possible excerpt from a netlog (OTL blog) post about daytime network television ITTL:
In the Spring of 1986,
Ted Turner's CBS bought Merv Griffith Enterprises, and with it two of America's most popular game shows in
Wheel of Fortune and
Jeopardy. At the time,
Wheel of Fortune had two versions: a daytime version that aired on NBC, and a syndicated nighttime version
(as per OTL). Meanwhile
Jeopardy was syndicated, often airing alongside the syndicated version of
Wheel in many TV markets. Turner-CBS executives quickly made the decision to cancel the syndicated version of
Wheel, move the daytime version of
Wheel from NBC to CBS, and take
Jeopardy out of syndication and move it to CBS, effective with the upcoming fall TV season. Programming executives liked the idea of airing
Wheel and
Jeopardy back-to-back (as was often the case in many cities with the syndicated versions of the shows) and combine it with mainstay
The Price is Right to create a powerhouse daytime game show block.
CBS Daytime Schedule, Fall 1986.
All times Eastern (OTL Big 3 daytime schedule for reference and comparison)
10:00 AM:
Jeopardy (replacing The $25,000 Pyramid ITTL)
10:30 AM:
Wheel of Fortune (replacing Card Sharks ITTL)
11:00 AM:
The Price is Right
12:00 PM: No network programming. This time slot was cut out by the network to allow local affiliates to air their midday newscasts without worrying about preempting any network shows. Also serves as CBS' game show/soap dividing line - game shows before noon, soaps afterward.
12:30 PM:
The Young and the Restless
1:30 PM:
As the World Turns
2:30 PM:
Capitol
3:00 PM:
Guiding Light
Later that same season, the soap
Capitol was cancelled and replaced with a new soap,
The Bold and the Beautiful; concurrent with the new soap's premiere on March 23, 1987, the decision was made to have
Bold and the Beautiful and
As the World Turns switch places in the schedule
(as per OTL). The resulting lineup would serve as CBS's daytime lineup for well over 20 years until
As the World Turns and
Guiding Light both ended their runs in 2010
(roughly per OTL, I see little to butterfly away the fundamentals that led to the decline of network daytime soaps) during the so-called "Soap Purge."
CBS Daytime Schedule, Spring 1987. All times Eastern
10:00 AM:
Jeopardy
10:30 AM:
Wheel of Fortune
11:00 AM:
The Price is Right
12:00 PM: No network programming
12:30 PM:
The Young and the Restless
1:30 PM:
The Bold and the Beautiful
2:00 PM:
As the World Turns
3:00 PM:
Guiding Light
For virtually the entire tenure of the above lineup, CBS was the top-rated network in daytime (with ABC typically a close second and NBC often a more distant third). Turner-CBS executives' dream of a powerhouse game show block were more than fulfilled as
Jeopardy, Wheel, and
The Price is Right almost always finished each season as the top 3 daytime network game shows, the exact order varying from year-to-year. Over on the soap side of the daytime lineup,
The Young and the Restless was often the #1 network soap opera overall
(Y&R's performance is per OTL).