ABC’s annual coverage of the Wild Card series games, which has forced the network to preempt “General Hospital” in recent years, is now a thing of the past.
In a deal first signed in 2021, the Walt Disney Company-owned ESPN/ABC and Major League Baseball mutually agreed to end their original seven-year deal earlier than anticipated, with games from the 2025 season being the last to be broadcast on either network.
Valued at $550 million annually, the parties opted out of continuing the deal, which was to run through 2028, with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred sending a sternly worded letter to team owners back in February, stating the organization has “not been pleased with the minimal coverage that MLB has received on ESPN’s platforms over the past several years outside of the actual live game coverage.”
The contract included 30 regular-season games, the Wild Card series, and the Home Run Derby.
“Good news, this is the last year of the contract, we won’t be interrupted by games next fall,” commented Nathan Varni, who serves as Executive Director, Drama Programming, ABC and Hulu, with oversight over “General Hospital” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” among other programming.
Since the deal was first initiated, “General Hospital” has seen some of its worst ratings in modern history during Wild Card game weeks, which typically start in the final days of September or the first couple of days in October, and preempts the long-running soap opera for upwards of three consecutive days, with the third day contingent on the outcome of Game 2.
During the week of September 29-October 3, 2025, the most recent week in which daytime broadcast ratings are available, “General Hospital” aired just two original episodes, with the soap opera preempted on the other three days.
ABC carried Games 1 and 2 between the National League San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs, with the Cubs victorious 3-1 on Tuesday, September 30. Game 2 on Wednesday, October 1 saw the Padres win 3-0. On Thursday, October 2, the deciding game aired on ESPN, with ABC instead carrying Game 3 between the American League Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians.
Ratings Impact
In markets not impacted by the games, which started after 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT, repeats of “General Hospital” aired. Unfortunately, despite the anticipated preemptions, the repeat broadcasts were factored into the weekly average, with the daytime soap opera ranking last among Women 18-49 and Women 25-54.
Among Women 18-49, the soap opera averaged a 0.10 rating, down -44% compared to its performance one week earlier (0.10 rating vs. 0.18 rating) and -37.5% year-over-year (0.10 rating vs. 0.16 rating). Meanwhile, among Women 25-54, the show was down -44% week-to-week and year-over-year (0.14 rating vs. 0.25 rating).
ABC
“GMA3,” which was able to exclude the MLB preemptions from its weekly average, ranked 12th in both categories, with a 0.12 rating among Women 18-49 and a 0.15 rating among Women 25-54, both of which were generally in line with the news program’s regular averages.
The weekly average for “General Hospital” is based on five days (Monday through Friday), while “GMA3” is based on two days (Monday and Friday).
“The View,” which was not impacted by baseball preemptions, continued to perform well for ABC four weeks into Season 29. Ranking fourth among Women 18-49 (0.21 rating) and tied for fifth among Women 25-54 (0.32 rating), the daytime talk show is the only daytime broadcast series this season to see year-over-year growth among the key sales demographics every week since its premiere.
