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‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Ron Carlivati’s Revenge, ‘Days’ Ratings Near ‘GH’ – Will ABC Soap Fall To Fourth?

By Belynda Gates Turner
Published on: 07:23 PST, Sep 28, 2017

General Hospital spoilers combined with Days of Our Lives reveal that Ron Carlivati might soon have the last laugh on the ABC soap that axed him as head writer. With Carlivati taking the reins at DOOL, ratings have started to climb while GH ratings have continued to fall. Now, Days is in striking distance and could knock ABC off its third-place spot in the soap rankings and push it down to fourth. Here’s a look at the numbers and why Ron Carlivati might soon have bragging rights over the show that cut him loose.

Ron Carlivati’s bitter end at General Hospital

When GH sent Ron Carlivati packing, it was at the end of a 13-week ratings slump. Soap Opera Network reported the detailed numbers a day after TV Line confirmed the scribe’s axing and replacement with the combo of Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman. TV Line mentioned that “many fans credited Carlivati with saving the show [GH]” around the time All My Children and One Life to Live were cut by the alphabet network.

Ironically, despite his firing by ABC, Ron Carlivati won a Writers Guild Award for his work on General Hospital. Then, the soap won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series under his writing regime as well as three acting awards for performances of his written material, including Lead Actor Tyler Christopher, Supporting Actor Sean Blakemore, and Younger Actor Bryan Craig. You might also recall that Carlivati’s WGA speech called out veteran actor Anthony Geary for an insult directed at the writer.

Days ratings rock under Carlivati’s tenure, GH suffers

According to ratings from TV Series Finale, Days of Our Lives has been climbing among viewers since his material began airing in late July. Ratings were at a low of 0.44 the week before his material started and have spiked to 0.56 as of early September. During the same period, TV Series Finale ratings reveal that General Hospital suffered. GH bottomed out at 0.54 the week of August 21 which is lower than Days’ recent high of 0.56 and is a stunning change in fortune for the NBC soap.

Digging deeper into the numbers, there’s more good news for Days. Soap Opera Network’s recent report says total viewers for Days is down just 4,000 comparing 2017 to 2016. That’s great when you consider that GH fell 103,000 from this year to last. The point is, Days is in striking distance of General Hospital in the ratings. That’s a big shocker considering that Carlivati was fired from the ABC soap after weeks of low ratings and they’ve continued to fall even in his absence.

Carlivati’s last laugh?

There’s also one more disturbing piece of news about General Hospital. The Inquisitr recently reported on the addition of Barbara Bloom to the GH staff. Many have been both concerned and critical of Bloom’s placement with ABC daytime. Bloom has been branded a “soap killer” as she was instrumental in replacing Guiding Light with the new iteration of Let’s Make a Deal and putting The Talk in place of As the World Turns.

Bloom took on her role at CBS, and it was about a year later that Guiding Light was off the air, and ATWT was done a year after that. Given that GH has been dropping in ratings and soaps are less profitable than other daytime programming, it could be that Barbara Bloom is there to transition the last ABC soap towards cancellation and develop replacement programming. Ron Carlivati might just get the last laugh if Days of Our Lives knocks General Hospital to fourth place – and survives while GH’s long run finally ends.

What do you think? Are you worried about GH now that Barbara Bloom is on board? Have you seen Days of Our Lives since Ron Carlivati took control? Are you shocked that General Hospital could soon be knocked to last place among the four surviving soaps? Catch up now on GH scoop on romance for the Q twins, proof that Patient 6 is the real Jason, and the danger Ava faces at the Russian clinic. Check back often for more General Hospital spoilers.

[Featured Image by Theo Wargo/Getty Images]

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