The Situation with Soapnet

Ryan's Hope relegated to one hour a week; Another World completely off the schedule; 90210 on two hours a day, seven days a week; Dallas on four hours a day, five days a week.  One Tree Hill and The O.C. on in the middle of the day when kids are in school; the first airing of Y&R, which several articles have stated has been a big boon to Soapnet, pushed back from 7 to 11 pm.

In other words, Brian Frons strikes again.  In addition to these changes, we have more reality series (this time, not even tangentially related to soaps), another 90210 marathon next month (it's on every freaking day, why does it need a marathon!), and a special about BROTHERS & SISTERS that will air numerous times next week.  I like Brothers & Sisters, but the show does well and has already been renewed for next season, so it's not like they need Soapnet's vast audience to come in and save them.

Speaking of which, as a result of all this, people have been wondering exactly how Soapnet is doing in the ratings.  While it's still harder to get a full breakdown of Soapnet's numbers than it is to break into Ft. Knox, according to industry publication Cable World, Soapnet averaged a whopping 326, 000 viewers in prime time last month.  Keep in mind that the prime time audience is probably the biggest audience for Soapnet, as it is for most networks.  To put it in more perspective, Soapnet was actually 7,000 viewers behind Country Music Television in Feb.  COUNTRY MUSIC TELEVISION, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!  Meanwhile, Soapnet's arch nemesis, Lifetime, received about four times the audience Soapnet did.

The Soapnet audience is small.  And as long as it revolves around current daytime soaps, third-rate original programming, and endless reruns of 90's/early 2000's fare, I don't see it growing much further.  Now, it appears Soapnet is willing to fritter away the most loyal viewers they have, in what is, at best, a weak bid at picking up a few thousand younger viewers.  That's at best.  Because even going by that reasoning, I want to know how a schedule aimed at grabbing younger demos includes four hours a day of Dallas.

Needless to say, people are protesting via e-mail and phone calls.  It's even gotten to the point where one of the Soapnet message board moderators (who are basically invisible on that site) has posted a message on the AW board directing viewers to call the comment line about that show.  The number is 818-569-3333.  From what I'm hearing, people have been calling other Soapnet numbers, but they're ultimately transferred to this one.  You can also send an e-mail by going here.

I'm not really surprised.  It's not like I haven't predicted that Soapnet would go in this direction before.  Soapnet long ago stopped being a soap channel.  It became a women's channel that happens to have a lot of soaps on it.  Now, it's going to be a young women's channel that has some soaps, some reality programming, and DALLAS, DALLAS, DALLAS! I'm sorry, I just can't wrap my mind around all this Dallas. 

Brian Frons has been at Soapnet for nearly a year, and I guess it was time for him to make his presence felt.  I don't hold a lot of hope that this can be reversed.  Honestly, I probably wouldn't even waste time encouraging you to contact the network...

..but, I really need my daily Ryan's Hope fix.  I mean, I need it like I'm on crack.  And if I don't get it, I might go all Stephanie Forrester on somebody, and that wouldn't be pretty. *

So, if you're inclined, call or e-mail the network and politely, but firmly, let them know that the direction they're headed in is not a good one.  Thanks!

*Hell, I might even go Rip Taylor on somebody.  That's right, I'll be leaving confetti all over the place, and you'll have to clean it up.  And I know you, and you ain't got a vaccum big enough to clean it up.  So, don't test me!