‘One Life to Live,’ ‘All My Children’: OWN becomes TOLN’s television partner

For those of you who were really struggling with the notion of sitting in front of the computer to watch “One Life to Live” and “All My Children” on the internet, there’s some great news for you: You no longer have to, based on the commitment that OWN has made to air the two soaps in repeats coming up on the weeks ahead.

Beginning on Monday, July 15, Oprah Winfrey’s network will air the two soaps Monday-Thursday, beginning with “All My Children” at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and “One Life to Live” at 3:00. This move comes as somewhat of a role reversal for Winfrey, who previously felt pressure to save the shows but said that the declining ratings were a sign that this model of TV was no longer sustainable. However, there is now less pressure on her given that she and her company is not fronting the bill, and are merely paying The Online Network to air repeats of the show. It’s a nice, symbiotic relationship that gives OWN (which is starting to pick up steam after a start rockier than Pike’s Peak) some more programming.

In a statement, OWN chief Erik Logan touted what is a major victory for the organization:

“These shows have proven to be very popular with a significant, loyal fan base — not to mention, Oprah herself is a big fan … Many of our viewers across numerous platforms have expressed their passion for the soaps, so we are especially excited to air this limited engagement.”

These two soaps also recently announced that they will soon offer all of the weekly episodes at the start of the week, in order for fans to watch whenever they wish. It’s more of a Netflix sort of model than what was first planned.

Photo: TOLN