1955–1956, when it did not have any competition from ABC and weak offerings from NBC. With the premiere of American Bandstand in 1957 and Bandstand's surge in popularity a year later, the CBS strip of The Verdict is Yours at 3:30, The Brighter Day at 4:00, The Secret Storm at 4:15 and The Edge of Night at 4:30 all took a hit of about one rating point. Though The Secret Storm and The Edge of Night rebounded, The Brighter Day and its lead-in The Verdict Is Yours did not. By the 1960–61 season, both shows were holding their own, but had still taken a ratings hit. In Summer 1961, Procter & Gamble gave up production of the show to CBS and moved production of the series from New York City to Los Angeles in an effort to save money. Key characters and stories were dropped when their actors did not wish to relocate. In the Summer of 1962, with The Secret Storm and The Edge of Night proving formidable against American Bandstand, CBS decided to expand The Secret Storm, creating a powerful hour-long soap block to counterprogram against American Bandstand. This decision had both The Brighter Day and The Verdict is Yours moving from their mid/late afternoon slots to mid/late morning. The timeslot change was the final nail in the coffin, as both series lost almost half their audience, with The Brighter Day falling from a 6.9 to 3.7. Mid-late morning had never been successful for serials, and this instance was no different. In August 1962, the show made history by creating the first daytime television contract role for an African American. The actor, Rex Ingram, appeared as an ordained minister named Victor Graham beginning on September 17, but had no time to make much of an impact, as the show was cancelled two weeks later on September 28. The network announced that the show would be cancelled with less than two weeks before the final episode aired. In the final episode, actor Paul Langton addressed the viewers in character as Uncle Walter, wrapping up the storylines and explaining how the characters would resolve their problems. Langton ended the show with a final farewell: "The microphone can't pick up their voices and soon the picture will fade. If on occasion you think of us, we hope your memory will be a pleasant one." Among the show's writers were Doris Frankle,