All My Children and One Life to Live fans who have been hoping that Oprah Winfrey would rescue the now-canceled ABC soaps and air them on her own cable channel are going to be disappointed.
Winfrey sent a video message to fans last week addressing the pleas for her to pick up the two shows for her cable channel, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, since news broke April 14 that ABC will be replacing the long-running daytime dramas with two new younger-skewing, lifestyle-oriented series,The Chew and The Revolution.
“I appreciate that you all think I could save the soaps, but here is the bone marrow truth: The soaps have been an institution in broadcast history and television because they have the support of the audience,” she said.
But as demonstrated by waning ratings throughout the years, “there just are not enough people who are at home in the daytime to watch them and because of that they are going off the air,” Winfrey continued. “Believe me, if there was if there was a dime left to be made from them on broadcast television it would still be happening.”
Winfrey said she’s a fan of soaps and understands “what it feels like to have a show that you love go of the air,” including the “sense of loyalty” and “sense of disappointment.” But she’s still unable to do anything about All My Children or One Life to Live.
“I will not be taking on the responsibility of trying to revive an institution that for all intent and all purpose indicates that that time has come for it to be over,” she added, thanking her fans for “believing that I could save them, but I really can’t.”
When ABC announced the news, it sparked viewer outcry as well as a boycott of the entire network by advertiser Hoover. The Writers Guild of America East and AFTRA also expressed their disappointment over the cancellations.
In addition to the cast and crew losing their jobs, it’s expected that Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly are expected to drastically cut their staffs.
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