Ilene Kristen is my hero

[gwynnega]

Here's a great Michael Logan interview with Ilene Kristen (One Life To Live, Ryan's Hope, the gal in my default icon) on OLTL's cancellation and the Prospect Park fiasco.

In other news, we're supposed to have another bout of Big Old Winds here in LA. If my power goes out again, I'm gonna be pretty cranky.

Comments

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to believe that anyone ever really thought the Prospect Park thing was going to work. The economics just weren't there.

[gwynnega]

Well, a lot of people never thought it would work. I didn't see how it was possible, at first, but Prospect Park has had some successful cable shows, and I figured they knew something I didn't.

It makes me wonder why ABC chose to license the shows to PP. I'm pretty sure they had other (probably more feasible) offers.

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

I think ABC would still be airing them if there was enough money to be made.

[gwynnega]

That's debatable. Advertisers have said they prefer soap viewers to talk and reality show viewers, because soap viewers are more loyal and engaged. Plus, ABC chose to cancel OLTL despite the fact it has better ratings than GH. (Of course they'll probably cancel GH next year.) The Chew's ratings are not good, but the show is cheaper to make than All My Children was, so for ABC, I guess that's a win. I can't help but think if they decided to properly promote their soaps the way they used to, they'd see increased dividends. CBS is still doing pretty well with their two remaining soaps.

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

Talk shows are SO much cheaper to produce that there's almost no way scripted material can compare.

I'm sure GH will be next, and that CBS joins the bandwagon before long.

I just don't think the audience exists in the same way it used to. There are fewer housewives at home, and so many more channels to choose from.

[gwynnega]

On the one hand, executives like Brian Frons gutted these shows. When Frons came to ABC Daytime, there was a thriving lineup, and he decimated it with his micromanagement.

On the other hand, the daytime audience has shrunk--as has the audience for network TV, period, what with cable/the Internet/etc. But ABC primetime is firmly behind serial drama--Revenge, for example. I think it might still be possible to rethink the daytime soaps for a different time slot or format (a weekly show or a half-hour show or a telenovela-style show, etc.), in the same way that soaps went from radio to TV.