UPDATED: In honor of the show’s 60th anniversary, fans of ABC’s “General Hospital” can now watch “classic” episodes of their favorite daytime drama series anytime, courtesy of the all-new “General Hospital Spotlight” channel, available exclusively on ABC.com and the ABC App.
Similar to Pluto TV’s offering select episodes of “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” with its Soaps Channel, the “General Hospital” episodes are available unlocked, which means they are free to watch with no login required.
The new channel by ABC is part of a growing list of FAST (free, ad-supported television) offerings by media companies looking to combat streaming service hesitancy by viewers while also receiving additional ad revenue in the process.
Craig Sjodin/ABC
At press time, an episode from February 2018 was available on the “General Hospital” channel, with subsequent episodes from that period scheduled to air, giving viewers a chance to relieve Drew Cain (Billy Miller) dealing with a new reality; a family’s grief over the loss of their loved one, Nathan West (Ryan Paevey); early era Peter August (Wes Ramsey), the beginning of the Daytime Emmy-winning Alzheimer’s storyline which saw Mike Corbin (Max Gail) eventually lose his battle to the disease; the fallout from Ava and Griffin’s (Matt Cohen) romance, and Griffin’s later romance with her daughter, Kiki (Hayley Erin); the Oscar Nero-Quartermaine (Garren Stitt) st0ryline; and the continued romance between Sam and Jason (Steve Burton), along with numerous other storylines that continue to impact the series today.
Based on the current schedule guide for the channel, episodes from March 2018, April 2018 and so on will be aired as time goes on, with each episode running roughly 50 minutes while offering regular commercial break intervals, similar to their original broadcast. Episodes are run in order and can quickly outpace regular viewing ability as the channel is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
To watch the “General Hospital Spotlight” channel, go to the official page on ABC.com or select the channel on the ABC App, which is available on iOS and Android devices along with Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Samsung Tizen, Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast, among other devices. For more information on device availability and how to download, click here.