'General Hospital's' Future "Undecided" Says ABC President

ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee confirmed the network hasn’t decided on the fate of the network’s lone soap opera, General Hospital.

When asked about GH’s future during ABC’s portion of the winter Television Critics Association panel, “I don’t know when we’re going to make a decision,” said Lee to the panel. “I’m a fan of General Hospital but we have not made a decision. We don’t really have a time frame for it either.”

GH’s future has been in doubt ever since the network announced last year was bumping the soap for Katie Couric’s new daytime gabfest Katie. With All My Children and One Life to Live replaced with The Chew and The Revolution, Couric’s show leaves GH without a timeslot come September. Katie has already received clearance in most of the US major markets.

Lee’s statement doesn’t bode well for the future of the soap, which will celebrate its 49th anniversary later this year. GH’s lackluster ratings are a cause for concern for the network, whose priority is for its shows to be profitable.

In an effort to “reboot” the show (in our opinion anyway), exiting Daytime chief Brian Frons’ tapped One Life to Live’s Emmy winning team of head writer Ron Carlivati and Frank Valentini (aka “Cartini”) to take over the show effective January 9.