Can today's soap survive on the internet?

[ljacks13]

I keep reading from soap writers on strike, that they believe that shows will eventually end up solely on the internet. I am for one skeptical of today's soaps being on the internet in their current form. But can today's soaps really survive and thrive on the internet and how would it work since a majority of the online soaps today ate no more than eight minutes in length.

[jcar03]

The reason why those shows are only 8 minutes in lengths is because they are experimental. I think soaps could very well survive on the net (hey, it will come down to the internet or nothing most likely). They could end up cut down to 30 minutes but I defintely think they would be much longer then 8. They have a fanbase. Ratings won't be harped on as much just like Passions being over on DirecTV. Ratings aren't as a big deal on a dish as network. I'm not sure how they are doing over there but it sounds like they are matching what they did on NBC.

[Chris B]

There is no way any of these major soaps will end up on the net. It'll be something like DirecTV or cancellation. You aren't going to get Kim Zimmer, Martha Byrne, Erika Slezak, Diedre Hall, Susan Lucci, etc. to do an internet soap. If anything, they'd have to create new soaps just to get the budget down.

I keep reading that this is why the strike matters to soaps, but I think it's a load of crap. I'd rather they take their chances with scab writers to prevent the soaps from being cancelled during the strike.