April 1 (Bloomberg) -- The anguish and drama are finally ending at “Guiding Light,” CBS’s epic soap opera.

CBS Corp. canceled “Guiding Light,” the longest-running television drama, after the daytime show lost 13 percent of viewers this season and ranked last among soaps. The producer, TeleNext Media Inc., is seeking a new home for the show, according to a statement today.

“Guiding Light” started its 72-year run in 1937 as a 15- minute radio serial and has been on TV for 57 years. The show will air its final episode on Sept. 18, New York-based CBS said today in an e-mailed statement. Procter & Gamble Co. owns the program, network spokesman Chris Ender said.

With more women in the workforce, an increase in cable channels and the success of syndicated daytime programs such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” network soap operas have lost their appeal. The number of daytime dramas on network TV has slumped from 18 in the early 1970s to eight today, including “Guiding Light,” according to Nielsen Co.

“These days mothers at home are more likely watching Nickelodeon with their kids,” said Brad Adgate, director of research at New York-based advertising firm Horizon Media Inc. “It harkens back to a simpler way of life that’s no longer around.”

CBS hasn’t decided what will replace “Guiding Light,” Ender said in an interview.

“Daytime remains an important time period for us,” Ender said. “We make money on our daytime shows.”

Daytime Leader

CBS is the most-watched daytime network, averaging 3.68 million viewers, the network said, citing Nielsen data. Walt Disney Co.’s ABC is second with 3.16 million viewers and General Electric Co.’s NBC is third with 2.96 million.

“Guiding Light” has averaged 2.1 million viewers in the current season that began in September, compared with an average 2.4 million last year, according to Nielsen, the New York-based TV researcher. “Young and the Restless” on CBS is the most- watched soap opera, with an average audience of 5.3 million.

“We are working hard to find the show a new home,” Brian T. Cahill, senior vice president of TeleNext Media, said today in a statement. The company is owned by the advertising agency Publicis Groupe.

The radio show’s original storyline centered on a minister named Rev. John Ruthledge, and all the people of a fictional Chicago suburb called Five Points, CBS said. Today’s show takes place in the fictional town of Springfield, and revolves around the Spaulding, Lewis and Cooper families.

Kevin Back, James Earl Jones

Kevin Bacon appeared in six episodes in the 1980-1981 season, according to the Internet Movie Database. Other now-famous people who appeared on the show include Calista Flockhart, Allison Janney, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Taye Diggs, Hayden Panettiere and Brittany Snow.

The series is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running TV drama, the network said.

CBS, owner of the only U.S. TV network to gain viewers in the current season, rose 4 cents to $3.88 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 53 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 1, 2009 17:15 EDT