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OLTL's Hillary B. Smith tweets her sadness as she packed her things & left ABC Studios!

By Michael Fairman

Published

15 years ago

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Courtesy/ABC

Courtesy/ABC

Daytime Emmy winner and long time member of the cast of One Life to Live, Hillary B. Smith (Nora Buchanan) took to Twitter this morning to share her thoughts as she prepared to go to One Life’s ABC Studios in New York City to clean out her dressing room and take one more look around.  As you know, tomorrow, December 9th, is the final day for the cast to clear out their dressing rooms and belongings.

Hillary’s touching tweets stated, “I am awake and dreading today. It is the day I move the last of my stuff from the dressing room and say good by to my family. I will roll my stuff unaided through the audience waiting in line to see The View like a discarded lover when she has been all used up.”

“After 20 years of caring and bleeding for this show. I feel dismissed. Like we are all being told, “Move along. Nothing to see here.”

“Have to share the morning. Walked in, through and passed all the audience lining up for The View. It hit me… I will be doing the “Walk of Shame” leaving the building pushing and carrying all of my belongings past the sad looks of the audience. I walked into wardrobe to say “Good-Bye” and burst into tears! After hugging, all 5 walked in my dress room, grabbed my things. Your not alone. They walked me through the crowd like an entourage, helped me load the car and hugged, kissed and waved me “Good-Bye”. True Friends!  It makes you realize, the little gestures in life are like the arms of a conductor, they bring music to your soul. The lightest touch leaves the deepest imprint. Even a passing courtesy can make someone’s day. This morning will be forever a memory of love.”

These tweets broke our hearts! And doesn’t it make it all the more real for all soapers everywhere?  It’s hard to fathom the scene at ABC Studios today and tomorrow.  Our thoughts are with all the performers and behind-the-scenes personnel who gave so much to make One Life what it has been for 43-years.  One. Terrific. Show.

 

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MY HEART IS BREAKING!

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And it makes me want to be able to whip the bird and shout the words OUT LOUD to Frons and ABC and Disney…but I’ll do it the right way…I can’t stop watching Castle – but I CAN and WILL not watch anything new on ABC – not now, not ever.

Trust me on this…..I mean it.

Haven’t figured out how I’m going to hurt Disney yet, but I’m contemplating options. Any ideas out there? I don’t have little kids, so I don’t buy the movies…but there’s got to be something………

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stop watching castle ,stop watching anything on abc except the soaps.

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The thing is-nobody knows I watch the soaps, so how will they know when I quit watching ABC? Point being-where do these “ratings” come from? I’ve been watching soaps since I was old enough to watch tv, in the mid 1960’s & I have never been contacted by anyone, any ratings organization. I have always wondered how ratings are determined. Anybody have the answer?

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Gloria, read about Nielsen ratings at these links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings
https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/measurement/television-measurement.html

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My heart is so broken over everyone loosing there JOBS these shows aren;t just some show. THESE ARE OURS BELOVED FAMILY many of us have been watching since the begining for.some of us this all they have.now what what is going to happen to our ICON soaps.so many of us our so depress over this loss..but we will keep figting no matter what when you love something so much you just dont give up.SOAPS FANS OUR THE BEST FIGHTERS that any one could have and they are so LOYAL .just ask ABC THEY HAD SO many FANS FOR 43 YEARS. THEN THEY JUST THREW EVERYONE AWAY.TO SAVE 40% I hope it was worth it to you .

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You are so right Tammy. Breaks my heart. I have been so down since Nov. 23, I have cried & cried, this keeps me awake at night, the idea of not having this show in my life. The show is better & better every day-how can it end? How can ABC not understand what they are doing? I am just sick over this.

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Thanks, Hillary. We Totally Love You So Very Much!

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Nothing but the highest respect to all the wonderful people who gave us “One LifeTo Live” Hope to “see” all of you very soon. All the best in what ever comes next.

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Still can’t believe it….hoping it was all just a nightmare.

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Just heartbreaking! The fans, the actors, the crew, everyone wants this show to continue! Someone has got to be able to take all of this and make it profitable! I can’t believe that there isn’t some creative person/people who can capitalize on this. There is an opportunity here…

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Crying. Hating on ABC. I will only watch GH on ABC once OLTL is gone. Everything else, day or night is off limits in my home, forever.

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I feel like I am losing a family member or a dear friend. These characters from OLTL have been a part of my life for over 40 years and I can’t imagine a day without them in it. It is so sad. The last week it airs will be such a sad week for me. I am sure I will go through a sort of mourning. It is so sad and ABC is making such a mistake by getting rid of the soaps. Hillary is one of my fave’s along with so many from OLTL. Good luck to you all and I hope to be seeing all of you on another show. Love you all !!!!!!!!

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I really hope ABC loses a great deal of money and viewers in the coming year. I have never hated a television network as much. Sure TV shows come and go over the years. Plenty of my favorites have been canceled. However, ABC is literally killing an entire genre. AMC and One Life maintained ratings of over 2 MILLION viewers, in an era of multiple viewer choices. Not to mention, that One LIfe to Live is wonderfully written and performed. It has so much life left- and ABC is just killing it- for cooking shows!! I hate ABC.

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All I can say is shame on ABC execs who pulled the plug. Nothing and no one else has given them 43 years. Probably not even some of their spouses if they were soap lovers. It may take time but they will see they made some pretty powerful enemies.

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Hillary: “the little gestures in life . . . bring music to your soul. The lightest touch leaves the deepest imprint. . . . will be forever a memory of love.”

Your words remind me of your performances and OLTL.

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I am nit watching live with KELLY either,wish that annoying show was cancelled

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I’m heartbroken.

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For Gloria regarding how ratings information is gathered and from whom. It is called the Neilsen’s ratings system.

Nielsen television ratings are gathered in one of two ways:

1. Viewer “diaries”, in which a target audience self-records its viewing or listening habits. By targeting various demographics, the assembled statistical models provide a rendering of the audiences of any given show, network, and programming hour.
2. A more technologically sophisticated system uses Set Meters, which are small devices connected to televisions in selected homes. These devices gather the viewing habits of the home and transmit the information nightly to Nielsen through a “Home Unit” connected to a phone line. The technology-based home unit system is meant to allow market researchers to study television viewing habits on a minute to minute basis, seeing the exact moment viewers change channels or turn off their TV. In addition to set meters, individual viewer reporting devices, such as people meters, have allowed the company to separate household viewing information into various demographic groups, but so far Nielsen has refused to change its distribution of data of ethnic groups into subgroups, which could give more targeted information to networks and advertisers.

Changing systems of viewing have impacted Nielsen’s methods of market research. In 2005, Nielsen began measuring the usage of digital video recordings such as TiVo. Initial results indicate that time-shifted viewing will have a significant impact on television ratings. The networks are not yet figuring these new results into their ad rates due to the resistance of advertisers.”

So as you can see, the networks only take in part of the numbers(Ratings) counted not all. It is unfair to cancel our soaps or any show for that matter, when the Networks and advertisers are not considering all the millions of people who digitally record the soaps to watch when they get home from work.

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This was nice of Hillary B. Smith to let us know what happens now. I read with interest all the insights from actors on GL, ATWT and AMC. This simple story of Smith’s cleaning out her dressing room really touched me. It is always difficult to bridge past and future, but when it was situation was done in this way… well, it is more poignant.

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In a real sense Neilsen’s ratings system is still operating in the old standard of America, both when they were rating radio programs in the 20’s, 30’s 40’s and 50’s to when television came into regular use. The 20’s through the 50’s in America was a time when Mom usually stayed home with the kids while Dad went out to work ostensibly to bring home the bacon so to speak.

My point is that America hasn’t looked like the first three quarters of the 20th century in a very long time. Since the later quarter of the 20th century we have gone from VCR to DVR and as we have recorded our soaps they have never been missed. It is well to mention here that along with the recorded program comes the commercials in between just like on live TV so the sponsor products are there as well… ever in our sight for us to pick and choose from according to our individual household needs.

But since the Networks are only looking at what I suspect to be Neilsen’s ratings of whatever is being watched at its scheduled time, the real story has been ignored..and that is where I cry foul. We as soap viewers support the soaps not only when we watch but …when we buy sponsor advertised products.

To the Advertisers and the Networks:

This is the 21st Century not the antiquated first three quarters of the 20th century. We do not live in a welfare state in America and because we are not all independently wealthy, people have to go out to work so that we can pay our bills and taxes and buy those lovely sponsor products.
We in America all live in that reality, so why should we (the soap viewers (that number 7 million) lose a 43 year old unique American Tradition (One Life To Live) just because the Networks and Advertisers refuse to get out of the first 3/4 of the 20th century? The answer to that question is that: We shouldn’t have to and we wouldn’t have if the Networks , the Advertisers and the antiquated version of the Neilsen’s ratings system as used by them would come out of the dark ages.

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Networks don’t want you to DVR soaps. Because if you, that means that you’re not watching the commercials.

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“My point is that America hasn’t looked like the first three quarters of the 20th century in a very long time. Since the later quarter of the 20th century we have gone from VCR to DVR and as we have recorded our soaps they have never been missed. It is well to mention here that along with the recorded program comes the commercials in between just like on live TV so the sponsor products are there as well… ever in our sight for us to pick and choose from according to our individual household needs.”

That is the point of my comments. You see it doesn’t matter that they don’t want us to DVR or record our soaps and /or daytime shows or not because the reality is, that unless the Networks, and Advertisers come into the 21st century, and start counting recorded shows or “shifted viewing” as viable numbers, then by default there is no show that will make it so to speak… because reality dictates that most of us have to leave our homes to work for a living.
At some point the Networks and Advertisers will have to come to accept our current reality and deal accordingly or they will have to pay the steep prices for lost show after lost show. It costs a great deal of money to put shows on TV, imagine how much those costs will rise as they continue on in their present path with the Neilsen’s Ratings System having to replace show after show simply because they persist in counting viewers the way they have for the last 50 years… and thereby doing, they refuse to recognize “All” the viewers.

So in the end it doesn’t matter that they don’t want us to DVR our shows reasoning that we aren’t watching the commercials; because as we need to make a living to buy those sponsor products, reality dictates that the DVR is recording the shows we watch anyway.
and as the Networks refuse to look at all of us, they will be the ones to lose in the end.

Whether it is recording the soaps or watching them at their regularly scheduled times…we, millions of soap viewers are not the ones at fault here, we have been there watching our shows faithfully for more than four decades, having spent billions of dollars over the last four decades in sponsor product purchases.

ABC has blown a lot of hot air regarding the viewers not wanting to watch soaps anymore because they had the Nelisen’s Ratings System the way it currently counts viewers, to back up what they said…but the truth is …a system, such as the Neilsen’s that refuses to count ‘All” the viewers is flawed.

Bottom line …….
If soaps can’t make money anymore as ABC and Oprah have both claimed, then why did ABC ‘Sell” the licensing rights to Prospect Park in the first place? And why did ABC expect to receive millions in royalties every year? If our soaps can’t make money then where did ABC expect to get royalties in the millions? Huh?..

And finally, if our Soaps can’t make money anymore then why didn’t ABC just give the licensing rights away for free or at one dollar to make the licensing deal legal?

Other Networks know all this and they know that wherever our soaps go…. we go….even if we have to buy cable to do it.

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BOYCOTT ABC! Get smart STOP watching EVEN DWTS.
AWARDS SHOWS, ANYTHING THEY BOARDCAST and they will fell the rath.

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I agree boycott ABC! There is nothing now on ABC that I can’t see anywhere else.

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News

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)

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39 minutes ago

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September 13, 2026

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Heather Tom, Crew Morrow

In an ironic twist of fate, and only in the soaps, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom’s (Katie Logan) on-screen son is played by Crew Morrow (Will Spencer), the now 21-year-old son of her former TV brother on The Young and the Restless, Joshua Morrow (Nick Newman).

For those who have followed the six-time Daytime Emmy-winning actress’ career, Tom began on Y&R back in 1990 as Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Victor’s (Eric Braeden) daughter Victoria Newman. She played the role until 2003. Four years later, she joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful and has been there ever since.

Next month, at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Heather might add two gold statuettes to her collection with nominations for Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series (which would be her record-breaking 7th for an actress), and one for being a part of B&B’s writing team.

Photo: JPI

WHICH MORROW IS IN THE ROOM?

In a new livestream conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Heather recalled her reaction to seeing Crew Morrow on set when he started on B&B over two years ago, and pointed out the uncanny similarities between her TV son and her former TV brother.

“I just can’t even tell you how genetics is weird,” explained Tom. “Because it’s like they are the same person; the cadence and his voice and the way he laughs. When Crew was on the shows for the first couple of months, it would take me out of the scene. I would be like, ‘Oh, my God! It’s Joshua.’ It’s crazy. It’s so wonderful to have him. I love having him there. We’re so lucky to have Crew. I think he’s a wonderful addition to the Spencer family. I love that Bill (Don Diamont) and Katie’s son is on the canvas in a real way.”

In recent weeks, fans of The Bold and the Beautiful have seen a different side of Katie in regards to her son, Will. She simply does not approve, and does not trust Melissa Dylan (Sydney Bullock) as far as she can throw her. That puts a wrinkle in the mother/son relationship.

Photo: JPI

HEATHER TOM IS THRILLED THE CHARACTER OF WILL SPENCER IS ALL GROWN-UP

“Honestly, I’ve been waiting for this story since Will was born,” exclaimed Heather  “To be like the overprotective, overbearing mother, momma bear, I love it!”

As for Katie’s attitude. which many feel may need an “attitude adjustment,” Tom has it all figured out on just how she is tackling her scenes! “I have all kinds of justifications for it,” reveals the multi-talented star.

Photo: JPI

KATIE SEES ALL SORTS OF RED FLAGS WITH DYLAN

“So. it’s not just Katie being the b-word,” proclaims Tom. “It’s that Will, her son, whom she loves and supports so much, has been constantly saying about Electra (Laneya Grace), ‘This is the love of my life. She’s broken my heart. I love her. All I want to do is get her back.'”

“So I think Katie could be like, ‘Okay, well, Electra’s a little flighty, but my son loves her, so I’m going to try to support that relationship,” explains Heather. “In addition, Will has never told his mother, ‘I love Dylan,’ at all. I think Katie is thinking of telling Will, ‘You should run, not walk, from this girl who seems somewhat obsessed!’ I don’t know where they’re going with the Electra/Will/Dylan triangle, but I think Katie’s very focused on Dylan for a multitude of reasons.”

So, do you like seeing Heather Tom as Katie going into overprotective momma bear-mode, now that the series has a major young triangle between Electra/Will/Dylan? What do you think about the fact that Heather has been a long-running scene partner with father/son across two different soaps in Joshua Morrow and Crew Morrow? Let us know in the comment section, and in case you missed it, check out our full conversation with Heather below.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Finola Hughes Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’

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3 hours ago

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September 13, 2026

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Finola Hughes

There was never any doubt that in watching the riveting and emotional scenes on General Hospital which featured Finola Hughes as a PTSD-driven and mentally tortured Anna Devane, that when the climatic moments in Anna’s story aired, that we would not be singing the praises of Hughes. Once again, Finola showcased why she is one of the soap opera genres greatest assets and actresses.

In the key scenes, Anna has had a complete breakdown as she has lured and cornered Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) on Mount Emerson, and even thought through how she would kill her and cover it up, all thanks to hearing the voice and seeing a dead man, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). It’s visions of Peter that keeps egging Anna on to pull the trigger on Britt while in her delusional state.

Before Britt realizes that Anna trapped her in meeting her in Mount Emerson, she is very confused as to why she was all the way out in the boondocks to talk about what happened to her brother, Cassius Faison. However, Britt soon learned that what Anna was about to do is personal, and not professional, as she pulls the gun on her.

Courtesy/ABC

ANNA FIRES HER GUN IN GAME-CHANGING MOMENT

When Jason (Steve Burton) shows up to save the say, he tries to talk Anna off the ledge, begging her to not shoot Britt and make one of the greatest mistakes of his life. When Jason figured out Anna felt she needed to kill anyone related to Cesar Faison, he made her think twice, because that would mean, she also would need to end the lives of two of Maxie’s children, James and Bailey Lu.

Anna can’t stop seeing hallucinations of Peter pushing her to shoot Britt. Suddenly and completely overcome, Anna fires bullets straight in the direction of where she sees Peter as she declares this all must end tonight.

After the shots are fired, Anna realized what she had done and just sobbed and shook. It was a devastating and heartbreaking moment for longtime General Hospital fans to see the beloved Anna Devane, super spy, so lost. Anna explained to Jason, after he was able to disarm her, how she was being pushed to kill Britt by her visions of Peter.

EMMY-WORTHY SCENES FOR 2027

In another hankie-inducing moment, Anna just grabs Jason and breaks down in his arms. If these weren’t Emmy-worthy scenes, we don’t know what is, and it must be remembered by Hughes, General Hospital, and hopefully the voting body of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) when Emmy submissions and voting get underway in 2027 for the 54th annual Daytime Emmys.

From everything we noted above, to the sheer brilliance of her work, Michael Fairman TV names Finola Hughes, this week’s Power Performance of the Week.

Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Finola? Were you moved to tears during the gut-wrenching scenes? Should Finola include these scenes in an Emmy submission in 2027, should she decide to compete for Lead Actress gold? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo

Published

5 hours ago

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September 13, 2026

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General Hospital

The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.

According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.

Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.

GENERAL HOSPITAL

In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.

The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.

Photo: JPI

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.

In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.

Photo: JPI

THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL

B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.

The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.

In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!

Photo: CBS

BEYOND THE GATES

Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.

In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.

The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026

So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.

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