General Hospital
VARIETY Names GH's Valentini, CBS Daytime's McDaniel and B&B's Tom … Daytime TV Impact Honorees!

Photo Credit: ABC
This morning, Variety, one of the leading entertainment news sources for decades, rolled out their list of Daytime TV Impact honorees, which takes a look at those individuals, as they relate who, “across all genres, in front of the camera or behind, and innovators and tastemakers who represent the leading lights of the small screen world while the sun is up”
Three names who are very familiar to soap opera fans and those of the world daytime dramas made the list including: General Hospital’s executive producer, Frank Valentini, Senior V.P Daytime CBS Entertainment, Angelica McDaniel, and The Bold and the Beautiful’s Heather Tom (Katie). Here is what Variety’s editors had to say about why each received their recognition!
Frank Valentini: “General Hospital, the sole-surviving soap opera on ABC, owes its life to Valentini. He came in last year after the cancellation of One Life to Live and resuscitated ‘General’ with explosions, baby-switching and returns of beloved characters. As General moves toward its 50th anniversary this month, Valentini has been able to find that tricky balance of keeping fans happy and moving the show along. Valentini himself is most excited about the upcoming “Nurse’s Ball” story line. “It hasn’t been done in years, and it’s a signature piece for General Hospital. It is the perfect way to celebrate the show and the citizens of Port Charles. We can honor the history and bring the show into the 21st century.”

Photo Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS
Angelica McDaniel: “With a deft ability to balance daytime’s big three genres — game, talk and drama — McDaniel has effectively injected a dose of synergy across CBS’ slate. Promoted to daytime honcho in February 2012, she’s created crossovers between everything from Let’s Make a Deal and The Bold and the Beautiful to The Talk and The Young and the Restless. She’s also upped the net’s interactivity on the web. ‘I’m proud of our efforts and progress on social media,’ she says. ‘I’m active on Twitter with fans of the shows, and when we have good interaction,” it helps enhance the product CBS delivers.”

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins
Heather Tom: “The Bold and the Beautiful actress, and this onscreen and (as of last year) off-screen mother, has been in the soap opera business for 23 years, performing on The Young and the Restless, One Life to Live and The Bold and the Beautiful. In 2012, Tom became the first actress to complete the trifecta of Daytime Emmys for younger actress (1993 and 1999), supporting actress (2011) and lead actress (2012). Tom is thrilled Bold is making room for her son Zane, who was born in October, to play her onscreen baby. “ I’ve certainly seen how this medium has changed and grown, and I’ve gotten to work with great people,” she says. “It’s a place where glamour happens, and you can be sexy and have crazy things happen to you. I’ll get to spend more time with my son, and he will get to be part of it.”
Check out all the other daytime names who made the grade including: The Price is Right’s Drew Carey, The View’s Bill Geddie, The Talk’s Sara Gilbert, Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, and Kelly Ripa!
Now, let us know what you think of the selections of Frank Valentini, Angelica McDaniel and Heather Tom and their achievements in soaps?
Beyond the Gates
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.

Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.

Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
General Hospital
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”

Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos

Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”

Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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What male actors completed the trifecta?
There are none. Jonathan Jackson has won Younger and Supporting. Darnell Williams and Justin Deas have won Supporting and Lead. Those are three I can think of off the top of my head who have won in 2 categories. But no male has started as younger, won that, then supporting, then lead. As it stands, the only one who has a shot in the forseeable future would be Jonathan Jackson.
Congratulations Frank Valentini. The only one who deserves it.
frank is the only one who deserves it that just bs cbs daytime is on fire right now bnb is kicking ass.at the end of the day soaps re the winner.
At the end of the day, you need to learn how to complete a full sentence. GH is on fire now!
None of whats happening today with the soaps turnaround seem possible if it werent for Frank and Ron but congratultions to all!
Congrats Angelica and Heather!! Deserving honorees!
Don’t watch GH but congrats to Frank Valentini!
Congrats to all three. Frank Valentini is the reason all of the soaps have risen.
Amen to that Robert.
I am pleased to read these three individuals have received notice for their work. I only wish any of these three could have been there for my sentimental favorite drama, AS THE WORLD TURNS, which remains sorely missed. Thank goodness, thought, CBS is committed to Y&R and B&B, and Valentini has done such magic with my other lifelong favorite, GENERAL HOSPITAL. Tom is a wonderful actress.
Maybe this trio can usher in a new era of daytime drama and new glory days.
frank valentini saved general hospital from cancellation. i adore frank so much. he is a hunk and addorable. lol. im 22 years old and too young for frank valentini. he is a cutie. by the way i do have a boyfriend. he is 27 years old. im sure frank has a boyfriend. lets hope general hospital stays on the air.
Could not be more thrilled with Frank being honored like this. He really did save GH (with, of course Ron Carlivati), not just by bringing back fan favorites, but by incorporating histroy, staying true to original characters, weaving in interesting new characters, giving us surprises and twists, putting romance and family on the forefront, everything that good soap operas have always had and what only GH is bringing back. Here’s to marking 50 years of GH with one of it’s best years and to another 50 more! 🙂