'Guiding Light' ending after 72 years

April 01, 2009 " 'Guiding Light' has achieved a piece of television history that will never be matched; it has crossed mediums, adapted its stories to decades of social change and woven its way through generations of audiences like no other," said Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group. "Meet the Press" debuted in 1947, so the news program aired longer on television even though "Light" predated "Press" as an entertainment program. In recent years, "Light" and partner "As the World Turns" have become a drag on the ratings ticket in CBS' daytime lineup, which has found higher ratings with less-expensive syndicated fare such as "Judge Judy" and "The Dr. Phil Show."

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