Is the end nigh for General Hospital?

As expected ABC has signed a deal with Katie Couric which would give her a new chat-show that would launch in 2012 in General Hospital’s time-slot. That news has left fans of the medical soap fearing for its future but is it necessarily the end for the daily saga?

For its part ABC has said it continues to “support” General Hospital and formally the soap has not been cancelled. It’s fellow ABC soaps All My Children and One Life to Live have both been cancelled and will be off the air by this time next year. The two soaps will be replaced with life style programmes one of which ABC expects to fail.  Now that means by the time Katie Couric’s chat-show begins ABC will possibly have a free daytime slot in which to move General Hospital into – thus not cancelling it but moving it.

The possibility of ABC moving General Hospital is likely to be determined by one factor; ratings. If it deems GH‘s ratings are not good enough to justify a move then in all likelihood it will be cancelled. Now that’s the worrying part because despite the big “doom” hanging over the soap its ratings recently haven’t been that good. If that trends to continue and fans continue to “abandon ship” then the axe won’t be far off.

However, having said that no one should write-off the medical soap just yet. There is still some time before Couric’s new chat-show launches and it still has time to save itself. The best thing fans can do, right now, to save the series is tune in and watch it!