Los Angeles - The longest running soap opera in the United States is to end after 72 years on the air, the CBS network announced Wednesday.

Guiding Light, began its TV run in 1952 after making the transition from radio where it had debuted 15 years earlier. The show has been suffering from consistently dropping ratings in recent years, but television network CBS gave no reason for the decision to axe the show, which will air its last broadcast on September 18.

The show was one of the pioneers of the soap opera genre and helped give the category its name because it was owned by consumer products giant Procter & Gamble. The show also helped launch the careers of many actors, including Kevin Bacon, James Earl Jones, Calista Flockhart, Allison Janney, Taye Diggs and Hayden Panettiere.

"Guiding Light has achieved a piece of television history that will never be matched; it has crossed mediums, adapted its stories to decades of social change and woven its way through generations of audiences like no other," said Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group. "This daytime icon will always be an indelible part of CBS' history." (dpa)