been saying so to viewers.
Funny, since a day after the calls, ABC’s Boston affiliate tweeted several fans and journalists, including myself, to apologize for informing viewers — then, retracting — that GH would be off their schedule come June. Yep, ABC publicity really needs to do their homework before issuing boldface lies to the media.
So what’s really happening? Uncensored investigated — and interviewed some of the fans who actually spoke directly to the ABC affiliates (what a concept, I know) and a few industry insiders. Uncensored would like to issue out a special thank you to Ruby Soho for her detailed transcripts of the calls to various affiliates (soap fans rock). Here’s the roundup — and story so far:
—Silas Kain reported last week on his increasingly must-hear BlogTalk podcast (https://www.blogtalkradio.com/silas-kain/2011/10/25/coupons-tickets-to-soapy-victory) that his sources (the same ones who told him this past January ABC was cancelling both AMC and One Life on April 15; they were off by one day) whispered to him ABC was indeed going to announce in late January or early February that its lone sudser, GH, would be off the air by May and Katie would be on the air by June. The soap vigilante suggested listeners call their local affiliates to find out if this latest intel was accurate.
—As a result of “citizen journalism,” the Boston ABC station in particular — and at least four other affiliates we know of — told fans the rumour was indeed true and GH would be off the air in June. Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, some affiliates stated GH would be off the schedule in September. Other affiliates, meanwhile, had no clue what was happening and/or asserted GH would never be cancelled. In summary, at least five cities told callers GH was off the air in June. This inconsistent response from myriad affiliates can only spell bad news for GH, especially when ABC’s ostensible plan of action has already been discussed on the record by Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks and President of Disney-ABC Television Group Anne Sweeney and ABC Daytime honcho Brian Frons.
When ABC announced that Katie would inherit GH’s timeslot come September, Sweeney demurred to Deadline.com: “We are not announcing the cancellation of GH. It is important to look at daytime like we do at primetime — it really is about eyeballs, and we will go with the shows that have the most viewership.”
When the story broke a few days later on Twitter, the aforementioned affiliates, who believed GH was scheduled for cancellation in either May or September, changed their story (most notably the Philadelphia affiliate). Obviously, ABC headquarters muzzled them appropriately… and quickly.
Uncensored continued to dig a bit more by speaking to a couple of expert corporate/syndication pundits to dissect the facts. Some of this is speculation, but given the trail of lies and decisions made so far, this is the best we can surmise at this juncture (you may need a chalk board to map all of this out; I did!):
As previously announced, ABC is giving back the 3 p.m. timeslot to the affiliates in September, so stations will not have access to a free network show via the ABC feed. Consequently, those stations will then choose amongst the syndicated programming available for the best show to fill their timeslot. GH is not an option, because it’s not a syndicated show, so ergo there is no choice between GH and Katie, which is syndicated.
Sources have relayed the deadline for affiliates to choose Katie for the fall is more than likely March 31 — which makes sense, because that’s the last day of the first fiscal quarter of 2012. ABC’s family of affiliates will have the first “dibs” to run Katie. If these local stations decline, ABC will sell Katie to other networks in the area (ie. CBS/NBC/Fox/cable) who want to air it. Once again, 60 per cent of the affiliates have already selected Katie as their syndicated show for the timeslot formerly known as GH’s. However, 40 per cent of the ABC affiliates have not purchased Katie yet. (Some affiliates claim ABC has yet to offer syndicated Katie to them; these affiliates are more than likely smaller stations). However, one thing that remains unclear is whether ABC has yet made it evident Katie has to be cleared to air throughout the entire U.S. by the “unconfirmed” March 31st deadline.
Now this is what’s interesting: If GH is cancelled in June, it is hypothesized ABC may put Katie on their ABC feed for a sample run for free from June to September for all ABC stations. Which is pretty enticing; non? Let the best show win, my ass!
This passive-aggressive move is being touted as brilliant by a few industry pundits because ABC affiliates, who agree to this sample “free trial run” of Katie, will be locked in because how can they realistically promote and air a show from June to September and then give Katie up to a competing network when the ABC station did all the work launching the show?
“No one wants to make an Oprah-sized mistake,” says one syndicated insider. “Why air a new show for three months only for a competing station to reap the rewards of promotion and viewer loyalty in September?” This move forces the hands of the affiliates, some offer. And it also means GH would be cancelled by June because there is no room on their daytime lineup to air the Emmy-winning serial.
If this is indeed true, speculation suggests ABC will stop production on the expensive GH at the end of April/early May so it can recoup the cost of producing the sample three-month feed of syndicated talker, Katie. A few GH sources have been scratching their heads as to why ABC has suspiciously and uncharacteristically scheduled dark weeks for GH only through late April 2012. If GH airs its last show in late May, production would more than likely halt around late April/early May. Meanwhile another credible rumour suggests Katie will settle into her N.Y. production studio in March/April (read the One Life section for more intel on this possibility).
So... why the early start-up for Katie? Well, for starters, ABC is already paying her enormous $20 million salary to produce news stories for ABC News, along with creating her chat fest. But the flaming red flag is the upcoming 2012 election year. The View’s biggest ratings year was 2008 when Democrat Barack Obama was running for office opposite Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin. It stands to reason a journalist of Katie Couric’s stature and experience would want to reap the benefits during that ratings bonanza and critical news season. Hence, if her fledgling talk show began early in June, Katie would reap the rewards of all the political conventions and the end of the primary season instead of coming late to the (political) party.
Which is why ABC is seemingly tanking GH on purpose (you’d have to deaf, dumb and blind not to notice). More evidence for “the accelerated destruction of GH theory” which is currently airing onscreen on the venerable soap: firing popular stars; myriad unexplained dark weeks; slow pacing; inexplicable recasts; hiring three-time show-killer, David Kreizman; offensive storytelling like Lisa using Robin’s HIV-blood as a weapon; an influx of new characters; ABC lying about JaSam’s wedding’s date (the net announced Sept. 23 was the big day… the same day as AMC’s finale but the nuptials took place onscreen a day earlier after some fans took off work for the big moment); last-minute scripts; rewrites; and non-event storytelling. As one industry watcher quipped, “GH is on a rocket train to hell… And anyone who doesn’t see that is in denial.”
She continues, “If this is all going on behind the scenes, this negates what Anne Sweeney said in a recent interview: ‘Let the best show win.’ If these wheels are in motion before The Revolution even airs, then it’s not a fair fight,” opines the insider. “ABC is saying they want the best show to win, yet all signs point to them destroying GH on purpose. Essentially it appears as if ABC is setting up a Hobson’s Choice for their affiliates: offering them a choice when there’s only one option.”
If this is all true, now the question becomes: Why? What is ABC’s motive? Why is Brian Frons going to all this laborious trouble to mislead their audience? Why not just come clean? Well, that’s when the speculation gets really interesting (more fascinating than anything happening on GH). When you dig deeper, it’s actually a genius plan, if it’s realized. Unfortunately, soap fans and ABC affiliates lose out; Disney wins big. H
ere’s what we can surmise:
Some in the business believe Disney may be trying to make ABC more attractive to sell in this tough economy by lowering ABC’s production costs, thereby making their balance sheet look healthier. It is being whispered Disney wants to keep its lucrative cable channels and syndication/production arm, Buena Vista — which produces Katie and Live! With Regis and Kelly — and sell off its financially burdensome TV network as programming, slowly but surely, moves towards online and cable mediums. Recent scuttlebutt making the rounds suggests ABC is actually plotting to syndicate The Chew and The Revolution, One Life’s January timeslot replacement, by September 2012. What’s the payoff, you ask? Why is ABC doing all of this?
If you follow all the clues, it would appear Disney is creating — with ABC’s resources— a daytime menu, which Buena Vista owns and sells to all networks. Even if Disney sells ABC to another company, Disney’s former ABC affiliates will have to pay Disney-owned Buena Vista properties they already run. Furthermore, Disney can continue its branding by promoting its properties like its Disney resorts on its Buena Vista TV shows without having to pay a dime to the networks and/or affiliates. Brills.
It’s as simple as The Chew visits the Epcot chefs, or Ty Pennington sends The Revolution’s makeover recipients to Disney World to show off their new look. Naturally, we will see footage of them enjoying Magic Kingdom, much like the families on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Is there any wonder Brian Frons hasn’t been fired for destroying ABC daytime? To Disney’s delight, Frons may have stumbled upon a way to shift the risk and cost of programming ABC to the affiliates and others who purchase Buena Vista’s syndicated content. Any sane company would have kicked Frons to the curb for sinking his soap opera lineup, but this theory explains why he’s only been promoted (including his minions Michael Cohen and Jori Peterson — all of whom are now working safely at Disney now).
Case closed? You decide.
INSIDE DAYTIME:
Queen Latifah creating new talker!
Talk continues to be cheap (why not just create a Talk network, people): Deadline.com is reporting that Oscar-nominated actress and Grammy-winning singer-rapper Queen Latifah will host a Sony syndicated daytime talk show produced by her company Flavor Unit, with Will Smith and James Lassiter’s Overbrook Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television. Hello, what we really want is a Susan Lucci-helmed talker, people!
SOAPILEAKS:
This week’s hottest news, interviews, and gossip!
All My Children, TheOnlineNetwork.com — Free Agents! Williams: “I haven’t signed with Prospect!”
• Emmy winner Vincent Irizarry recently announced he’s a free agent. Are you listening Prospect Park? And other soaps? Irizarry is surprised that the mother of his onscreen child (Lindsay Hartley’s Cara) has been approached by Prospect Park, but he has not.
Also, fellow Emmy champ Jacob Young recently admitted that his contract with B&B is a short-term one! A co-star explains that Young wanted to keep all his options open in case Prospect Park has something substantial to offer when the online network is finally up and running with the AMC online launch. Smart boy!
• Uh, oh: Emmy winner Darnell Williams confessed at the recent AMC Fan Tribute gathering that he’s not officially signed with Prospect Park, as previously reported. Not only is he not aware of Lindsay Hartley’s tweet, but the only thing he knows is PP has asked him if he is willing to come back and
Soap Opera Uncensored: ISSUE 5 (UPDATED) Page 2
