Say hello to Katie Couric — and goodbye to “General Hospital.”
Couric’s new afternoon show, announced yesterday, looks like it will spell the end of the popular “GH,” ABC’s last remaining soap after “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” end in September and January, respectively.
ABC gave the 3 p.m. timeslot to Couric’s new show, set to begin in the fall of 2012.
The network stopped short of cancelling “GH” outright — saying in a press release that it “continues to support ‘General Hospital.’ ” But it didn’t explain what that “support” means.
ABC will premiere two new daytime shows — “The Chew” and “The Revolution” — this fall and next January.
It’s possible that “GH” could replace either “The Chew” or “The Revolution” next year if either show fails to catch on.
But the news that the 48-year-old soap is slated to go away in 14 months hit the show’s fans hard yesterday.
“I am not exaggerating when I say this makes me feel sick to my stomach,” one fan wrote on the show’s message board on abc.com. “Literally, I am so disappointed. Talk shows are a dime a dozen . . . ”
“The handwriting is on the wall. Soaps are dying,” wrote “joystewart2.”
“Apparently, we, the soap fans, are not the ‘target demographic’ anymore. It’s only a matter of time.
“So sad.”