Editing One Life to Live (section)

==Broadcast history==
ABC cemented its reputation as a youth-oriented network in daytime with the addition of ''One Life to Live'' to its schedule, with much of the rest of its lineup consisting of soap operas like ''[[Dark Shadows]],'' [[sitcom]] reruns, and game shows packaged by [[Chuck Barris]]. ''One Life to Live'' replaced the short-lived ''The Baby Game,'' in a three-way shuffle with ''Dark Shadows'' and ''[[The Dating Game]]''. The network placed the new serial at 3:30 PM Eastern, against [[CBS]]'s established hit ''[[The Edge of Night]]'' and the popular [[NBC]] game ''[[You Don't Say!]]''. Despite the tough competition, the intense tone of the plot and strong characters allowed the show to get a leg up on ''You Don't Say,'' wearing that game down to the point of its cancellation in September 1969; NBC replaced the [[Tom Kennedy (television presenter)|Tom Kennedy]]-hosted game in that time slot with three unsuccessful serials: ''[[Bright Promise]]'', ''[[Return to Peyton Place]]'', and ''[[How to Survive a Marriage]]''.

''One Life to Live'' initially enjoyed fair-to-middling ratings, but rose rapidly as it entered the 1970s, along with the rest of ABC's daytime lineup. Matters greatly improved for ''One Life to Live'' in 1972, when CBS relocated ''The Edge of Night'' in response to packager [[Procter & Gamble]]'s demands. The four-year-old show topped the ratings for the first time over CBS' declining ''[[The Secret Storm]],'' and later, the game ''[[Hollywood's Talking]],'' which ran for only 13 weeks.

By 1975, NBC became a serious player in that time slot for the first time in over five years when it expanded its strong soap opera ''[[Another World (TV series)|Another World]]'' to an hour, with its second half occupying the 3:30 timeslot. ''One Life to Live'' lost a substantial audience share, but its lead-in, ''[[General Hospital]],'' experienced even worse losses. ABC then expanded both ''One Life to Live''  and ''General Hospital'' to 45 minutes, with each composing half of a 90-minute block between 2:30 PM and 4 PM. Beginning on July 26, 1976, ''One Life to Live'' assumed the first position, at 2:30. ABC bet its hopes on viewers staying tuned past the half hour, making them unlikely to switch channels to ''Another World'' and ''[[All in the Family]]'' reruns on CBS (or ''The Match Game'' in the case of ''General Hospital'' fans). This approach showed some promise, until November 7, 1977, when CBS expanded ''[[Guiding Light]]'' to an hour. As ''One Life to Live'' struggled, its neighbor ''General Hospital'' was in danger of cancellation after a 15-year run. In order to save ''General Hospital'' (which was airing at 3:15 PM) from cancellation, ABC expanded both soaps to an hour beginning on January 16, 1978; ''[[Pyramid (game show)|The $20,000 Pyramid]]'' was moved to the noon Eastern timeslot, where it remained until its run ended in June 1980.  ABC contemplated an expansion of ''[[The Edge of Night]]'' to a full hour if either of these shows were cancelled.

''General Hospital'' rose rapidly to the top spot in the Nielsen ratings by 1979.<ref name="Encyc ratings"/> As for ''One Life to Live,'' from its tenth birthday onward, its competitors declined in popularity. ''[[Search for Tomorrow]],'' for instance, spent its last several months on CBS against the last half of ''One Life to Live''. Its replacement, ''[[Capitol (TV series)|Capitol]]'', did little better, and after its cancellation, CBS aligned ''[[As the World Turns]]'' against ''One Life to Live'' and ''Another World'', a configuration that stayed in place until ''Another World'''s cancellation in 1999. The 1980s saw ''One Life to Live'' reach the height of its popularity, with an estimate of 9 million viewers early in the decade.<ref name="Encyc ratings"/> The show typically ranked between the second and the fourth position in the 1980s.<ref name="Encyc ratings"/>

Since 1991, ''One Life to Live'' returned to the middle of the pack, but its numbers declined, in common with all other soap operas.<ref name="Encyc ratings">{{cite book|last=Waggett|first=Gerard J.|title=[[The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (Schemering book)|The Soap Opera Encyclopedia]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins|HarperPaperbacks]]|date=November 1997|pages=[https://archive.org/details/soapoperaencyclo00wagg/page/625 625–642]|chapter=Part VI: Soap Opera Nielsen Ratings|isbn=0-06-101157-6}}</ref> By the decade's end, the show rested near the bottom of the ratings pack, and it continued to hover around the lower reaches of the weekly ratings throughout the 2000s in terms of total number of viewers; however, the show tended to rank in the mid-range for the target demographic of women aged 18–49, often higher than sister show ''[[All My Children]]'' and usually still winning its timeslot in the key demographic, well ahead of its competitors such as ''[[As The World Turns]]'', ''[[Another World (TV series)|Another World]]'', and ''[[Passions]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soapoperanetwork.com/soaps/ratings/2270-ratings-abccbs-soaps-up-from-last-week/|title=Soap Opera Network - Daytime Soaps - TV and Movie News|website=Soap Opera Network|access-date=May 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503221053/http://soapoperanetwork.com/soaps/ratings/2270-ratings-abccbs-soaps-up-from-last-week|archive-date=May 3, 2010|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>  During the 2000s (decade), ''One Life to Live'' ran about even with ''As the World Turns'', with NBC's ''Another World'' replacement ''[[Passions]]'' trailing significantly.

The 2009-2010 season was a particularly difficult year for ''One Life to Live''. During the week of June 28, 2010, the show ranked last among all soap operas with 2.1 million viewers, compared to 2.3 million for ''As the World Turns''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/ratings/ratings-oltl-hits-new-lows-in-total-viewers-and-hh|title=Ratings: OLTL Hits New Lows In Total Viewers and HH|author=Xavier Toups|work=Soap Opera Network|date=July 9, 2010|access-date=February 28, 2015}}</ref>  As ''One Life to Live'' entered the 2010-2011 season, ratings improved, but not enough to prevent ABC from cancelling the program on April 14, 2011. After the cancellation announcement, ''One Life to Live'' began to surpass ''General Hospital'' in total number of viewers, but ''General Hospital'' continued to dominate ''One Life to Live'' in several specific categories, most notably the key demographic of women between 18 and 49 years old, usually prioritized by daytime networks. By November 2011, ''One Life to Live'' had dethroned ''General Hospital'' in every category. Overall, ''One Life to Live'' was the third highest rated program among the five remaining soap operas in its last season, trailing ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'' and ''[[The Bold and the Beautiful]]'', but ahead of ''[[General Hospital]]'' and ''[[Days of Our Lives]]''. The show averaged a 2.3 rating and 3.12 million daily viewers during its final week. Its final episode on January 13, 2012 drew in a 2.7 rating and 3.848 million viewers, one of the highest ratings in the history of soap opera finales.<ref name="final episode ratings">{{cite web|url=http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/news/ratings-oltls-last-week|title=Ratings: OLTL's Last Week - Soap Opera Network|author=Xavier Toups|work=Soap Opera Network|date=January 21, 2012|access-date=February 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429013930/http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/news/ratings-oltls-last-week|archive-date=April 29, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''One Life to Live'' continuation's ratings proved impressive. The first episode was the second most downloaded TV episode on iTunes and second most watched episode on Hulu, with the first place on both sites going to ''All My Children'' which premiered the same day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/05/03/tolns-statistics-for-premiere-week-of-all-my-children-one-life-to-live/180992/|title=TOLN's Statistics for Premiere Week of 'All My Children' & 'One Life to Live' - Ratings - TVbytheNumbers.zap2it.com|work=TVbytheNumbers|access-date=February 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708061402/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/05/03/tolns-statistics-for-premiere-week-of-all-my-children-one-life-to-live/180992/|archive-date=July 8, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>