Gotham-based 'All My Children' will begin lensing in L.A. in 2010.
"All My Children" is switching coasts.
ABC on Tuesday confirmed the long-standing rumor that the daytime sudser would move from New York to Los Angeles. At the same time, the net will move "One Life to Live" into "All My Children's" old New York facility.
According to the Alphabet, the move will give "Children" a production facility twice the size of its old one. The change, which takes place at the start of 2010, will allow both "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" to start broadcasting in high-definition.
The change comes with more cost-cutting, however. The sudser world already has been hit hard by network belt-tightening; CBS, for example, is about to end the run of long-standing soap opera "Guiding Light."
"The move to Los Angeles enables both 'All My Children' and 'One Life to Live' to dramatically improve the series production models and achieve significant efficiencies while enhancing each show," said ABC Daytime topper Brian Frons. "We had to examine every option on the table to combat current economic realities and rising costs of production."
Los Angeles City Council president Eric Garcetti said "Children" will be shot in the city's Glassell Park neighborhood.
"We have been working hard to bring production back, and this is great," Garcetti said via Twitter. "Children" joins "General Hospital" among ABC soaps taped on the West Coast.
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com