The last standing New-York produced soap, One Life to Live, ended on January 13. Rather than go out a withered mess, the show went out with a bang, spiking three-tenths for its coup-de-grace. Several former favorites, including Castle's Nathan Fillion and Desperate Housewives' Tuc Watkins showed up to say goodbye. So why did OLTL go away? It was not the worst in the ratings, though it spent much of its last 20 years in the middle to bottom of the pack. The Economic Depression left everyone scrambling to cut costs, and Reality TV cost one-third less to produce. Add New York union costs, and OLTL became the latest casualty. Sadly, their exit left the declining General Hospital in harm's way as it appeared ABC was on a soap purge.Elsewhere, Young and the Restless made a dramatic two-tenth slide, while Bold and the Beautiful picked up their scraps and gained two for their 25th Anniversary. GH dropped a tenth into last place, and Days of Our Lives remained steady. This season was forecast as the death knell of soaps as their ratings remained in a grave coma amidst contract negotiations.
One Life to Live exited the schedule, leaving General Hospital on an island and the other three soaps perched in the early afternoon.
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Source -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._daytime_soap_opera_ratings