Could AMC, OLTL's return harm General Hospital?

As All My Children and One Life to Live inch closer to returning, those reboot plans could have a negative impact on General Hospital. The concern comes from several GH characters being licensed to the company rebooting the two former ABC soaps.

Soap fans are rejoicing in the news of the possible return of All My Children and One Life to Live. For nearly a year now, General Hospital has been the sole surviving soap in ABC's daytime lineup -- and, for a time, it was believed that GH, too, would go the way of the network's other two soaps.

In January 2012, General Hospital absorbed a handful of former One Life to Live characters in an attempt to lure fans in to keep up with their Llanview favorites. And it worked. General Hospital's ratings are up over last year, and there seems to be no end in sight to the ratings surge.

Or is there?

In something of an ironic twist, the resurrection of One Life to Live on the Internet could unwittingly harm General Hospital. Since January 2011, Prospect Park has allowed ABC to use the characters of Todd Manning, Starr Manning, and John McBain (as well as several others on a more recurring basis) while the company tried to hammer out its plans to relaunch OLTL.

Now that the One Life to Live relaunch appears nigh, Prospect Park could very well ask General Hospital to stop using those characters since, after all, they have been licensed to Prospect Park through its deal with ABC.

"Prospect Park has the option to give GH notice to cease using those characters," a source told Daytime Confidential, noting that the aforementioned characters could be written out of General Hospital as early as late January.

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Alternately, Prospect Park could decide that some or all of the characters are not necessary for their relaunch plans.

Due to the holiday, an ABC spokesperson was not available for comment. Prospect Park has not commented on the report.

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