Sorry, soap fans: All My Children and One Life to Live aren't heading online after all.
Prospect Park, the company behind the online productions of both soaps, is not able to support the Online Network, which would have streamed AMC and OLTL, after facing both financial and logistical problems.
Is All My Children still headed for the web?
"After five months of negotiations with various guilds, hundreds of presentations to potential financial and technology partners, and a hope that we could pioneer a new network for the future, it is with great disappointment that we are suspending our aspirations to revive One Life to Live and All My Children via online distribution," said Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz in a statement. "It is now becoming clear that mounting issues make our ability to meet our deadlines to get OLTL on the air in a reasonable time period following its January 13, 2012 ABC finale impossible," the statement continues.
The company had been working out deals with the appropriate guilds and unions, though negotiations were becoming increasingly difficult as the company was expected to uphold broadcast standards.
Earlier this month, plans for All My Children were put on hold indefinitely because One Life to Live had been more successful in re-signing current cast members — 13 so far — though any deals made were contingent on union clearances, which were not obtained. For One Life to Live to launch in early 2012, the writers would have already needed to be working on the show, but Prospect Park had yet to strike a deal with the WGA.
All My Children online put on hold — is Susan Lucci to blame?
"We believe we exhausted all reasonable options apparent to us, but despite enormous personal, as well as financial cost to ourselves, we failed to find a solution...While we narrowed in on a financial infrastructure, the contractual demands of the guilds, which regulate our industry, coupled with the program's inherent economic challenges ultimately led to this final decision," the statement continues. "In the end, the constraints of the current marketplace, including the evolution and impact of new media on our industry simply proved too great a match for even our passion."
Will you miss One Life to Live and All My Children?
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