I think she did say some hard truths. The fact of the matter is that Oprah is a businesswoman. She is looking to make good sound business decisions and taking on the soaps is not a good business choice for her. She knows the truth is in the numbers and she’s absolutely right when she says soaps don’t have the numbers anymore. Their desire for longevity has greatly diminished the ability of the soaps to evolve into worthwhile competitors in an ever expanding broadcast world. Many people have stopped watching soaps because there are so many more appealing choices out there. It is NOT up to Oprah to save the soaps, and people should not be upset with her b/c she isn’t.

On the business side of things, Oprah has made some valid points, however, the way ratings are calculated for daytime audiences are not reflective of how many people actually watch their shows. They do not take into account the number of people who dvr their shows and watch in the evening or wait until the weekends when their time is free. They also do not take into account the number of folks who are watching via the internet. I personally kept up with my shows via Youtube, prior to ABC offering their shows for free online. How many more people out there did the same thing? Daytime needs to install a new ratings system that reflects/includes the many ways their shows are delivered to viewers. I bet all soaps would see an increase in numbers.

Ah, but one of her points is that “there just aren’t enough people who are at home in the daytime to watch them.” True. The current economy warrants many people to be working those hours. But the reality is, if she were to take on those soaps on OWN, she could air them at later hours in the day. I bet any serial on at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm would get double the ratings of an afternoon airing. Not to mention since it would be on basic cable, the story lines could be a bit more realistic instead desperately trying to cater to the conservative views of the sponsors. They could keep half the actors on contract and give them more airtime. The shows would be tighter, more interesting and cheaper to produce.

Her tone did come across a bit ‘snooty’, not to be confused with ‘snotty’, especially since this was shot to be able to see her gazillion Emmys so beautifully displayed in the background.

I would like to remind Oprah that she would not be leaving broadcast tv as rich as she is if it were not for these 2 now cancelled soaps because her show follows these soaps on many abc stations & it is only because she has had such a huge lead in from them that has allowed her to remain on tv as long as she has!

I respect that she has to do what she feels is good for her business, but the truth is that her feelings regarding the state of the genre is her opinion. It is nothing more than that. There are a lot of industry people that seem to feel that if there were better measures for ratings that the soaps are doing much better than what is being demonstrated. In addition, there is something to be said for having consistent, loyal viewers. Oprah is not going to support scripted television. She has made her living with talk show and reality television. I personally don’t like or view any of that type of show. If that is where all of television is heading, then I will have more time on my hands. I’m not going to watch an inferior product and that is what we are getting. I wish everyone would just turn it off, so we could get quality shows again. I want professional actors to entertain me. That is why I watch.

I think she flaked out! I have been a long time supporter of Oprah-never again!

Oprah’s lack of imagination is astounding.

I certainly will not be watching the new OWN network.

There was enough of us asking for help that she addressed it in a video. she wouldn’t do that for 5 fan responses, that alone shows theres a passionate audience. OLTL and AMC aren’t perfect as they are, they need work and she could have taken on a challenge of reworking the shows or one of them. I don’t understand people who say good drama is a thing of the past, look at primetime..its not. We need help not just keeping our shows on air but then making them better. I’m not saying she’s wrong to do whatever she wants with her network but she, disney,and ABC are just unimaginative if they can’t see any potential in these shows.

ok and also why even air anything during the day…why not just put on dead air since “no one” watches. If they counted DVR recordings I would bet that more people record soaps than game or talk shows.

Frankly I think Oprah’s time has come. She’s made a big deal about the Oprah Show ending, but she’s not going anywhere. I don’t feel it’s up to her to save the soaps , but it sure gave her another un-needed ego boost, as if she needs anymore.

Ratings are down for ALL shows in daytime because people are working and because viewers are divided among the many cable stations. By Oprah’s reasoning, there shouldn’t be broadcast television during the day, if the ratings are low. Ratings are not really the issue. The issue is whether or not a show can generate revenue. Soaps do generate revenue but less than reality programming because soaps cost more to produce. Apparently, it isn’t enough to break even or generate a small profit on a show. Network executives are looking to maximize profits. They will simply produce what generates the most revenue, regardless of viewer preferences.

Supposedly, OLTL has been coming in under budget, so losing money isn’t the problem. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I can’t believe, given the expense of primetime programming, that a small but decent profit couldn’t be made from OLTL with good marketing on the right network. But at this point, it seems everyone has been brainwashed by public relations spin to think soaps are money losers. But if this were really true, then why do they exist in primetime? OLTL could make money for some cable network, if someone was really aggressive enough to investigate and consider various options, including broadcasting less frequently, but most people are followers, not innovators. Nobody has the balls to go against the grain and figure out how this could work, which makes no sense when there are existing soap-like shows in primetime, and a very loyal viewer audience supporting OLTL that has increased over the last year.

What a load of crap! If there aren’t enough people at home during the day to watch TV WHO is it she thinks has been watching HER show all these years, keeping HER ratings up? The SAME people who have been watching the soaps. So, is she saying the ratings for HER show have gone way down too? If she doesn’t want to get involved with it, just state that flat out but please don’t feed us that bull and play into the hands of ABC and Disney! Well, she’ll have her hands full keeping OWN going because I see that as a dismal failure now, as she has really upset her fans who are the same fans of ABC soaps! I just expected honesty and sincerity from her. I expected BETTER from her! It doesn’t mean I expected her to save the soaps necessarily. But I did not expect her to back up the bullcrap that we are being fed by ABC and Disney. It sounded like she is siding with them. The ratings ARE there for our soaps! We all know it! THAT’S the most irritating part! I did not appreciate how Oprah acted at all, and she will be losing me as a fan, and I’m certain many more from her attitude.

Oprah has been in business with ABC Daytime for 25 years. Of course she’s going to say what’s necessary to protect ABC. ABC Chicago gave Oprah her own talk show.

Look at OWN’s ratings: they’re pathetic. Not one show on OWN can approach the ratings and numbers of viewers that Y&R, GH, or OLTL deliver on a daily basis.

I like Oprah but I would have preferred that she just said sorry I can’t help and left it like that instead of carrying water for pals at ABC. The reality is that ABC IS making money on GH just as CBS is making on Y&R.

One need only look at Univision and Telemundo, two broadcast TV networks that air Spanish language soap operas w/ English subtitles. Both networks have had soaps that get better prime time ratings than several of their English language big network broadcasters!!

A look at the most successful prime time scripted show on ABC says one thing: soap sells! Yep, Grey’s Anatomy is one big ol’ hospital based soap opera filled with romance, melodrama, fantasies (ghosts) and (bad) musicals.

Oprah, I respect you in many ways but I’m embarrassed for you.

i can appreciate the fact that oprah can not help BUT i felt like she was also saying to us soap fans to accept the decision that abc made & just shut up about it – she really didn’t seem sympathetic at all towards our feelings for the devastating loss we are experiencing…..

Being a stay at home mom of three, the youngest being 5 months old, with a husband in the Navy who is deployed right now, I have barely had time to sleep, let alone watch tv. But when I do? Its my soaps. And sometimes Oprah, which I will not watch anymore or her OWN network now that I know she is really just more about the bottom line and not actually about happiness and “living your best life”. With the way things are today with the world, it would be nice to tune into something familiar and comforting, even if the soaps are not as good as they once were. It is ridiculous to say no one is watching.

Personally, I have never been a fan of Ms. Winfrey, one who follows her like sheep and reads the books she says you should read and votes for candidates for whom she says you should vote. I’ve always thought she is a self-important ego-maniac, and I’m not saying that just because she won’t save One Life to Live. I love One Life to Live, but I dislike Ms. Winfrey and her personal network equally, so I’m not sure I’d follow any programming to that network anyway. I’m not surprised that this woman refuses to save our shows, as they have already served their purpose for her. She can go on to richer, greener (more money) pastures and dump on the rest of the people who made her the out-of-control ego-maniac she is today.

Oprah I admire you so much for what you have done.
and I see where you are coming from but to sit there
and defend them when you know they are wrong I know
you got your show from them and you want to be loyal
but come on I really thank one of the reasons you don’t
to do it is your show you still have time on there and you
don’t want to ruffle any feathers .
If you look at your other shows on Own all I see is repeats
of ABC and the others are not worth watching
at least the soaps would give your network a boast
and buy doing that others may start watching your other things.
But then lets not step on ABC’S toes they may get mad at you then oh no.
I thank If you didn’t want to do it just say that and not a long dragged out video
protecting ABC

I am sure the ratings for her show have also dropped during the years. Her OWN network is not doing well. Does that mean her time has come and people are not interested in everything that Opie has to say? She can be another Frons; she believes that she can determine what people want. I respect her for what she has achieved over the years, but sometimes that ego can be TOO much!

All that Oprah said made sense (as she sees it, which is the only way she can judge it, and that is perfectly fine), but the main probably I had with the video was that she seemed insincere, and probably did it just as a necessary evil so that her channel is hopefully no longer bombarded with the “save the soaps” requests. Again, I say, what a strong group of supporters we are, to warrant Oprah to address the issue and us. I think the slight glimmer of hope probably remains in addressing the advertisers. If more big names, like Hoover, jump on the bandwagon, our voices just might not only be heard, but answered. Keep up the good work AMC and OLTL fans!!!!!

Sorry, but I totally disagree with Oprah’s statement about soaps running their course. In today’s economy people can’t afford to remain at home during the day so they have to DVR or TIVO their soaps to watch at another time more suitable to their schedule. Producing soaps is still a viable commodity contrary to what TIIC say. I will no longer give talk, game or cooking shows the time of day anymore. It’s not worth my time or energy.

Oprah is right, if the major networks can’t afford to keep the soaps going, then neither can a cable channel, especially one that is still trying establish itself and find its niche audience such as OWN. Reasons shows like Law and Order: CI made it successfully after being bought by USA, is that USA has credibility, a niche audience, enough programs to lead in, and the show is affordable.

Soaps are not that affordable. If you want your soap to be bought by a cable channel, please do not complain later on that they are ruining the soap when the channel ends up making necessary cuts to keep the show going. And by cuts I mean, cut it down to 30 minutes, 2 or 3 airings a week, and a shortened cast followed by new writers. Soaps are expensive because they air every day nearly ever week of the year.

But instead of asking people who have nothing to do with soaps to save your soaps, why don’t the rest of you put up the money to fund them? It makes sense that no company wants to take on a soap, the soaps currently on air have a small niche audience compared to programming aired at night. You can save the genre of soaps, but with the direction current soaps are going in, you can’t save the soaps on air today…not unless you change the soaps. Its not the business peoples or the networks fault that soaps died, its the writing of the soap, the acting, and then the social/cultural revolution in society that killed it.

Also, those of you upset that networks are looking at the bottom line, have you forgotten this country is in major financial straits? If they air a show that is not bringing in enough money to cover all the expenses of a show, then not only are you going to have to worry about your show being canceled, but you are also going to have to worry about the entire network disappearing because of bankruptcy.

I am saddened that she came out with this stand especially since these shows may have helped her build her audience. I never thought she would be afraid to try anything that could help so many people keep there jobs. Why not offer the shows 6 months to turn a profit?

Hey Maureen, do you work for ABC/Disney or Oprah? Are you a soap watcher/fan? We are here trying to save what is left of our shows and to support each other. I am sensing such a negative vibe from you. I don’t think we really need that here. Do you have anything positive to add?

I would easily pay $10/month or $120/year to watch OLTL. How many other viewers would be willing? With viewer subscriptions, advertisers, and syndication, the show could survive and make a profit, but right now it needs a genius of a sponsor who could act on and coordinate various possibilities.

Why couldn’t OLTL be on PBS?

Perhaps Oprah feels her network could not accomodate the cancelled soaps in their current form but her creative management, while surely pushed already to program a new network, could indeed have provided a new springboard for a better product and brought a built in audience and advertisers to her daytime schedule. Soaps need not be a five day a week program perhaps. Maybe two or three days a week would suffice. Dallas survived many a season with only one episode a week and that truely was a soap opera.
It’s also too bad that ABC sees fit to constantly promote its nighttime programs all over the screen while their soaps run but never returns the favor supporting its daytime programs. Apparently they did not deem their daytime programming worthy of any advertising suport.
I always record the soaps and watch them in the evening. Perhaps I’m not counted as a daytime viewer. Trust me I’d much rather watch the soaps most evenings than watch whatever the nighttime fare is.

I know that people will be angry with me for saying this, but I agree and understand what Oprah is saying. The soap operas are just too expensive to produce for the amount of money they are able to attract from sponsors because of the low ratings. There may be an audience (and perhaps, there could be more of an audience if the quality on soaps were better), but the reality is that the audience is not big enough anymore to be able to keep the soaps on the air.

This perpetuation of misinformation has got to stop. Oprah is wrong. ABC is wrong. The Nielson system is antiquated and needs to disappear or be updated. There are MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WATCHING ON DVR! Seriously, people, get with the times! The decision to pull the soaps was solely based on GREED! Sure, it costs some dough to operate ANY tv show. But it costs next to nothing to create more vapid reality tv shows and redundant cooking and talk shows. Networks make money on their advertisers. Some of the largest companies in the world advertise on soaps. And guess what? People buy their products. If the shows were doing as poorly as ABC says (again, citing the old Nielson rating system) then why do HUGE companies continue to advertise during soap operas. Oprah, you need to do some research, and then hopefully you will retract your horribly misinformed statement. If not, consider me an ex-fan. I thought you were smarter than that.

Maureen, you want the truth? Bones recent ratings were 2.2 million viewers. OLTL recent ratings were 2.3 million. AND that’s using the CRAPPY Nielson ratings system. You really need to do some REAL research.

Maureen, The best to you and your viewing habits.

Oprah may have made some valid points but I had to watch this video twice. The first time I walked away and couldn’t get it off my mind. So I watched again. My take. She sounded too rehearsed, and too defensive of ABC’s decision. Could it be the network that broadcasts the Oprah show “asked” her to make this statement in their defense? I hear her network is not doing so well in the ratings. So if AMC pulls in a 1.9 and OLTL pulls a 2.0 she can’t use those added viewers to her network? For a cable network those are pretty good numbers. I have watched ABC’s lineup faithfully since 1970! I only starting watching Oprah because she followed GH. I know alot of people out there can say the same. She needs to be reminded of that. Also ABC’s decision to cancell theese shows BEFORE SoapNet goes off the air is just plain stupid. Don’t they reallize that the amount of viewers would have gone up after SoapNet ends? They didn’t try their best to keep these shows on the air. Brain Frons HATES the soaps so he killed them.

Hey guys, do you think Maureen is really Brian Frons checking in to find out what is being written about him on the websites? HA!

I agree with someone’s earlier post….if the ratings are so bad in daytime then why wouldn’t she pick the shows up and run them in the evening. I am a fan of Oprah, and have tuned into her network, and was not at all impressed. I mean hours and hours of watching “Season 25: Behind the Scenes” is not what I call great program entertainment. I mean right now, I turned on my program guide and she has: The Best of Trading Spaces, Mystery Diagnosis, Say Yes to The Dress, Dr. Phil, Prince William Special, The Judds and more of that Season 25 crap…..All of these shows can be found on other networks, with the exception of a few. Let’s face it, Oprah, your lineup stinks. You would be so lucky to have the 2 million viewers or so that AMC & OLTL would bring in. I’m just saying, it should be something that is taken into serious consideration.

This video was a big turn off for me, an Oprah “ultimate viewer” since day one of her show’s debut many years ago. The truth is no one can accurately measure the number of people still watching daytime soaps due to the internet, DVR, heck there are probably some VCR recording still going on. The Nielsen Ratings are a joke, using a “sampling of viewers” not even large enough to get a true sense of normal customers viewing. I have been an avid TV viewer since birth (over half a century ago) and lived east coast, west coast and have yet to meet anyone who has a Nielsen box in their home. I cant believe they are still in business. How do they choose these so called households that predict what we do or dont get to see? Maybe there should be an investigation into that. Do they poll hospitals? How about inner city, disabled or low-income homes? What about college dorms? Nursing homes? For those she mentioned not home during the day they watch Soapnet at night. The advertisers on ABC Daytime have done very well, otherwise they would have stopped long before Hoover. It’s so true Oprah owes most of her high ratings to ABC soaps and it would have been nice if she had stated that. I have lost much more interest in her after this cold, seemingly rehearsed “its all about the benjamins” statement. I called my provider and downgraded so now I cant get the OWN anymore and I’m saving money in the meantime. Thanks Oprah on teaching me that final lesson about wise decision making. From now on I will cancel you, before you all decide to cancel on us !