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Another article about soap resurgence


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This basically looks like a rehash of the THR article.

Just for my own edification, what IS the "coveted" demo now? I thought it was 18-49 but recently ABC has been pimping 18-34 and this article claims it 25-54. Is there a consensus? Is this perhaps a sign that the industry is broadening it's definition of who a desirable viewer is?

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+11111111!!

I am so tired of those depressing articles as well. As long as the news isn't "Yet another soap has left the building" I am happy. Also, as long as positive articles are being published the more the networks are noticing how much soaps care to the people and the idea that there may actually be a resurgence in the genre will continue to grow then the soaps will thrive once more.

I am not giving up hope!

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I hope that this resurgance happens. Whether it's month, a year, or years from now because this format of TV is too legendary to fade out. I say it all the time, but soaps need to be retooled if anything. The model is old, stale, and broken.

  1. Soaps need to be trimmed to 3 days a week (like how UK soaps used to do it) with a hiatus in mid December to mid January (like Australian soaps do). That would save production companies millions, provide actors outs in their contracts, and make continuity on soaps easier to keep up with.
  2. Soaps need to be aired at a later time--4 to 8 PM to be exact. That's when people typically get off work. No one is home in the daytime anymore because they're either in class or working.
  3. Soaps need to move to cable networks (i.e. Lifetime, TNT, TBS, etc). Cable channels are more lenient and I feel that they promote their shows WAY more than networks do.
  4. Soaps need to stop doing over the top stories ALL the time. Sometimes is fine, but all the time is too much. Simple, character driven stories go a long way with audiences. They keep people tuned into reality shows.
  5. And. . . soaps need to keep people in charge that truly care for the genre, get rid of those who don't, and cease nepotism.

If soaps did all this then I think they'd be fine (IMO).

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Are you my Evil Twin? You just stole my words! For years I have been saying that 3 days a week plus a hiatus is the way to go. For the old soaps I would want to see them go back to 30 minutes. I also think new soaps should be 30 minutes as well but the audience probably will not accept a 3 day a week AMC or OLTL very well but I would. That said new soaps should be 3 days a week. It would be cool if they could do a 10-15 minute special on the off days such as recaps and behind the scenes. For the older shows they can reserve Tuesday/Thursday to show REAL old episodes from the 70's and before. Also, what is the difference between a Hiatus and a season break? Also, I agree with the later in the day because the old audience, meaning the stay at home wives, are fading out. Also, they need to do some promotion outside of daytime. Use to a grandparent or a parent would introduce a kid to a soap but that is not so anymore so they need mainstream advertising.

I added 6 and 7. I think people should add there ideas and we construct a "Bill of Rights", if you will, so the advertisers/networks will be able to see what the soap fans want and expect. I have been thinking about starting a Facebook page with a list like this.

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18-49 and 25-54 are the coveted women's demos. I don't know why ABC keeps pimping 18-34. NBC never pimped it when they were #1 in it.

Oh and I really disagree with the no one is home during the day excuse when there are plenty of people who are because they go into work at 3 or 4. There are enough people at home during the day to watch shows like Judge Judy but not enough for soaps?

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Ugh. I mean, they're clearly not having a resurgence, unless we're counting the fact that we're approaching a year without any soap being canceled for the first time in a while to be a "resurgence." Positive coverage is nice, but...

Honestly, if some article said, "OK, they can't really afford to turn out quality material on these budgets and with the constraints that are in place - and, besides, the audience these shows were created for essentially no longer exists - but the soaps that are left are proud of what they did and want to pay homage to that until the end," I'd pretty much be OK with that. In hindsight, I guess when network primetime dramas started becoming the redheaded stepsiblings of the cable shows that aired only 13 episodes a year with superior writing and production values, someone should have seen the writing on the wall that 5 days a week of these increasingly half-assed daytime soaps served no purpose. Pretty much every concession that has been made to keep the soaps going since then - lack of rehearsals, critical scenes ending up on the cutting room floor to make room for more ads, death by a thousand cuts when it comes to veteran cast members - has been extremely damaging.

My only qualm is that I do think these characters and stories could be viable in a less narrow and increasingly obselete format. If I felt like I knew how close the Prospect Park thing came to being a reality, I might be able to decide once and for all whether I think what's left of the soap genre amounts to life support until a better solution could be found, or if it's ruining what's left of soaps to the point where nobody would want to revive them.

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Women 18-49 is the "coveted demo" that sells advertising in daytime. Women 25-54 is the demo used to sell ads to the more luxurious advertiser, while Women 18-34 is the demo used to sell to hard to reach women. Overall, all three matter the most. Girls 12-17 and Men 18+ do not matter, despite Men currently helping this resurgence, just an FYI.

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