Cancellation of 'Guiding Light' Could Mean Darker Days

Wednesday must have been a strange day for AFTRA and Procter & Gamble.

Representatives for the nation's second-largest performers union and largest advertiser concluded marathon negotiating sessions for a new commercials contract at 7 a.m. Eastern. A few hours later, the cast and crew of Guiding Light, the longest-running scripted program in broadcast history, were told the show was being canceled, ending a 72-year run that stretched back to the radio days.

But the cancellation is about a lot more than the likely conclusion of a historic run. It's the first significant development in what could be a radical restructuring of daytime television.

Faced with declining ratings, CBS wants to take back the hour and replace it with a talk show or a game show, according to a report by Bill Carter in today's New York Times. Ratings for the genre have been declining for years. Although there is no indication that others will follow, if the recession lingers, the networks will look for cost-savings wherever they can. If they can get the same ratings with a game show or talk show (or, Lord help us, another judicial show) at one-tenth the cost, they will.

In terms of lost jobs for actors, this is the daytime equivalent of NBC gutting five hours of scripted programming in prime-time by giving Jay Leno a show in the 10-11 p.m. hour. And what will this do for contributions to AFTRA's health-and-retirement fund? Granted, Leno's show will be an AFTRA show; whatever replaces Guiding Light probably will be as well. Still, the reason CBS is making the switch is because of labor costs. Shows that employ fewer people mean less revenue for the unions. (The WGA, DGA, and IATSE are probably not affected as much, because talk shows, judicial programs, and game shows also need writers, directors and crew.)

Still, Carter reported that producers were looking for another network to take the Guiding Light, and AFTRA holds out hope that it will continue in some form.

“AFTRA is disappointed the program will no longer appear on CBS in its current format, but it is pleased to hear that there is ongoing consideration for continuing Guiding Lightin other media," a spokeswoman said yesterday. "... To the extent this program is produced in other media, we look forward to continuing to provide AFTRA contract protections to actors in the next incarnation of Guiding Light."

For actors, though, it looks as if their world will get darker before it gets brighter.

HANDEL ON COMMERCIALS: Jonathan Handel talks with Doug Wood, chief negotiator for the JPC, as well as a union source, for an interesting analysis of the commercials deal. He indicates it was a win for the unions, because they were able to hold on to Class A--at least in the short-term.

--Andrew Salomon