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BURBANK, CA – July 7, 2011 – ABC has licensed its iconic soaps, “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” to Prospect Park, it was announced today by Brian Frons, President, Daytime, Disney/ABC Television Group & Janice Marinelli, President, Disney/ABC Domestic Television and Rich Frank & Jeff Kwatinetz of Prospect Park. The exclusive multi-year, multi-platform deal enables the soaps’ stories to continue beyond their
finale dates on ABC. ABC will broadcast its final episode of “All My Children” on Friday, September 23rd and will air the final episode of “One Life to Live” in January, 2012.
The licensing agreement, brokered by Disney/ABC Domestic Television Group, enables Prospect Park to continue production of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” beyond their life on ABC. Prospect Park will produce and deliver the two long-running programs to consumers via online formats and additional emerging platforms including internet enabled television sets. Under the terms of the arrangement, the programs will continue to be delivered with the same quality and in the same format and length. Additional details of the new productions and tune-in will be forthcoming from Prospect Park.
ABC Licenses ‘All My Children’ And ‘One Life To Live’ To Prospect Park; Shows Will Continue Production And Move Online
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All that is replacing soaps on the nets are cheap-ass talk shows. Soaps have an audience but it came down to what is cheap to air. Same thing is happening at night.
nice to see that the network might have given oltl and amc the boot but one door closes and by a soap opera miracle another open mainly the two soaps are still alive. and looks like abc gets their way with the shows they use to pull the plug on these two and fans of both win also with their soaps still going on in the end win win.
Obviously the cast won’t get paid what they’re getting paid now (wouldn’t make financial sense) so is half the cast going to get fired or quit or what? And how many soap fans have high speed internet access? I’m guessing those are in the minority.
Im not an industry person like so many of you posting on here but I dont understand how this is supposed to work? IF the soaps were too expensive to produce for a broadcast network, how are they going to be profitable on the network? Many of the big name actors probably wouldnt want to do it ; and are your average soap viewers going to pay a subscription fee to watch a sub standard product ?
I actually agree with the poster who said at least if it was ending on ABC, the shows would get a proper send off, and the writers would try to wrap up story lines in a proper fashion. Now they might air for a few months and then just get the plug pulled.
I did wonder what would happen to the Daytime Emmys? I guess every single soap would get a best daytime drama nom
Yay – now the morons, deadbeats (i.e. unemployed), and the obese will have something to watch! Will be interesting to see how many of these people actually know how to turn on a computer, let alone have high-speed access. My prediction: the online audience for these shows will be about 1% of what it was on ABC, and the shows be gone within the year.
When you were naming unfortunate, downtrodden people who may or may not tune in to internet soaps, you probably should have mentioned bitter, sarcastic bitches like yourself, Miffi, or Minnie or Froo Frou, or whatever the hell your name is.
Lulu
ABC did something right for a change..the shows still get to air but online now but at least those who are fans of these shows wil get to see their continuing storylines. Good move for ABC, but those two new shows will still fail.
As someone who has worked at the perimeter of this field I am cautiously optimistic.
However, I do think there’s a few questions.
#1 – I think it’s utterly foolish for these shows to stick to an hour. There are a number of reasons why daytime dramas have been losing audience, but one is that an hour a day (or two hours a day) is a huge time investment. In addition, if they want mobile users or iPad users to watch on their commutes, a shorter run time would make sense.
Prospect Park MAY actually be doing more of a 30 minute segment, as the hour soaps run between 35 and 40 minutes now as it is, with the remaining segments for ads. If they structure it as more of a 30 minute show with interstitials, they can still claim that they are “the same length and quantity.”
#2 – The biggest question is that the existing audience for these shows skews older, and though I don’t want to suggest that they aren’t some amazingly tech-savvy grannies and Baby Boomers who can Hulu like nobody’s business, it’s going to be a challenge to encourage the bulk of the existing fans and audience to adapt to an online mode. It may not be IMPOSSIBLE but anyone assuming that 300K viewers on TV will automatically translate to 300K online does so at their own peril.
These new 2.0 shows will undoubtedly focus on a younger audience, which means younger storylines. This means all the remaining veteran actors and stories that resonate with longtime viewers will be chucked out the window, and what will be left is a show that bears only a passing resemblance to the Original Recipe show it came from. I know this, because with a few exceptions, this is what every single soap on TV has already been doing for the last ten to fifteen years, and they have both alienated their existing audience and failed miserably at attracting the teen/tween/younger audience. (See under: Guiding Light and As The World Turns.)
#3 – It **will** have to be done on a most cost effective, scaled down basis. This will be more like the last years of Guiding Light where it was filmed in New Jersey with digital cameras. It might actually work if the story is there (it was not for GL until the last six months when they finally promoted the right writer, but by then it was too late) but it’s a big risk.
#4 – They’re going to lose some talent, in front of and behind the scenes. They’ll have to scale wages down even lower than they are now, and as much as these people might like their job……well, as I remember one actress saying in an interview, “Mama don’t do charity.”
I agree with Prospect Park, though – these properties (and for that matter the canceled P&G soaps) do still have SOME value. Even posting content re: classic shows alone could form the basis of a subscriber service. Adding new shows might actually work if they can figure out a model that makes a profit. I wish ‘em luck.
All excellent points, Sparky. I particularly agree with what you said here: These new 2.0 shows will undoubtedly focus on a younger audience, which means younger storylines. This means all the remaining veteran actors and stories that resonate with longtime viewers will be chucked out the window.
I actually see that as more of an opportunity than a liability. By winnowing out the older actors and actresses, and now being on the Internet instead of on broadcast television, Prospect Park now has the chance to introduce hardcore sex and nudity to the show that they couldn’t have on ABC by using actors and actresses 18-25 years old and who are willing to do nudity and sex scenes (as long as it is tasteful…and artistic…and relevant to the plot…and not exploitative).
Except soaps are serials…folklore of sorts, much like Harry Potter books. And winnowing out all the experienced, tenured actors….is like making the latest Harry Potter movie with only the younger Weasley siblings.
The shows are going to have to make some cuts, no doubt. But I hope are still somewhat recognizable. Otherwise they may as well slap a different name on it and make it a spinoff.
Hot in Cleveland writers are thanking the comedy gods for this one.
I am so happy. I will be there!!
I am elated to say the least that OLTL is sticking around….but am cautiously optimistic.
I agree with many posters – this is a big gamble – and will need to result in some big changes to the economics to make the shows profitable (or at least make the losses sustainable – see my thoughts below).
One thing I have wondered is that, through careful budgeting/scaling back of the shows, is Prospect Park looking at these as loss leaders? That is, maybe the motive here to obtain a steady source of programming with instant name recognition and a built-in audience base to attract subscribers/viewers to their service, building up an audience for less expensive and more profitable programming offered by the service.
The other major question – what ancilliary distribution rights did Prospect Park license from ABC? One point I have seen regarding AMC and OLTL is that these two had little in the way of international distribution/syndication, unlike the Sony and Bell soaps. If Prospect Park is able to syndicate these shows to international territories, I could see this as a way to turn a profit while still building up their online delivery platform.
Interesting times…
The only reason my 68-year-old mother pays for cable is so that she can watch her soaps with a crystal clear picture (and before it died, so she could watch Soapnet).
She’s getting her iPod touch fired up and ready. I doubt a subscription fee will faze her. She’s been watching both these soaps every day for 40 years.
Many people who are posting here are really underestimating the power of the internet. I already watch shows on abc.com that I missed on television, and I enjoy the experience. The video is top quality, and I have a large monitor, although not television size. And look what is happening to television. There’s not a lot of choice even if you have 600 channels. Talk shows, cooking shows, reality shows – television is changing fast. They have discovered how to save the bucks, and the whole format is deteriorating. This move to the internet makes a lot of sense to me although if it proves truly successful, and other shows make the move, I suspect that internet service will change, and like television, you will have to pay for “channels” that provide this kind of entertainment.
I paraphrase the late Walter Cronkite from his final news cast in 1981 when I say “Old TV shows don’t fade away, it just keeps coming back for more.”
That said, I too give it a year…unless they become far less restricted in terms of looser content (Since it IS the internet after all). Then I’d give it 2 years.
For some reason, I can’t imagine middle-aged to older females sitting at their laptops to watch a soap opera. Call me crazy, but this business model doesn’t work for any show with these production costs right now, let alone a soap with these demographics.
I am middle aged to older female and I will be at my laptop to watch AMC everyday. I have watched AMC for 41 years and I will continue to watch it untill the end of me or the show which ever comes first.
I am a middle aged to older female that would absolutly watch AMC on my laptop. I have watched AMC for 41 years. I saw the first episode. I am not ready ro see the last one yet. Shame on ABC for what they did to the actors. Alot of them moved to Calif. for the show and for nothing. You left them high and dry and for that I will never watch ABC again, or buy Disney stuff. I am so done with ABC, to many other channels to watch. DOM’T NEED YOU ABC.
Shame on ABC for what they did to the actors. Alot of them moved to Calif. for the show and for nothing.
Yeah, shame on ABC for trying to help some of those actors hold on to jobs rather than have nothing at all!! The nerve of ABC to try and earn a profit!!! Why can’t the government just bail out ALL MY ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO TAKE?
You soap fans need to get a reality check (and, for the record, a “reality check” is not something that the government sends to you in the mail once a month). Nobody can promise you a life free from pain and disappointment and failure. Nobody can offer you 100% job security.
I’d love nothing more than to piss 14-carat gold, have a leprechaun as my BFF, and grill hamburgers from solid, 100%, grade-A unicorn meat, but it’s never going to happen! Growing up I wanted to be the creme filling in a Halle Berry/Angelina Jolie cookie sandwich. I learned to live with my disappointments; so can you.
Yeah, clearly you have a chip on your shoulder and believe soap viewers are all unemployed, uneducated idiots. Apparently you seem to believe that anyone watching soaps is on welfare and can’t add 1 + 1. Thanks for the (not so) veiled classism/racism.
I myself find it MOST intriguing (as an educated writer with a Ph.D) that the public at large can watch movies made from comic books and/or with fighting robots and no member of the audience ever seems to have to apologize or defend that. Yet soap viewers are ALWAYS asked to justify why they watch their escapist entertainment. Hmmmm……is it that the viewers are women? Stay at home moms? African Americans? Or gay men? Those are all groups that can be marketed to and yes, from a business perspective can make money.
As for what Mary said: Yes, ABC is very entitled to make any business decision they want to. But I would be pissed if my company moved me across country, had me sell my home and then less than a year closed and/or eliminated my position. Which is EXACTLY what happened to those people. Perhaps the same can happen to you and then YOU can get YOUR reality check. Which DOES not come once a month, but can be accelerated by a nice, big karma chaser.
Not crazy about the prospect of watching on a laptop but this will certainly motivate me to buy a web-enabled TV ASAP! Suddenly this 40-something is going to Best Buy. And it’s not like we don’t use the latest technology at work!
I’m glad PP signed a 10 year deal. I think it will just get better over time. I personally turned a couple 20-something friends onto AMC and I think when it is online their audience will pick up the younger viewers that hardly ever turn on the tv. These soaps are addictive!
You should be thankful Disney/ABC at least licensed the shows to Prospect Park they could have just killed them dead. I’m sure they really aren’t worried about the small amount of viewers that actually watched the shows, less than 2 million a day, the season finale of Modern Family on ABC brought in almost 12 million viewers.
There’s a ton of viewers of these shows that simply aren’t computer literate and never will be.
Count me as a 35 year old life time, daytime, viewer. Soaps aren’t just for 70 year old retirees. I grew up on the AMC stories and continue to enjoy them. Despite my busy schedule I find most of Television to be over run with terrible reality shows and would must rather enjoy scripted drama both in serial storytelling and shows like Bones, Glee, Warehouse 13, and Grey’s then the garbage that networks throw together for $2.
Considering the loyal following of daytime viewers who, for the last decade or more, have been flocking to online forums to chat with people all over the world about said shows or to Youtube to follow their favorite couples — the ‘general public’ and some in the industry are underestimating the online soap usage that currently goes on.
I actually watch the ABC soaps on ABC.com now because it gives me the ultimate in time adjusted viewing ANYWHERE I go. Can be at the coffee shop with my Ipad, my office on a lunch break, or home on my laptop.
My mother is in her late 60′s and when ABC moved All My Children to ABC.com she quickly caught on and she watches AMC that way as well.
I also believe that despite the move to web the industry is mistaken if the stories have to go younger. When I was in my teens the characters I liked the most were the grown-ups not the teens. So I don’t think characters like Tad on AMC or Blair on OLTL would have to go anywhere for the shows to keep viewership. I know MANY soap viewers who believe the same.
Writing is the real downfall of some soaps including story arcs written at the speed of sound with couples together in under 6 months and stunt story lines that aren’t grounded in character. If Prospect keeps the quality of writing intact that OLTL and AMC have displayed in the last 6 months I think they are golden.
Publicity is another piece of the puzzle. Daytime has been lazy on this for years. Prospect needs to be better about pitching their shows and actors to media outside soap only publications. Soaps aren’t going to gain viewership without an attempt to promote the medium.
I also hope Prospect is able to reduce the amount of detailed spoilers, for every episode, that are allowed to be published online and in print. I understanding promoting – for instance – a same sex kiss on AMC – what I don’t understand is why scene by scene detailed plot points surrounding what happens before and after the kiss are known by every AMC fan who has a computer. Leaking such things gives the viewer no real reason to tune in.
There are certainly going to be financial considerations but when it’s this or two casts and crews going to the unemployment line in a media age where Housewives of ‘pick a city’ are considered entertainment I look forward to the unions working WITH Prospect to see that people keep their jobs and that serial storytelling paves the way for a web based TV world.
Hollywood has been ‘claiming’ for years that online isn’t a viable money making option (same as they have with DVD sales which is total bullshit). I call bullshit on this as well. The only advertising I am forced to watch these days are when I watch my daytime programing on ABC.com or Hulu. Same can’t be said when I download on Itunes without commercials OR fast forward past them on TIVO.
This will be as interesting to watch from a business point as it will be to watch as a viewer excited for the change in ‘viewing venue’.
I am SO very happy that AMC and OLTL they will live on. My mom literally burst into happy tears! I was horrified when I heard about the cancellation. It showed that ABC cares more about money than the fans that keep them on the air. I understand he concerns about being online, but that is the wave of the future, as we move forward with our smartphones and on the go technology.
Thank you Prospect Park!
Now if only we could bring back ABC Super Soap Weekend!
This is the best possible scenario, actually. They have a built in audience of millions and the advertisers know that. I think the chances of it working are very, very strong. The naysayers will soon learn that the Internet is the future. You sound like the many book publishers who said that ebooks would never take off.
wait till you are 80+ years old and see if you feel the same way.
everyone don’t have a computer at that age or internet tv.
being selfish don’t make it right
i cant wait to see what happens to ABC when they stop showing AMC and OLTL. i know i wont watch ABC daytime anymore. this is a huge mistake. haha.
if elderly people want to watch their soaps, they will figure out how to use the computer. Its not that difficult. We an set the website up as the homepage for our grandparents and parent’s computer browsers and all theyd have to do is turn it on. Really not that hard
I am a huge fan of soap operas and it is SO great to hear that AMC and OLTL will continue online. I also LOVE Days of Our Lives and I hope it is not cancelled. Did you hear about this really exciting contest to meet EJ and Stefano on the Days Set and to
appear with them in Soap Opera Digest? Check it out at http://www.classwish.org/days/fame
Wow Kevin thanks for posting that!! Look awesome!!
THIS IS VERY SAD, FOR ALL THE VIEWERS THAT ARE BEING LEFT OUT. I CANNOT BELIEVE OUR GOVERNMENT WOULD TAKE CHANCES TO RISK PEOPLES SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME , IN WHICH FOR SOME THAT IS ALL THEY HAVE, AND GIVE A GOVERNMENT GRANT TO A PRODUCTION COMPANY TO AGAIN EXCLUDE THE ELDERLY AND POOR (LOW CLASS ) GROUP. I JUST HOPE SOME CHANGES ARE MADE IN OUR GOVERNMENT SOON!
Thanks for the link @kevin.. im a huge supporter of soap stars giving back. Ill be sure to check out the website!