Evening News

Broadcasting & Cable: Disney-ABC Television Group created new positions in programming and marketing to report to the division’s president, Brian Frons. The move comes as the company aims to increase cooperation among the division’s various arms -- the ABC Daytime group, cable network SOAPnet and the Buena Vista Productions studio. Ann Lewis Roberts, most recently vice president of development for Buena Vista, was upped to senior VP, Buena Vista Productions to oversee programming and production for the studio, as well as unscripted originals for SOAPnet. Adam Rockmore, last a VP in marketing and retail for Calphalon, joined the group as senior VP of marketing for ABC Daytime and SOAPnet.

Blogcritics: As Much As You Can is a play by Paul Oakley Stovall about acceptance, and a family trying "the best that they can" to live with the complicated realities of their lives. One of the reasons to see the show is the appearance by Tonya Pinkins as the uptight religious sister Evy. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, and won in 1992 for Jelly's Last Jam. For the last seventeen years she has portrayed "Livia Frye" on ABC's ALL MY CHILDREN. Evy is a difficult role because she is so intolerant. Pinkins manages to elicit our sympathy despite quoting Leviticus, but her conversion in the final scene to compassion and love really hasn't been earned by the playwright.

Greenwich Post: The ninth annual Hearts & Hammers Gala will be a held Saturday, Feb. 9, from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Greenwich Hyatt Regency, 1800 East Putnam Ave. in Old Greenwich. David Canary, Emmy Award-winning actor on ABC’s ALL MY CHILDREN, is the honorary chair.

Times Online: ECHO BEACH could make or break ITV relaunch. It is billed as a postmodern reinvention of the soap opera. But is Michael Grade right to launch an ITV overhaul with a new creation from the writer of Eldorado?

Daily Star: EMMERDALE has scored a huge ratings victory over arch rivals EASTENDERS thanks to soap siren Roxanne Pallett. The sexpot knocked her London rivals into shape thanks to an hour-long special which saw her charact-er Jo Stiles’s wedding day ruined. And judging by this sensational snap, we can see why millions of Brits tuned in to watch the 25-year-old babe. EMMERDALE went head-to-head with EASTENDERS on Tuesday and the Walford regulars were counting the cost as they lost the top ratings spot. The BBC1 soap was seen by 6.8million but 7.3m tuned in to see Jo’s fiancé Andy Sugden (Kelvin Fletcher, 23) get sent to prison for killing his adoptive mum in a fire seven years ago.

CBS: WREG-Memphis preempted GUIDING LIGHT today, Wednesday, January 9, due to severe weather. GL will air latenight at 2:07 am.

Soap Opera Weekly: The Top 10 Oakdale Adoptions. The residents of Oakdale are obsessed with babies: raising them, having them — and not having them. Here are soap children from other shows who could fill the empty homes and hearts of some of AS THE WORLD TURNS' most loving and lonely characters.