaging a 3.5 or 3.4 Live+SameDayDVR rating) will fall below 3.0 within the next year.

    Oh well, I commented on this blog recently that soon all of us will experience what GL viewers are experiencing this week.

    Two other incensed comments: First, if CBS allows this, they have no b*lls. I'd threaten to take the show away from the local CBS affiliate and give it to another local station that wants to air it at 12:30. (I admit that is risky, because that breaks the station habit). Second, it proves to me AGAIN that the "affiliate" system in the US is EVIL, antiquated, and must end. I can't wait to see CBS/NBC/ABC/Fox/CW on the same level playing field as USA/ESPN/etc. I can't wait to see the affiliates wither and die.

    Guess I'm upset?

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  2. MarkH,

    Doesn't GH air at 3PM Eastern Time? There should be more students at home than at 12.30PM Eastern.

    However, I think it's incredibly foolish. Y&R has been the king of daytime at its timeslot. Why ruin a good thing? Mindboggling stupid!! Viewers are trained to watch Y&R at a certain point in the day. It becomes a habit. Why damage something that people have done for years (if not decades for some)?

    TV executives can be incredibly ignorant and destructive.

    Other markets will not follow. What benefit would it achieve for them to destroy the ratings of Y&R? Local stations would be incredibly foolish to harm one of the few bright spots in daytime.

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  3. What I find questionable here is that their schedule would now be B&B, ATWT...and then Y&R? The balance is thrown off with that one! Personally, if the lineup had to be shifted, they should have padded ATWT between Y&R and B&B. I have to agree with much of what MarkH wrote; this doesn't bode well for Y&R in the Atlanta market. I currently live in the Los Angeles area where Y&R has over the years bounced between 11AM-12PM and 11:30-12:30PM (the latter the current and better choice--makes for non-stop soaps all afternoon) and it makes sense to run the soaps in a block from 11:30 to 3PM. The worst thing that ever happened for GL in the NY area (where I grew up) was when they switched it from 3PM to 10AM (or was it first at 9AM and then shifted to 10AM?) and made it an island without any other soaps playing around it to keep it anchored! I think CBS should grow a pair at this point and demand that their soaps are shown in a solid block from 11:30AM to 3PM. (Well, to 2PM after Friday... darn it.) The best thing they can do for these shows is to keep them together in a familiar timeslot and work hard to make them a viewing habit again! Doubt it'll happen, though. Soaps need to work even harder to tell stories that current viewers want to see and that are good enough to draw in new viewers. Something has to change--and I want it to be for the better!

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  4. Good point, Dan. I'm looking for the Atlanta daytime ratings. I wonder how this move might impact B&B?

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  5. I respectfully disagree that this move will start the death-knell for Y&R. In several other markets (albeit, not as large as Atlanta), Y&R is seen in timeslots other than the 12:30 p.m. slot.
    In Louisville, Y&R comes on at 4 p.m. and in some markets, it is shown at 11 a.m.

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  6. In Canada, Y&R airs in the late afternoon and early evening, and that is part of why it is #1.

    But 3 pm is different. Most folks aren't at home then. And (I'm eager to hear what Roger finds) that is the timeslot that KILLED GL.

    Timeslot-wise, shifting/unequal timeslots and the 3 pm death slot on the east coast (esp. against GH) contributed to the end of GL.

    You don't have to believe me, but I'm GUARANTEEING you this is the death knell. It signals many things, including a lack of (that) affiliate's commitment to Y&R, and a lack of strength on the part of the network.

    You DON'T MESS WITH THE HABIT in these end times.

    It also kind of supports the contention of Patrick Erwin and others in ways I never understood till now. GL's death creates "change" (a hole) in the daytime lineup. I simply assumed that whole would get filled by LMAD.

    Now, I realize that "hole" is also going to stimulate some "creative" thinking in the affiliates (who don't care about soaps).

    If I am wrong about an accelerated decline slope for Y&R (especially if other affiliates do this nonsense), next year I'll eat my hat.

    And, yes, I do think this move will cause more harm for B&B and ATWT. The local show that Atlanta proposes to put on is NOT part of the "soap block", and won't help retain viewers for those shows. They're cutting their strong "lead-in" soap. How unwise.

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  7. Atlanta ratings for GL were ANEMIC compared to Y&R. While they actually seem not so "off" from national ratings, it all makes me think this is the death knell.

    Source:

    http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/29772-march-2-6-2009/page__p__695113&#entry695113

    Atlanta, GA (#8 media market in the country):

    Population
    City - 519,145
    Metro - 5,278,904

    Time Net Program ATL (representing Southern market)
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    EARLY MORNING (Eastern Times)
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    7:00a ABC Good Morning America 4.9/17
    11:00a ABC The View 5.4/19

    7:00a CBS Early Show 0.4/1
    7:30a CBS Early Show 0.5/2

    7:00a NBC Today 2.9/10
    9:00a NBC Today 1.4/5
    10:00a NBC Today 1.3/4

    7:00a FOX Good Day Atlanta (local) 4.1/14
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    DAYTIME
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1:00p ABC All My Children 2.8/9
    2:00p ABC One Life to Live 2.0/7
    3:00p ABC General Hospital 2.0/6

    12:30p CBS Young & the Restless 2.4/8
    1:30p CBS Bold & the Beautiful 1.6/5
    2:00p CBS As the World Turns 1.4/5
    3:00p CBS Guiding Light 1.0/3

    1:00p NBC Days of Our Lives 1.2/4

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  8. I live in Atlanta, GA and this moving Y&R to 3 pm is news to me and I agree that shifting Y&R's time slot from 12:30 when it's aired in Atlanta to 3 pm might impact its ratings negatively; Y&R fans in the ATL are used to watching it at 12:30 pm. I will say this though - the death knell for all soaps is not so interesting storylines. I think soaps have simply run out of ideas and are no longer fresh and are just simply re-using old stale storylines that were good way back then but not so much now. I find myself tuning out to much of what's on the screen or fast forwarding through scenes and even actors performances b/c I've seen it before. I'm getting more and more impatient at having to suspend disbelief.

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  9. My grandmother would only watch GH because Y&R came on to early..she was still doing house chores in the morning she always said. I Tivo/DVR Y&R and B&B(Y&R airs 11:30am in north texas)..so it doesnt really matter to me when it airs. 11:30am would not be a good time for me if I did not record the show..I am right in the middle of making lunch for my kids and getting them ready for naps. But I guess the old saying goes.."If it is not broke,dont fix it" =)

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