By April MacIntyre Nov 27, 2008, 19:12 GMT
"Dancing with the Stars" season seven contestant Susan Lucci has been caught up in the economic downturn of ad revenues for TV.
Susan Lucci - 35th Annual Daytime EMMY Awards - Press Room - Kodak Theater - Hollywood, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos
Advertising Age reports on the "Detroit Drama" as ad dollars dry up and viewers drift away - making it tough for the soap actors.
The auto-sales slide is even hurting soap-opera star Susan Lucci claims AdAge.com.As advertising dries up from the traditional mainstay of automotive dealers, AdAge claims Lucci, Erica Kane on All My Children "is being handed a pay cut."
"All the actors on 'All My Children' have been reduced [in salary]," said creator Agnes Nixon, who also created the ABC soap "One Life to Live" and is now a paid consultant to the network's daytime division, to AdAge.
"Susan Lucci, Michael Knight and Ray McDonald have all been reduced -- substantially. And so have I, as a consultant. The ratings are not the same."
This story is on the heels of NBC's "Days of Our Lives" slashing of high-paid veterans Deirdre Hall and Drake Hogestyn from their contracts.
Hall's "Marlena" had been with the show for 32 of its 43 years on air; Hogestyn for 22 years.
AdAge reports that "insiders said the network is seeking to reduce pay for all contract actors on "Days" as much as 40%."
"The Young and the Restless," is still a ratings No. 1, but just a little more than 4.5 million tune in. AdAge cited the steep decline in viewership: That today there are eight, which are all "struggling."
AdAge claims the local affiliates are hurting the most over local car dealers cutting their advertising. "Local dealers and dealer associations accounted for nearly half of the $18.5 billion in 2007 measured media spending for automotive, according to TNS Media Intelligence data. According to Automotive News sales figures, the volume of new car and truck sales nationwide is not likely to exceed 13 million this year -- down 20% in just two years."
Local affiliates are reportedly "scared to death" over the downturn in car sale, which will deeply affect the future of all daytime programming.
Brian Frons, president of daytime for Disney-ABC Television Group, told AdAge, "Constantly keeping tabs on your costs, by culling the cast and taking an almost 'MTV' approach," is a fact of life for daytime nowadays.
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