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NY Post: Collective Bargaining & Unions the secret villain to soaps demise!

Courtesy/ABC

Courtesy/ABC

The New York Post has a very interesting piece out this weekend on what the death of soap operas say about our economy and the way Unions are structured. And that even though ABC Daytime President, Brian Frons, handed down the death sentence verdict to All My Children and One Life to Live, that there was a bigger villain looming in the background and that was Collective Bargaining and all the Union costs for the various areas involved in the making of soaps, that of the cast, crew, and creatives. Read below some key excerpts on what soaps have been facing internally all this time, while trying to put out a show five days a week, and why reality series looks like a great option for network programmers!

NY Post: “The soaps are effectively an industry heading for bankruptcy, and even union members realize it. In the last decade, soaps have been trying to cut costs to the bone. But those bones are covered in the impenetrable gristle of AFTRA (the daytime actors union), WGA (the writers guild), the DGA (directors) and the backstage union IATSE.

Soaps are “certainly not expensive by other entertainment gauges,” says former producer Michael Laibson, a leader of the creative teams at All My Children and Guiding Light. But “they don’t pay the people [on reality TV] the same kinds of wages. The acting, the above-the-line costs [for creative talent] are much higher on soaps. Generally, on a soap there are about 30 actors that are under contract so they have a guaranteed number of performances per week and a guaranteed salary per performance.”

Union super-minimum wages lead directly to high unemployment. AFTRA requires each of the main performers to be paid at least $913 a day, but stars get much more. Seventeen Writers Guild jobs disappear when the two ABC soaps go dark. They aren’t getting paid in Palmolive, either. Head writers (of whom there might be more than one) get at least $35,345 a week. Writing expenses are minimal on reality, which the WGA hasn’t successfully penetrated yet.”

“The soap industry is highly skilled, and Days of Our Lives is a more polished product than The Biggest Loser. Soaps are more like airlines. The value of their product has dwindled rapidly, but unions don’t provide flexibility for trimming costs to keep up. Since soaps aren’t a separate industry, they can’t use bankruptcy as a wedge to reopen contracts and make cuts. An AFTRA source who didn’t want to be identified says, “We’re certainly mindful of the challenges the industry faces,” although not mindful enough to back down on their main goal: “We want to increase pay and benefits for our members.”  Hundreds of IATSE members are going to be out of work. Even unionized reality programs like ABC’s upcoming soap replacements The Chew (Mario Batali cooking show) and The Revolution (a Biggest Loser-style weight-loss show) will bring far fewer jobs in makeup, costumes, set moving, etc.”

“Maybe renegotiating the daytime serials portion of the contract would have beaten layoffs. But from the unions’ perspective, any concession sets a dangerous precedent. If they take a hit on daytime, isn’t that an invitation to cut prime-time contracts? So unions will continue to shrug at reality and the marketplace will continue to punish them.”




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Nicole
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Nicole

So is Frons trying to get the blame off himself and blame the Unions?? Is he hoping for infighting amongst the unions so that AFTRA and IATSE don’t support each other anymore? Since the actors can’t support the ABC protests publically (because they are worried about backlash from Frons), is this around about way of trying to make sure the other unions don’t support the SAVE OUR SOAPS Protests and Boycotts….create infighting amongst the unions?

John
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John

Again we blame the unions? People have INCREDIBLY short memories. Or a really deficient schooling in what working conditions in this country were like before unions. And what they will be like again if unions are crushed. I can’t help but feeling that our grandchildren will be spilling their blood fighting for rights which our ancestors spilled their blood to hand down to us, and which we so take for granted.

Brooke
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Brooke

What a load of bunk! You can’t blame the unions, who protect the workers, for the out of control GREED on the part of ABC’s and Disney’s top level management and shareholders.

This FAUX News style propaganda a la GOP ain’t gonna fly.

Brooke
Guest
Brooke

“Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert A. Iger commanded a 35% jump in salary and bonuses in 2010, rewarding what the board of directors’ compensation committee called his “exceptional performance” in the face of a slow-recovering U.S. economy. Iger’s salary and bonus reached nearly $16.3 million, up from $12 million a year earlier. His total compensation, including equity awards, reached $28 million… “(LA Times 1/28/2011)

Tracy Thomas
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Tracy Thomas

What a crock of S**T!!!!! So Brian Frons is AGAIN trying to deceive us with his pack of lies! Like I said, “what a crock of SH**T!!!!” While I understand that managing soap operas can be expensive, why is it NOW they’ve become too expensive to handle?! They have been going on for as long as I’ve been aound! What kills me is that Disney is too greedy and doesn’t give a rat’s a$$ about us, but also the fact that Brian Frons can’t take responsibilty for his own stupidity! He continued to lie to our faces about AMC and… Read more »

todd
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todd

You can’t believe anything that you read in the New York Post. It is owned by Rupert Murdoch and is a political paper. It exists as propaganda for far right conservative causes. Having thousands more mad at unions now, with all that is going in the Midwest, is too convenient. Unions can be blamed in the same respect, for all of the US jobs being sent overseas. It boils down to corporate greed — money beforeanything else. OLTL made money,but a reality show will make more. They don’t care that less will watch. It will make more profit. They don’t… Read more »

CINDY
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CINDY

WELL SHE SOME ACTORS ARE WILL TO GO CUT PAY AND SALARY !JUMP ON THE BAND WAGON FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME AND THIS THE CURRENT TREND.HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS. THEN PUT IT ON SOAPNET AND WE’LL PAY FOR THE CHANNEL!

Lori
Guest
Lori

All that article is doing is trying to switch the blame game on Unions.I am sorry if there wasn’t Unions around it go back to what it was before the 1900 ‘s.I mean Unions stop child labor laws before there were Unions they were having ten or even nine year olds working under the worst conditions inmagable.I mean think about the garment fire back in the early 1900’s when how many young women and children lost there lives.They can all say it is caused by the unions,but all this does make trouble were it don’t belong.Common sense with this so-called… Read more »

Brooke
Guest
Brooke

NO ONE from the network approached the unions for negotiations.

leah
Guest
leah

REALLY – ABC and Disney are trying to break the unions… I hope no one falls for or stands for that. If top execs who do nothing would take a pay cut that would be wonderful. Frons isn’t doing much any way.. keep the calls up people.. cause his ass needs to be out like yesterday unions unite

All My Children

Chrishell Stause and G Flip Tie the Knot

Selling Sunset star and soap alum, Chrishell Stause is married after one-year of dating to Australian-born musician, G Flip.

Stause, who formerly appeared on the soap operas; All My Children, Days of our Lives, and The Young and the Restless, took to her Instagram with a montage of photos sharing the news of her union with G Flip.

Photo: CStauseIG

The marriage was confirmed by Stause’s rep to PEOPLE.  Chrishell’s post also was used to promote G Flip’s brand new single, “Be Your Man” with a look at their year together in photos. The single was written by G Flip about their relationship with Stause.

The real estate broker/reality star shared: “Love doesn’t always go as planned … Sometimes it’s immeasurably better. Be Your Man is out now & linked in stories. If you ever get the pleasure of meeting G, know that you are meeting one of the kindest, funniest & most talented hard working people out there.  Please go stream! I love you so much @gflip ❤️‍🔥 #BeYourMan”

Previously, Chrishell was in a relationship for four years to Justin Hartley (ex-This Is Us, Y&R, Passions) before getting married.  The two eventually tied the knot in 2017 and were divorced in 2019.

Share your congratulations, thoughts, or well-wishes for Stause and G Flip on their marriage in the comment section below.

 

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All My Children

Mark Consuelos Debut Week on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’ Scores Highest Rating for Show Since Mid-January

They are off to a good start! Former All My Children stars, real-life husband and wife, and now co-hosts of Live with Kelly and Mark, fared well in Mark Consuelos’ (ex-Mateo) debut week.

Consuelos took over from Ryan Seacrest in the co-host chair opposite Ripa (ex-Hayley) on April 17th.  The couple’s debut-week landed them solid ratings, plus the syndicated morning series largest audience in three months.

According to Nielsen’s live+same-day data, Live with Kelly and Mark scored 2.4M viewers and a 1.7 Household rating.

Those stats make it the highest for both since the week of January 16.  The pairing also scored well on Live’s year-over-year averages in both total viewers and in the key demo. Live with Kelly and Mark was up 6% in ratings and 8% in total viewers.

In addition, Kelly and Mark were shown the love in the New York City market. The premiere week brought with it Live‘s most-watched week in nearly three years. Formerly, May of 2020 was the biggest numbers for a NY state of mind audience.

So, how do you like Kelly and Mark together as co-hosts thus far on ‘Live’? Let us know in the comment section below.

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All My Children

Carol Burnett On Her 90th Birthday Recalls Agnes Nixon Offering Her the Role of All My Children’s Verla Grubbs

Last night on her 90th birthday, comedy legend Carol Burnett was honored during the NBC TV special, Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love.  Today, April 27th,the extended cut is available to stream on Peacock.

In an interview on her career with Vulture, Burnett discussed how she eventually wound up playing the role of Verla Grubbs on her favorite soap opera, All My Children.Burnett, first played the role in 1983.

Photo: ABC

As many know, Carol was a professed longtime fan of Pine Valley, and over the years, many wondered if she asked for a role on the show and thus reached out to its legendary creator, Agnes Nixon.

Burnett revealed: “I didn’t have to. She volunteered. When I did questions and answers at the top of my show, I often talked about All My Children with the audience. I’d say, ‘Oh, I didn’t see it today. What happened?’ Because my lunch hour was built around watching All My Children. Agnes knew that, and she called and said, ‘Would you like it if I wrote a character for you?’ I said, ‘Absolutely!’ So on my hiatus, I flew back to New York and they had a whole story line for me. I was on it for two weeks, and I got to know Susan Lucci. Oh, and Susan is on the 90th! She flew out and I was thrilled. But soap operas are the hardest work, because, oh my God, you get 19 pages at night, you have to study the lines, and then you go do it in the morning. I really admire soap-opera actors, how they pull it off.”

Photo: ABC

The character of Verla Grubbs (the daughter of Langley Wallingford) appeared on AMC several times in 1983, 1995, 2005 and 2011.

Check out Burnett as Verla below.

Now let us know if you admire Carol’s appreciation of the art form of the soaps, and if you loved her during her time on All My Children in the comment section below.

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