Pre-Emption Problems: Why Can’t ABC And General Hospital Just Use Technology?

In 2020, when former president Donald Trump went through his first impeachment, General Hospital fans were outraged when there were no new episodes for two weeks, and Soap Hub spoke out then.

The Way Things Were

Days of our Lives would air in the middle of the night in some markets while being available online by evening, and CBS eventually took a cue from NBC, putting The Young and the Restless on CBS All Access after several pre-emptions in a row. And ABC? It just pretended it was in the dark ages when the Internet and streaming didn’t exist. More than two years later, we are still there.

General Hospital Can Be Seen Daily…If ABC Allows It

Here we are again in a summer where Donald Trump and what happened to the United States on January 6, 2021, have taken center stage, and while these hearings are important for all Americans to see, we also still need a break from a soap opera-like reality with all of our actual soaps. That means you too, GH.

As it stands now, Port Charles was still celebrating Independence Day on July 12, and if things continue as they are, Christmas will be in time for Valentin’s Day in 2023. While the January 6th hearings didn’t pre-empt General Hospital this week, news of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis did, and with the show so behind already, there was no reason to push it back yet another day.

What Happened To Hulu?

On July 21, parts of the country saw some GH until the news report interrupted our Port Charles pals, but for some reason, ABC decided it would re-air the entire thing for all markets on July 22 when all the Disney-owned network had to do was stream it on Disney-owned Hulu as it does each night anyway.

If Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) and Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) can promote Hulu during a night in front of the TV and Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard) can promote Hulu via his cereal box, then why can’t Hulu be used to keep GH going on a daily basis when ABC’s news division chooses to air national and world events as they break?

The writers and editors at Soap Hub are old enough to remember when the Iran-Contra hearings in the 80s and the OJ Simpson trial in the 90s pre-empted all soaps for weeks at a time, and we had no option but to wait.

But it’s not the 80s and 90s anymore. It’s 2022, and while NBC has certainly found a way to keep its one soap airing and relevant no matter the news of the day (see Peacock and Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem), ABC just refuses, and we hope we’re not still scratching our heads about why in another two years.

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.

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