Is The Soaps Bubble About To Burst?

[USTVFanFromUK]

FOX NEWS/By Samantha Jonas-Hain


Grandmothers listened to them on the radio; housewives watched them as
they dusted and cleaned; stay-at-home moms watched them as they made
lunch for their kids.


It seems the soap opera has been around for about as long as there's
been ... soap. But is the next generation carrying on the tradition of
watching daytime dramas?


Stay tuned to find out on the next episode of "As the Ratings Fall."


Daytime soaps are in the midst of their own dramatic storyline, as
viewership has reached an all-time low and is down nearly 18 percent
with its key audience: women ages 18 to 35, according to Nielsen Media
Research (search). (Among viewers age 18-49, ratings are down 18.63
percent.)


Some attribute the drop to women -- who make up most of the
soap-viewing audience -- just not being home to watch TV.


"The demographics of the audiences are different. You don't have
stay-at-home moms like you used to," UCLA television professor Myrl
Schreibman told FOX News.


But data show a slight increase in the number of stay-at-home moms in
recent years. So why are the ratings worse than ever?


Schreibman says broadcast soaps, like their primetime counterparts, are
falling victim to stiff competition from cable. While the daytime
"stories" are fading, similarly timed shows like the Food Network's
"Home Cooking With Paula" (search) have gained momentum recently.


He also says cable channels like SOAPnet (search) are also enabling
people to tune in to their soaps at more convenient times -- at the
expense of network ratings.


For this reason, Soap Opera Digest (search) editor Stephanie Sloane
feels the standard Nielsen rating has become a poor indicator of
viewership.


"People have come to me saying, 'SOAPnet has saved my life,'" said
Sloane, adding that all network TV shows -- not just soaps -- are
contending with new forms of competition.


Soap star Tuc Watkins (search), who originated the role of con man
David Vickers on ABC's "One Life to Live," agrees that new television
viewing options might be clouding the fan-loyalty barometer.


"I don't think people are watching less television. I just think they
are watching it differently. I know the way I watch television is
different. I TiVo everything and watch it a few days later," he said.


But others say the problem is the soaps themselves are dull and
outdated: as every fan knows, you can stop watching a show for years
and not much will have changed when you attempt to catch up with it
again.


"I think they need to get new writers and change it up a bit. They
can't keep using the same ridiculous plots over and over again. It's
always the same love triangle," said 28-year-old Maryland native Tami
Sapperstein, who grew up watching NBC's soap "Days of Our Lives." "I
think people are finding the storylines to be cheesy."


But even Sapperstein still occasionally tunes in to check on the
characters she grew up with.


"My mom was a soap fanatic," she said. "I will always be curious as to
what's going on. I mean, 'Days of Our Lives' turned me into a hopeless
romantic. I used to fantasize about getting married in a church, even
though I'm Jewish, just because that's how they all do it on soap
operas."


Indeed, there is good news to be found in the soaps industry. In May,
CBS staples "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns" were renewed
through 2007, while ABC's "All My Children" shocked a weak industry
this past spring by reporting over a 2 percent gain in viewership.


Moreover, CBS's "The Bold and the Beautiful" remains the most
translated television show around the world.


Other life vests are coming in the form of network advertisements.


"I've seen a lot more network promotion of shows lately. During
commercial breaks on CBS, they show high-end photo shoots of the soap
actors. For a while, NBC was promoting 'Passions' and 'Days of Our
Lives' during their primetime slots," Sloane said.


And Sloane sees the success of ABC's primetime soap "Desperate
Housewives" as a good thing for the soaps genre.


"I think people are acknowledging soaps as a pervasive medium. I think
the resurgence of the nighttime drama shows that there is an audience
for this type of storytelling. It's a format that will never go away,"
she said.


Watkins agrees that the hourglass won't run out on soaps.


"I think in the future there will be even more shows, just not on the
traditional three networks," he said. "Soaps are escapism and people
love that."

[80sTrivia]

The soap opera is such a classic medium, it's hard to imagine it ever becoming extinct. I do agree that the writers of the shows are going to have to become more creative in their storylines to bring in the viewers, as they have so much competition these days. The same, tired old amnesia and evil twin chestnuts that have been used in soaps for decades just don't cut it these days and viewers want to see something more fresh, cutting-edge and daring...