As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.

As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light. With 13,763 hours of cumulative narrative, As the World Turns has the longest total running time of any television show. In terms of continuous run of production, As the World Turns at 54 years holds the fourth-longest run of any daytime network soap opera on American television, surpassed only by General Hospital, Guiding Light, and Days of Our Lives. As the World Turns was produced for its first 43 years in Manhattan and in Brooklyn from 2000 until 2010.

The Edge of Night is an American mystery crime drama soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.

CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Skydance Corporation and is one of the company's three flagship subsidiaries, along with namesake Paramount Pictures and MTV.