General Hospital
After Two Days: Katie Strong, Steve Harvey Solid, Ricki Lake Perked Up, Probst Falling Fast!
The overnights for the first two days of the new line-up of daytime talks shows has come in. And now via TV Media Insights, while the first two days may not spell the actual path these shows will take and if they will succeed or fail, there are a few pieces of information and good data to glean from it!
So here we go: “Using the two key benchmarks – lead-in and year-ago time period average – Katie Couric from Disney-ABC remains the top-rated and Steve Harvey continues to impress. Ricki Lake from Twentieth Television perked up among women 25-54, but Jeff Probst from CBS Television Distribution nosedived from its already lackluster opening levels. Based on the weighted household averages from Nielsen (primary telecasts only), Katie averaged a 2.3 rating/7 share in the overnights on Tuesday (in 52 markets), which dipped by 18 percent from the 2.8/ 8 for its debut on Monday. The lead-in was a 2.4/ 8 and the year-ago time period average was identical at a 2.3/ 7 (and Katie outdelivered No. 2 Steve Harvey by 64 percent). But results among women 25-54 (1.0/ 6) did, however, dip by 23 percent from both benchmarks.
Steve Harvey remains right on par with its week one performance, with the 1.4/ 4 in households yesterday (based on 55 markets) up by 27 percent from the lead-in (1.1/ 4) and 40 percent from the year-ago time period average (1.0/ 3). Results among women 25-54 (0.9/ 3) also increased by double-digit percentages from the two benchmarks, and Harvey outdelivered Katie in women 25-54 in five of the top 10 markets (including a 1.1/ 7 in New York vs. a 0.8/ 5 for Katie). Get used to Steve Harvey — he is here to stay.
Ricki Lake (in 54 markets), which was still not available in about 40 percent of homes in the New York DMA because of a retrans dispute between Cablevision and Tribune, dropped from a 0.8/ 2 (and not a 0.6/ 2 as reported yesterday) to a 0.7/ 2 out of a 1.0/ 3. The year-ago time period was a 1.1/ 3. So there is erosion aplenty. But results among women 25-54 grew from a 0.4/ 2 to a 0.5/ 3, which was equal to both the lead-in and year-ago time period averages.
Last, and very least, was Jeff Probst which dropped 30 percent in households from a 1.0/ 3 on Monday to a 0.7/ 2 on Tuesday (in 51 markets). Comparably, that was off by 42 percent from the lead-in (1.2/ 4) and 36 percent from the Sept. 2011 time period (1.1/ 3), with erosion among women 25-54 at a significant 43 percent (0.7/ 4 to 0.4/ 2).”
We will bring you the two day totals for General Hospital later today, which moved in to its new timeslot with an impressive 2.5/8 in households on Monday. So have you checked out any of the daytime talkers and compared them? Let us know!
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Carly and Lulu Make Plans to Rescue Their Children; Anna Looks Determined to Secure Her Freedom

This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the race is on! Can Lulu (Alexa Havins) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) get to Rocco (Finn Carr) and Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) in time to ensure their safety from Cullum (Andrew Hawkes)? Can Carly (Laura Wright) with the help of her brother, Lucas (Van Hansis) rescue Josslyn (Eden McCoy) from captivity at Wyndemere? These questions may be answered, plus the return of the one and only Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) are on tap!
In the just released General Hospital spoilers video for the week of June 22-26, Lulu tells her mother, Laura (Genie Francis), “Dante and I have to get to Rocco before Cullum!” Meanwhile, Rocco (Finn Carr) looks angered and emotional as Britt walks through their cabin hideout. Does Rocco know his parents are on the way to find them, or has Cullum already tracked them down to the British Virgin Islands?
Back in Port Charles, Carly is informing Lucas that his niece, “is a WSB agent.” She knows Josslyn (Eden McCoy) is being held against her will at Wyndemere, and she has to find a way to get her out. Lucas agrees with Carly’s plan of, “We go in and we don’t leave without Josslyn!” Elsewhere, Josslyn is looking worried for her future as she is stuck in captivity thanks to Cassius, Cullum and Sidwell!

Courtesy/ABC
FINOLA HUGHES RETURNS
The final moments of the teaser promo reveal Anna in a psychiatric clinic in France. We have not seen her for months after Cullum, Sidwell and Pascal fed her hallucinogenics to make her believe her arch nemesis, Cesar Faison was alive!
Now, the doctors walk towards her hospital bed, where we see the super spy calmly knitting. Is Anna back to normal and playing everyone to get out of her predicament, or does she still remain deeply traumatized … or both?
Take a look at the rest of the official GH spoilers for the week below.
MONDAY, JUNE 22
Willow gets an unwelcome surprise. Trina sticks to her guns. “Nathan” wants reassurance. Ethan advises Ava. Brook Lynn receives an update.
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
Dante cautions Liz. Laura learns a secret. Brook Lynn confides in Michael. Sonny challenges Ava. Chase makes a decision.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
Anna meets with her doctor. Carly makes a stunning confession. Britt extracts a promise. Cullum pulls a fast one. Gio and Emma hit the pool.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25
Josslyn clashes with Cassius. Lulu and Dante make a discovery. Chase receives a warning. Jordan seeks help. Alexis is summoned to the PCPD.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Anna takes a huge risk. Britt is in grave danger. Willow is in disbelief. Danny must act fast. Curtis jumps to the wrong conclusion.
Check out the latest General Hospital promo entitled, “Rescue Mission” below.
Now weigh-in: Do you think Anna is still mentally off-balance, or OK, and just pretending to be troubled to get out of France and get back to Port Charles? Will Josslyn finally be rescued, or will Carly and Lucas find themselves locked up with her? And, who will get to Britt and Rocco first? Cullum, or Dante and Lulu? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Maurice Benard Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ Writers; Teases Upcoming Sonny Scenes with Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric

With the highly-anticipated returns of Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) on this week’s June 24 episode of General Hospital, Steve Burton’s (Jason Morgan) upcoming return on July 13, which also serves as the ABC daytime drama’s 16,000 episode, things are about to fire on all cylinders in the story, as noted today by series star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos).
On Father’s Day, the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning actor and mental health activist took to his Instagram and expressed in a video that he has some unbelievable upcoming senes with the aforementioned Burton and Hughes. Add to that Nazneen Contractor (Justine Turner) and Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), where Benard gave credit where credit is due to the GH writing team, which is led by co-head writers, Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten..
In this video, Benard said, “I just want to get on here and say that I did some work with Steve Burton, Finola Hughes, Rick Hearst, Nazneen Contractor, and they’re all just fantastic. Truly fantastic. But, I want to say the writing was just exceptional. It truly was. It was exceptional. So, thankful for that kind of writing. I know writers don’t get the credit a lot, but I just want to say to the General Hospital writing team, keep rolling!”
GENERAL HOSPITAL PREVIEW
So now the question becomes, with a major tease like that, what is about to go down between Sonny, Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric? Will we finally get to the end of the line for Sidwell (Carlo Rota), as previously teased by the GH co-head writers? Will we learn what happened to Jason and Anna, fully? Will Justine and Sonny becomes closer or stop their liaisons? And what of Ric? Will he be true blue to his brother or double-cross him? There is a lot at stake as we move further into the summer and one that looks like it could be one of the more exciting ones in years!
FINOLA HUGHES CONFIRMED AMAZING SCENES WITH MAURICE BENARD
As a punctuation point to his video, Benard also shared this written message in the post: “I just did some wonderful scenes with Steve Burton, Rick Hearst, Finola Hughes and Nazneen Contractor and and unbelievable writing, freaking amazing scenes that you will see in the near future on General Hospital.” In fact, Finola Hughes jumped in the post comment thread and responded, “I loved our scenes so much xxx”
Fans will most likely see all the scenes Benard referred to later in July, since GH tapes approximately six weeks ahead of air.
So, are you excited to see what Maurice is talking about? Are you hyped for what’s to come on GH? Any clue on what you think will go down between the main characters on the soap with the returns of Anna Devane and Jason Morgan to the mix? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Announces Upcoming Release of His First Single, ‘If You Need Me’

In a surprise move, Daytime Emmy winner, Chad Duell (ex-Michael Corinthos, GH) is getting ready to unveil a new chapter of his career in music.
The former GH star, where he played the son of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) for 15 years, has announced his new single, “If You Need Me” will drop on Friday, June 26. The single is now available for pre-order on Spotify and major music streaming platforms and is distributed by DistroKid.
Taking to his Instagram story over the weekend, to announce the pre-save of his new single, Chad expressed, “I’ll make a full post about what I’ve been up to and my music once it goes live next week, but you can pre-save my first single so it goes straight to your Spotify once it drops next week.”

Photo: CDuellIG
SINCE LEAVING GENERAL HOSPITAL
Previously, since his departure from the ABC soap opera. Chad starred alongside Zach Mendez in the world premiere of of Yum Yum at Annapolis, a new play written by Bruce Reisman. Duell last appeared on General Hospital on the January 21, 2025 episode.
The part was recast with Rory Gibson who debuted as the new Michael in May of 2025 during the Nurses’ Ball episodes and who has remained in the role since that time.
In an interview earlier this year on The Able Show, Duell said on his decision to exit the soap opera, “I was blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have, but what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”
So, what type of musical genre will Chad’s new song be? Country? Pop? Rock? Dance/Club? Something else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below, and if you are eager to hear the new single next week via the comment section below.
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No, have not checked them out, nor will I ever. It’s GH (and OLTL if it ever comes back) for me and nothing else.
And if we lose GH, then daytime tv will have lost another viewer.
I have watched Probst, and IMO, there is alot of potential. I like his style, he’s a good talk show host. But this show was not marketed well, it should have had bigger promos over the summer. And as for the show itself, again, it’s got potential, but they do WAY TOO MUCH in one episode. Three stories, and three little fun things. That’s too much, it really is. I hope they re-evaluate and re-tool it and that it has more of a chance, cuz I like Probst, but this show in its current format is not doing it for me.
It’s just beginner’s luck for Katie….Give her 2 to 3 wks. And her ratings will flop for sure….Viewers will get bored after a while….A short while……Gh is a survivor!!!! GH is ROCKIN & ROLLIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Viewers will lose interest in all that talking crap-polla…………………….GH ratings look very promising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A positive outlook!!!!As I said GH is a survivor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Katie’s show will flop & she will be going on her next venture…..And not on daytime programing ….. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have nothing against her personally…I just don’t want another talk show on daytime anymore..In fact no talk shows on daytime…Katie should be on in the morning……………………..Where she has been ………………There is no room for Katie’s talk show on daytime………
nope just gh and have no interest in any of the talk shows. i would prefer all my abc soaps to return.
I LOVE THE RICKI LAKE SHOW. I THINK RICKI WILL LAST FOR A LONG TIME, KATIE COURIC LOOKS LIKE A HIT. SHE SEEMS COMFORTABLE IN WHAT SHE IS DOING. AS LONG AS GENERAL HOSPITAL IS STILL ON THE AIR. THE RATINGS WILL HOPEFULLY GO HIGHER AND HIGHER. BRING ERKA SLEZAK AS VIKI FOR A VISIT.
Soap fans continue to bash Katie Couric as if she was the one to cancel AMC and OLTL. Get a grip folks because if it wasn’t her show it would be something else as ABC clearly want out of the soap business. I’m not a fan of Katie’s but I don’t have anything against her either. So people can root for her show to fail all they want because no matter what happens, they will NOT be bringing back those two soaps and GH will still most likely get the boot in a year.
I never liked Katie on Today but tuned in for CBS news, still didn’t like her
and giving one more chance, tuned in to latest, “Katie”. Nothing new there.
Same-old-same-old. BORING, have never watched a full episode.
This show will never make it. Okay for a mid-afternoon nap.