Are Soaps Going Down the Drain?

Posted by Patrick in ABC, CBS, Economy, NBC, Soap Operas, TV

The face of daytime television may be headed towards a major makeover, knocking some familiar faces off the air.

A recent article on MSNBC reveals the problem networks are having with their soap operas, fixtures of daytime since television was in its infancy.  Recently, two of the medium’s most venerable soaps, The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives, announced the firing of some longtime cast members.

There are other shows, including Guiding Light, the longest-running program in broadcasting history, that appear to be on the verge of cancelation.  (I don’t watch Guiding Light, but the nostalgic in me would hate to see the show disappear, since it is broadcasting’s oldest show.  It began in radio on January 25, 1937, making it 72 years old today.)

The biggest problem for soaps is that the daytime audience, which has always skewed older, is literally dying off, and the number of younger viewers who watch aren’t replacing them at the same rate.  Fewer viewers mean that the networks can’t charge as much to advertisers, and lower revenue in an already-bad economy could be enough to make the world stop turning and the hourglass run out of sand.

It’s not clear what the networks would air in place of soaps if that day were to come.  NBC’s ‘Days,’ which premiered in 1965, is the only soap left on the Peacock network; the rest of their daytime schedule seems to be filled mostly with the Today show.  I have a sneaking suspicion that if the show were to get any longer, the last 60-minutes would be retitled This Afternoon.

Over at CBS, the longtime champion of daytime ratings, there’s ‘Y&R,’ which premiered in 1973; The Bold and the Beautiful, which has only been on since 1987; As The World Turns, which signed on in 1956, and ‘GL,’ which is struggling the most.  ‘B&B’ is the youngest soap still on the air, and is the most-watched soap in the world, shown in several countries.  CBS’s other daytime show, The Price is Right, remains network’s only daytime game show, but has seen a decline in ratings since the retirement of Bob Barker.

ABC has and All My Children, which premiered in 1970; One Life to Live, which made its debut in 1968;  and General Hospital, which started in 1963 and enjoyed the height of soap success back in the early 1980s with the story of Luke and Laura.  ABC is celebrating higher ratings for The View, boosted by Hillary Clinton’s run for the White House and the constant bickering that has made the show famous.

If the soaps disappear from the television schedule, shows like The View might be what we get stuck with more of.  How’s that for a happy thought?

The firing of well-paid, longtime actors and actresses on the soaps is the easiest way for them to make up for the loss in ad revenue.  Unfortunately, a majority of soap fans tune in because of the longtime characters.  So that leaves a nasty Catch-22.

Would you miss the soaps if they vanished?  Do you have a favorite one?  Or would you celebrate their demise with total joy?