Happy 51st Birthday to AS THE WORLD TURNS!

On April 2, 1956, AS THE WORLD TURNS premiered on CBS. The Proctor & Gamble show, serves (or served) as sister show to CBS's GUIDING LIGHT, NBC's SOMERSET, TEXAS, and ANOTHER WORLD and, at various times, became home to six AW characters after that show's cancellation. ATWT is up for 16 Emmys this year, including nominations for Best Directing Team, and every acting category but one. Congratulations on 51 years!

(April 2 was also the date of the premiere of the much beloved law and order soap THE EDGE OF NIGHT.)

College Viewers Continue to Deliver for Soaps Under New Ratings System

Soappipe has already explored how better measurement techniques by Nielsen Media Research of college students has revealed significantly greater viewership for daytime soaps (including NBC's PASSIONS and CBS's GUIDING LIGHT), boosting ratings in what was seen as a long-overdue move (and sadly, one made after the decision was made to cancel PASSIONS) to fully capture the viewing habits of young adults--often considered the key demo by advertisers.

In his MediaWeek piece "ABC Benefits From Out-of-Home College Viewers," writer John Consoli notes how the change is affecting the prime-time landscape (and clearly benefiting nighttime soaps like GREY'S ANATOMY and UGLY BETTY, and satisfactorily solving the mystery of why the seemingly lagging Anne Heche vehicle MEN IN TREES snagged a much coveted early renewal from the network.)

"MARCH 29, 2007 - ABC ratings have benefited more than any other broadcast network in prime time from Nielsen Media Research's new measurement of out-of-home viewing by college students,according to an analysis by media agency Magna Global USA. And, ironically, The CW, with the youngest median age, had the second to the fewest number of shows among the Top 20 which benefited most.

According to the Magna analysis, ABC Thursday night drama Grey's Anatomy has gained three rating points among the
18-24-year-old demo group, from a 6.0 to a 9.1, and that has boosted its rating by one rating point in the overall adult 18-49 demo group, since Nielsen began measuring out of home college viewing in January. ABC's other Thursday night dramas Ugly Betty and Men in Trees have also gained among the 18-24 audience, off lower bases.

Betty rose from a pre-college out of home measurement 18-24 rating
of 2.4 to a post measurement rating of 3.7, a gain of 56 percent, while Trees went from a 1.4 to a 3.3, a gain of 140 percent."

Read the full article here.

Read earlier article Nielsen's Change, Soaps Benefit.

GL Stars Bring Full Hearts, Willing Hands to Norfolk, Virginia

GUIDING LIGHT stars Frank Dicopoulos ("Frank Cooper"), John Driscoll ("Henry 'Coop' Bradshaw") and Nicole Forester ("Cassie Winslow," pictured), will be in Norfolk, Virginia, this morning to donate their efforts as volunteers at Haven House, a local homeless shelter. The appearance will coincide (and hopefully help to promote) a major renovation for the shelter where volunteers will include painting, cleaning, landscaping and restoration of common areas.

The appearance is the latest in a series of public and community service efforts by GL stars in support of the GL "Find Your Light" initiative which encourages good works as a means of celebrating GL's 70th year of radio and television broadcast. For more information on "Find Your Light" and the milestone anniversary, visit www.findyourlight.net.

Videos, pictures, and a description of the GL cast's recent "Find Your Light" efforts to help rebuild the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast area, click here (it starts about 1/3 of the way down the page).

Soaps' New Media Ventures: Coming of Age?

Business Week asks, "Can producing soap operas for online viewers breathe new life into daytime programming?" in Tom Lowry's piece 'As The World Wide Web Turns':

In late February, CBS launched a Web-only soap opera called L.A. DIARIES it hopes will attract young women. The nine episodes are
streamed for about six minutes a pop on the network's innertube.com site.

The action centers on "Amber [Moore Forrester," portrayed by Adrienne Frantz], an existing character on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, and on "Alison [Stewart," portrayed by Marnie Schulenburg], a new character who emerged from the cyberspace soap on Mar. 21 to play an actual role on TV in AS THE WORLD TURNS [Soappipe editor's note: "Alison" is actually a long-running character on ATWT, recently recast and reintroduced via Diaries].

It's a fresh approach to creating buzz for a TV staple, and other network executives will be watching closely. Rival networks are trying to get kids to watch old daytime melodramas such as GENERAL HOSPITAL and DAYS OF OUR LIVES, shows their mothers or grandmothers might have watched.

Few genres have demonstrated more staying power than the soap opera. More than half a century after first airing alongside the detergent commercials that gave them their name, soaps still captivate millions of mostly women fans. No matter how preposterous the dialogue or cheesy the plot lines, soaps have, in modern parlance, a "stickiness" that many prime-time dramas can only hope to achieve.

Characters like newspaper publisher "Victoria Lord Davidson" [portrayed by Erika Slezak] of ONE LIFE TO LIVE (who made her debut on the show in 1968) have been on the tube for so long that they can seem like old friends. "I feel I really know them," says Antonella Cahill, a 40-year-old Philadelphia secretary and soap fan who named one daughter after the scheming "Nikki Newman" [portrayed by Melanie Thomas Scott] of Y&R and the other after GH's "Tiffany Hill" (who married and left beloved Port Charles years ago).

Even better, as far as soap fans are concerned, the networks don't stint on new episodes; last year, ABC rolled out 251 new GH episodes vs. 23 new DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES shows.

But even as the shows' stars age gracefully (cue makeup, soft focus, and cosmetic surgery), there is no hiding the graying of their fans.
There are new plot devices and characters--a teen girl's right to choose, for one--calculated to appeal to young women. Even so, most soap devotees are well over 50. Meanwhile, over the past decade, viewership has fallen 35%, to 30 million viewers a day. Hence the networks' eagerness to reimagine the soaps for a new generation.

It goes without saying that the Web is where the action is, but so far the networks haven't been able to win the digital rights to put them on their own sites. Until ABC, NBC, and CBS hammer out a deal with the production companies that make the soaps, few will be available to download or stream. [Soappipe editor's Note: NBC streams PASSIONS daily on NBC.com.]

There's plenty of upside in getting the deals done. Media consultant Tom Wolzien figures there are more than 20 million women in the workplace with broadband access. So streaming shows live to computers could double the potential audience for soaps. If you got just 5% of those working women to watch, Wolzien calculates, the networks could reap an extra $230 million a year in advertising.

In the meantime, the networks are taking baby steps online. SoapNet, the Walt Disney Co.-owned channel that shows soaps at night for working women, sponsors online soap fantasy leagues. Participants rack up points when characters they have picked for their team take off their shirts, say, or switch the paternity-test results. Still,
the players number less than 30,000. The channel is also asking college kids to create their own soaps and put them to the vote at soapnet.com. Even CBS's GUIDING LIGHT is getting in on the act, podcasting the show, which began life on radio in 1937. [Soappipe editor's note: ATWT also is available as a streaming podcast each day.]

If the soap opera is to be around for another half-century, the networks will have to make converts of a generation with a thousand more entertainment choices than their grandmothers.

"The constant," says Barbara Bloom, senior vice-president for daytime programming at CBS, "is making viewers always feel emotionally involved in the story."

• Read the Business Week story in its original form here.
• See L.A. DIARIES, featuring Y&R's Amber and ATWT's Alison here.
• View full-episodes of PASSIONS (and check out a variety of interactive web content related to the supernatural soap) on-line here.
• Interactive content for DAYS is here.
• Download GL and ATWT podcasts here. Additional web content for CBS Daytime is here.

New York Artists Sue NBC's HEROES, Claim 'Striking' Similarities

Reuters reports that two artists are suing NBC Universal and the creators of the net's superhero serial HEROES, claiming their work was unlawfully appropriated for the hit show.

In a suit filed last week, the pair charge that HEROES based a key storyline, about an artist who can paint the future, on a short story, film, and series of paintings they exhibited in 2004-05. The artists' suit claims the character and story of "Isaac Mendez" (portrayed by Santiago Cabrera) is "strikingly similar" to that earlier work.

HEROES, a nighttime serial about a group of ordinary people who discover they have superhero-like abilities, has been credited with helping to boost NBC's ratings this season. The show's stars include Hayden Panettiere (ex-"Lizzie Spaulding," GUIDING LIGHT, ex-"Sarah Roberts," ONE LIFE TO LIVE), Jack Coleman (ex-"Steven Carrington," DYNASTY), Milo Ventimiglia (ex-"Jess Mariano," GILLMORE GIRLS, ex-"Chris Pierce," AMERICAN DREAMS), Adrian Pasdar (ex-"David Bradley," DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, Judging Amy, Profit) and Greg Grunberg (ex-"Sean Blumberg," FELICITY, ex-"Eric Weiss," ALIAS).

In a statement, NBC (a unit of General Electric) said the network believes the suit is without merit, stating "we intend to defend it vigorously and expect to prevail."

Daytime Emmy Nominations Sure to Spark Controversy: Does CBS continue to be recognized disproportionately at the expense of NBC?

Nominees for the 34th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards were announced today by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences live on CBS's The Early Show at the stages of GUIDING LIGHT, television’s longest running daytime drama.

Peter Price, President of the National Television Academy, was joined by Barbara Bloom, Sr. VP, CBS Daytime Programs, Early Show anchor Julie Chen, and actors Mandy Bruno and Bradley Cole ("Marina Cooper" and "Jeffrey O'Neill") of GL; Terri Colombino and Austin Peck ("Katie Peretti Kasnoff" and "Brad Snyder") of AS THE WORLD TURNS; Brandon Beemer ("Shawn Brady") of DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Cathy Jeneen Doe, ("Simone Russell"), PASSIONS, Bree Williamson ("Jessica and 'Tess' Buchanan") of ONE LIFE TO LIVE and Jacob Young of ALL MY CHILDREN.

Outstanding Drama Series

• THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC
• THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

• Maura West, as "Carly Snyder," AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Crystal Chappell, as "Olivia Spencer," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• Kim Zimmer, as "Reva Shayne Lewis," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• Jeanne Cooper, as "Katherine Chancellor," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS
• Michelle Stafford, as "Phyllis Summers Newman," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

• Michael Park, as "Jack Snyder," AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Anthony Geary, as "Luke Spencer," GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• Ricky Paull Goldin, as "Gus Aitoro," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS"
• Peter Bergman, as "Jack Abbott," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS
• Christian LeBlanc, as "Michael Baldwin," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

• Lesli Kay, as "Felicia Forrester," THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS
• Genie Francis, as "Laura Spencer," GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• Rebecca Herbst, as "Elizabeth Spencer," GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• Gina Tognoni, as "Dinah Marler," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• Renee Elise Goldsberry, as "Evangeline Williamson," ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC
• Heather Tom, as "Kelly Kramer," ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

• Trent Dawson, as "Henry Coleman," AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Rick Hearst, as "Ric Lansing," GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• Dan Gauthier, as "Kevin Buchanan," ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC
• Greg Rikaart, as "Kevin Fisher," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS
• Kristoff St. John, as "Neil Winters," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Younger Actress In A Drama Series

• Leven Ramblin as "Lily Montgomery," ALL MY CHILDREN, ABC
• Jennifer Landon, as "Gwen Munson," AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Alexandra Chando, as "Maddie Coleman," AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Julie Berman, as "Lulu Spencer," GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• Stephanie Gaschet, as "Tammy Winslow," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS

Outstanding Younger Actor In A Drama Series

• Van Hansis, as "Luke Snyder," AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Jesse Soffer, as "Will Munson," AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Tom Pelphrey, as "Jonathan Randall," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• James Stevenson,as "Jared Casey," PASSIONS, NBC
• Bryton McClure, as "Devon Hamilton," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Achievement in Live & Direct To Tape Sound Mixing For A Drama Series

• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC
• GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control For A Drama Series

• ALL MY CHILDREN, ABC
• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC

Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team

• THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS
• GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design for a Drama Series

• ALL MY CHILDREN, ABC
• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS
• ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC

Outstanding Achievement for a Casting Director For A Drama Series

• Mary Clay Boland, Casting Director, AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• Christy Dooley, Casting Driector, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS
• Mark Teschner, Casting Director, GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• Rob Decina, Casting Director, GUIDING LIGHT, CBS

Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design For A Drama Series

• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• PASSIONS, NBC

Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team

• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC

Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing For A Drama Series

• THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS
• DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC

Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling For A Drama Series

• ALL MY CHILDREN, ABC
• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC
• PASSIONS, NBC

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction For A Drama Series

• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC

Outstanding Achievement in Makeup For A Drama Series

• AS THE WORLD TURNS, CBS
• THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, CBS
• GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC
• PASSIONS, NBC

Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction And Composition For A Drama Series

• DAYS OF OUR LIVES, NBC
• GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• ONE LIFE TO LIVE, ABC
• THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Outstanding Original Song

• "Can You Love Me (With The Lights On)," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• "In A Moment," GUIDING LIGHT, CBS
• "Love is Ecstasy," PASSIONS, NBC
• "It's A New Day, Today," Today Show, NBC
• "Carry On," THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, CBS

Two now-defunct soap-related programs were recognized as well. SoapNet's talker, SOAP TALK, earned Emmy nods in two categories, for Outstanding Talk Show Host(s), Lisa Rinna and Ty Treadway, and for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. NBC "reality soap" STARTING OVER, garnered two noms.

Nomination counts broke out as follows:

Networks -

1. CBS, 57
2. ABC, 36
3. NBC, 15

Shows -

1. GL, 17
2. ATWT, 16
3. Y&R, 12
4. GH, 10; OLTL, 10
5. B&B, 7
6. AMC, 5; DAYS, 5; PASSIONS, 5

The 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Friday, June 15, 2007 (9:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET/PT), on CBS.

Television pioneer Lee Phillip Bell, co-creator, along with her late husband, William J. Bell, of Y&R and B&B, was previously announced as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

A complete list of nominees can be found here.

Soaps Recognized For Tackling ‘Elephant In The Room’ of Substance Abuse and Mental Health

On March 13, nominees for the 11th Annual PRISM Awards were announced in Burbank, CA. The PRISM Awards, presented by the Entertainment Industries Council (in partnership with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/SAMHSA), recognize productions and performances that feature accurate depictions of drug, alcohol and tobacco use and addiction. In two new awards this year, recognition will also be given to accurate depictions of struggles related to mental health and bi-polar disorder.

In addition to the five competitors in the Daytime Drama-specific category, GENERAL HOSPITAL received a nod alongside primetime specials and episodic television in the new category honoring portrayals of bi-polar disorder.

The nominees announced today include:

TV Daytime Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline

• "JR's Alcoholism," ALL MY CHILDREN (protagonist "JR Chandler" is portrayed by Jacob Young)
• "Luke's Alcohol Abuse," AS THE WORLD TURNS (protagonist "Luke Snyder" is portrayed by Van Hansis)
• "Hunters (sic) Battle with Alcoholism," BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (protagonist "Taylor Hayes Forrester" is portrayed by Hunter Tylo, pictured)
• "Lucky's Drug Addiction," GENERAL HOSPITAL (protagonist "Lucas 'Lucky' Spencer" is portrayed by Greg Vaughan)
• "Gus's Addiction," GUIDING LIGHT (protagonist "Gus Aituro" is portrayed by Ricky Paull Goldin)

Bipolar Disorder Award

• Crazy for Life
• GENERAL HOSPITAL - Sonny's Bipolar Disorder (protagonist "Sonny Corinthos" is portrayed by Maurice Benard)
• Jelly Smoke
• Law and Order - "Heart of Darkness"
• Law and Order: Special Victims Unit - "Influence"

Recipients will be announced at a ceremony to be held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on April 24th and which will air in November on the FX Network. (The network will also air the previous year’s awards show April 22nd as part of the promotion of the PRISM awards ceremony on the 24th.)

(Read more here.)

Nielsen's Change, Soaps Benefit (too little, too late?) /and/ GUIDING LIGHT's Internet Innovation Honors Irna Phillips Legacy

Two stories appearing in Variety (all published recently, but before the Soappipe.com launch this weekend) are definitely worth a read...

1 - In "College Campuses Boost Ratings," Rick Kissell reports on a key Nielsen methodology change that is poised to make a seismic shift in the soap ratings game:

"Nielsen has taken its ratings game to college campuses for the first time, and the early results are good news for young-skewing programs....[and] a few daytime soap operas have been big beneficiaries." Looking at the first week that Nielsen included viewing estimates of students living away from home:

DAYS OF OUR LIVES and PASSIONS shot up by more than 30% week to week among adults 18-24.

PASSIONS was the biggest gainer, with gains among women 18-24 of 39% (to 223,000 from 160,000). This translated into a 16% change in the program's core sales demo of adults 18-34.

DAYS shot up 33% in women 18-24 (231,000 from 174,000) and grew by 20% -- the most of any show -- in the broader 18-34 category (582,000 from 490,000).

GENERAL HOSPITAL and GUIDING LIGHT each climbed more than 20%

GL sister show AS THE WORLD TURNS also benefited from methodology change.

Notably, overall ratings leader, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS was not among the demo gainers.

Kissell: "A boost in Nielsen ratings -- especially among young adults -- means increased advertising revenue [and] could make the difference between cancellation or survival. It looks to be too late for PASSIONS, as the 8-year-old show announced last month that it will
shut down later this year. But if DAYS continues to rise, it may be able to quell talk that it will end its lengthy run in 2009 when its contract with NBC is up."

2 - In "''Light' Shines in New Media: Soap's move to podcasts, Internet reflects growing trends," Michael Maloney explores GUIDING LIGHT's use of new media and GL's long history as an embracer of new platforms.

Some highlights:

"Today, fans can go to CBS.com to access the show as a daily podcast and listen to 'Guiding Light Lite,' which features commentary from show personnel. Also, key episodes that are preempted due to breaking news can find a new home on the Eye's Innertube site.

Barbara Bloom, CBS Daytime SVP: "Ellen( Wheeler, [GL's] executive producer) is extraordinary about being proactive and aggressive about getting her stories out on as many platforms as possible at a time when CBS is looking to extend the reach of its shows. It's been a terrific convergence of the right people and the right places."

"[GL] has a track record of transitioning to new platforms. Back in the early 1950s, the soap moved from radio to television....historian Christopher Schemering wrote in a 1986 book that "Television had everyone worried, except (show creator) Irna Phillips. She was determined to make serials work in the new medium."

Wheeler: "With Irna as such a good example as someone who was willing to take her show
from radio to television, why wouldn't I (embrace new media)? I think Irna expects us to do this because she saw that 'Guiding Light' was about showing struggles and how people overcame them. "

Brian Cahill, a vice president at Procter & Gamble Productions: "As we saw the media landscape changing, it was second nature for us to think: How do we reach our audience now? Soon after we made the podcast available, we got an email from a woman in her 60s who's watched 'Guiding Light' all of her life. One day, her DVR failed and she was so happy she could get the podcast and listen to it on her iPod. I was happy that we'd made our content available, and that email shattered so many stereotypes about who's using this
technology. We love how limitless it is."