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Today ABC's "One Life to Live" becomes the fourth soap opera in three years to leave the air, and ABC's lone remaining soap, "General Hospital," is rumored to be on the way out as well to make room for Katie Couric's upcoming daytime talk show.
That would leave just three soaps on the air, two on CBS and one on NBC.
Sagging ratings were the cause of death for all of the axed shows, and ratings for the ones that remain aren't much better.
Heading into today's "OLTL" finale there's been the predictable outcry from fans and tributes from TV critics.
But what few seem to be asking is, what comes next?
The networks need daytime shows that are both cheap to produce and pull decent ratings, and for decades soaps did that quite well.
But with the likelihood of the few remaining soaps being axed in the coming several years, the networks will need to come up with shows to replace them.
The risk is that whatever they come up with won't match their ratings, leading to a sharp decline in ratings.
Daytime television could look a lot different as the networks struggle to come up with those shows.
Certainly one option, and a promising one, is talk shows.
Couric's show is sure to be the highest-profile daytime launch in years, and if she's successful that's bound to inspire other big names to join the daytime fray.
But there are only so many talk shows you can put on the air, and there's already a slew of them, each with its own twist to interest viewers.
There's ABC's new food talk show "The Chew" and lifestyle talk show "The Revolution," as well as CBS's second-year show "The Talk," which was envisioned as "The View" with more of a focus on moms.
But "Chew" and "Talk" have earned so-so ratings, which suggests that the daytime space has about reached its limit for talk.
The networks need to think beyond.
Some ideas might include daytime reality shows, with a more female bent than the ones currently airing in primetime; game shows, which have been thriving on CBS as soap replacements; makeover programs; and even slicker twists on talk shows, such as rotating hosts or a focus on fashion or music.
The key is not to duplicate what's available on cable, which has certainly been part of soaps' downfall. Now viewers who switch on the TV mid-afternoon can choose from comedy, drama and reality reruns of virtually any show rather than watch the same old characters on the same old soaps.
As for the more immediate future, "Revolution" will debut on Monday as the replacement for "Live," which goes off the air after 43 years.
The move comes four months after ABC's "All My Children" was canceled and "Chew" took its place.
And things don't look promising for "Hospital." This week ABC President Paul Lee refused to say whether the show will be back next year, and it recently fell to a series low among women 18-49.
