CBS & NAACP create new soap opera

I was surprised when Generations was canceled, and hoping this new soap succeeds. Maybe then they might consider bringing back Guiding Light......tho Reva & Josh, by now, would be GL's Tom & Alice, instead of the couple you'd be rooting for to overcome problems and be together. :)
 
I keep thinking that someone will crack the code on how to create a soap for the new era of TV. If they do, it seems like gold for streaming because it’s daily eyeballs. Maybe they’re too expensive. I don’t know, but there has to be a way. Maybe starting fresh is an easier road.
 
I just read that CBS cancelled The Talk. They're going to get one last abbreviated season starting in September and ending in December of this year. I'm guessing this is to open the timeslot for The Gates. So they cancelled As The World Turns to replace it with The Talk. And now they're cancelling The Talk for The Gates, the first new soap since Passions.
 
They only get the Sept-Dec time cuz the shows are already filmed. And on will come The Gates, which they will cancel in a few months, as the ratings aren't what they expected, and on and on. Now if they brought back As the World Turns, or Guiding Light they would probably do much better. However, they probably would not be able to get the writers or actors back as they took jobs elsewhere, and recasting, or hiring new writers would not then present the same show.

Heck, we have seen even the 4 soaps still left change a lot.
 
The Talk airs live in front of an audience daily (M-F), it isn't pre-taped. Well, Fridays' shows are pre-taped on Thursday afternoons, after Thursday's regular show is done live.
 
Sorry........my mistake. And to tell the truth, I know the show has it's fans.....as does the View.......but personally.... but am not one, as you can guess.
 
My first thought when I heard about The Talk being cancelled was that they could reboot ATWT and GL (which exist in the same universe and were both Procter & Gamble properties) as a half-hour show to start. I forgot about The Gates being a CBS property/interest.

Hopefully the storytelling is faster paced and the writing is modern.
 
It really is surprising CBS is creating a brand new soap, when the genre is dying. They must have a ton of faith in its success to cancel The Talk, since it appears doing talk shows is much cheaper than producing a soap opera.

ABC cancelled All My Children and One Life To Live and replaced them with talk shows (which eventually tanked). CBS cancelled Guiding Light, then As The World Turns to make way for The Talk. NBC cancelled Another World (and migrated a handful of characters over to As The World Turns) and Passions to add more talk shows. Then their latest move pushing Days over to Peacock to make way for some NBC News show, and also to give the local affiliates space to air syndicated shows.

It'll be really interesting to see how The Gates does in the ratings. I guess the difference is that CBS/Sony heavily supports Y&R and B&B. Heck, they still send B&B actors/crew to foreign countries to do to location-based storylines. Days doesn't even have the budget to tape scenes in the studio parking lot.
 
I don't think they're launching something new just for over the air TV. I wonder if they have data that soaps are extra sticky for streaming subscribers, and they want to attract new subscribers for Paramount+.

Historically, the CBS lineup in the evening, which makes up a good bit of the CBS content on Paramount+, skews much older and much whiter than other networks/platforms. This could be something to attract different demographics of streaming subscribers and keep them loyal (vs those who sign up to binge a show for a month or two and then drop). One of the articles mentioned that soaps overindex in black female viewers (have higher viewership percent than would be indicated by the demographic's percent of the overall population), so it would make sense to launch a new soap property that takes advantage of that.
 
One more point: daily viewership would be the sticky factor, and I'm guessing soaps are better for that, bringing more daily, regular eyeballs from show fans on streaming than talk. I was a View watcher, but I didn't feel like I missed anything if I watched once or twice a week. I can watch a clip or two on YouTube and be satisfied if there's a guest I like. Soaps are different. Even when I'm annoyed with Days and I have the summaries, I'll at least fast forward through the shows and stop and watch the scenes with my favorites.
 
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