CBS cancels another daytime drama

NEW YORK -- CBS canceled "As the World Turns" on Tuesday, putting the company that coined the phrase "soap operas" out of the business of making daytime dramas for the first time in 76 years.

"As the World Turns" has been on the air since 1956 and televised its 13,661st episode Tuesday. Its last episode will be next September, the network said.

It's the second daytime drama CBS has canceled in a year, after "Guiding Light." Both shows were produced by a subsidiary of Procter & Gamble.

Daytime dramas have been fading as a genre for years with more women joining the work force and the increased number of channels offering alternatives like news, talk, reality and game shows. In tough economic times, paying casts, producers and writers proved prohibitive to networks when there were cheaper alternatives.

The cancellation will leave CBS with only two daytime dramas: "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and Beautiful."

Brian Cahill, senior vice president and managing director of the P&G subsidiary TeleNext Media Inc., said the company is actively seeking a new outlet to carry the show.

TeleNext said the same thing about "Guiding Light," which went off the air in September, but has been unable to find a new home.

Keeping the show alive online has been discussed, but that's an alternative where cost may prove prohibitive.

Procter & Gamble first began producing soap operas in 1933 with the radio show "Ma Perkins," and has made a total of 20 such programs in its history.