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Mike Reynolds
In a move that has taken nearly as long to unfold as some story lines, Disney/ABC Cable has decided to create an all-soap opera cable channel, centering on the Alphabet network's quartet of daytime dramas.
The plan for the 24-hour network, which is slated to bow in mid-January 2000, calls for the as-yet unnamed channel to air same-day repeat episodes of the four soaps that ABC owns and airs on weekdays: All My Children, General Hospital, One Life to Live and Port Charles. In addition to the soaps, the network is expected to offer primetime dramas, movies, and other complementary programming, as well as some original offerings.
The 24-hour service, which falls under the aegis of Anne Sweeney, president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks, will be offered for both analog and digital distribution, as well as placement on satellite systems. It was unclear at press time whether Sweeney would head the new network herself or if another executive would be hired or inserted at the helm. Although Disney/ABC Cable has held some preliminary discussions with MSOs, no affiliate deals have been consummated at this stage. The channel will carry advertising time once it gains critical mass, a level that has not yet been identified.
ABC's interest in a dedicated soap channel dates back to at least 1996 when it broached the subject to Comcast Corp. about airing reruns of its programs on the MSO-owned Q2 network, but the idea never got off the ground. Last year, ABC tested a forerunner of its soaps initiative called "All My Soaps" with a Tele-Communications Inc. (now AT&T) system in Chicago and Time Warner systems in Houston and Charlotte. In the latter area, the experiment, which rebroadcast the soaps in primetime a week after their original air date, was scotched in the wake of limited viewer interest. The results, though, were evidently more favorable with the same-day shifting of the shows in the other markets, precipitating the decision to go forward with the network.
However, the same-day scheduling of the four soaps is bound to intensify the already contentious relationship ABC has with its affiliates, which have been discussing programming exclusivity issues. Moreover, ABC, which has withdrawn an offer for stations to have an equity stake in the channel or participate in its profits, recently broke off talks with its affiliate board on a plan structured toward stations helping to foot the programming bill for Monday Night Football.
Elsewhere, NBC honcho Bob Wright has been threatening to take Peacock fare straight to cable in markets where affiliates balk at long-term deals, while Fox has floated a proposal to slash the number of local primetime avails to 70 from 90, a move that could result in that network's affiliates losing up to 22% over their revenue stream.
As the broadcast networks and their affiliates engage in soap operas of their own, reaction from the MSO community didn't exactly evoke tears of joys over the new network's prospects.
"Are people who have been taping these shows for years, now going to change their viewing patterns? I guess we're going to be hearing all about that," said one MSO executive, who handicaps the network as a digital play.
"If you told me, it was an all-soaps channel carrying all the networks' daytime shows, then maybe you're talking about something with a fairly wide appeal. But the last time I checked, CBS was still tops in daytime," added another MSO programming official.
CBS has ranked first in daytime for the past 11 years and has been No. 1 every week for the past 10 years. Additionally, a CBS spokesman said that according to Nielsen, Black Rock's The Young and the Restless has been the top-rated soap for 537 consecutive weeks through April 11.
Although soap operas have historically been sold against women 18-49, a Disney spokeswoman believes the new network's audience will broaden in primetime to include a more male skew. "A lot of guys are afraid to admit that they tape soaps and watch them at night," she averred.
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