P&G Comes to Rescue of Soaps on the Ropes

[ljacks13]

P&G Comes to Rescue of Soaps on the Ropes

Will New Film Technique Update Venerable $1 Billion Ad Genre? Tune in Tomorrow

By Brian Steinberg

Published: January 28, 2008

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- P&G is hoping to put some spit and polish on the fading soap opera.

Soap opera ratings have declined steadily for years as once-enamored viewers drift away, and there is concern among media buyers about the health of the genre.

P&G has a long history with soap operas, but while they remain a strong vehicle for package goods, ratings are going down.

Ad dollars have leaked away as well. Ad spending on the eight network soap operas fell to about $1.04 billion in 2006 from about $1.15 billion in 2004, according to TNS Media Intelligence, at the same time TV prices and spending have seen double-digit increases.

But despite declining ratings, soap operas still reach a concentrated base of female viewers -- an important audience for makers of consumer package goods, the same marketers for whom soap operas were named in the first place. Top sponsors of the big network soaps in 2006 included Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Kraft Foods, S.C. Johnson & Son, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Sears Holdings Corp., Nestlé and Novartis, according to TNS Media Intelligence.

"There are still reasons to invest in the daypart," said Shari Cohen, co-executive director of national broadcasting at WPP Group's MindShare. Even so, soaps are "struggling for ways to keep themselves relevant."

Retaining viewers

Reinvention is just what is going on at "Guiding Light," a CBS soap filled with enough potboiler story lines to give prime-time twisters such as "Desperate Housewives" a run for their money. During one recent taping session, characters feared someone would sneak into a hotel and steal their baby -- but that hasn't helped keep audiences glued to the tube. Nearly 4.8 million people watched "Guiding Light" from Sept. 22, 1997, to Sept 20, 1998, according to Nielsen Media Research. About 2.6 million have watched it live or on the same day between Sept. 24, 2007, and Jan. 13, 2008. The show continues to produce original episodes despite the writers strike.

"The reality is that daytime shows are still a vitally important part of the network, but you have to look at the issue of audience erosion and take it seriously," said Barbara Bloom, CBS's senior VP-daytime programs. "The way daytime looked was becoming a barrier in terms of bringing in new audiences."

To tape an episode of their venerable soap opera, the cast and crew of "Guiding Light" did it the old-fashioned way: with bulky 300-pound cameras that shoot the action from a distance. Most soap operas are produced in similar fashion.

On Feb. 29, however, "Guiding Light" will have new flicker. The crew is dumping the $1 million pedestal cameras and outfitting itself with 8-pound digital minicams that cost anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 each. That will enable Ellen Wheeler, the show's executive producer, to shoot over characters' shoulders or across a table and follow people as they descend stairways or walk around town.

Keeping up

Research showed that audiences were turned off by the old production methods, said Brian T. Cahill, senior VP-managing director of Televest Daytime Programs, which manages "Guiding Light" for Procter & Gamble's P&G Productions. "Some of these soap-opera production conventions were distracting for people, and it's because we live in an age where prime-time programming is very authentic." Years ago, soaps had little daytime competition. Now cable networks run repeats of popular prime-time dramas that are filmed with high-quality special effects in realistic settings.

"Guiding Light," which made the leap from radio to TV in 1952, will have a considerably different milieu when episodes featuring the new production techniques begin to air. Filming a car pulling up often would involve moving a camera toward the vehicle, said Ms. Wheeler, a soap veteran who has also been an actress and director. Now the show has struck an agreement with the town of Peapack, N.J., that allows the crew to shoot autos more naturally; shooting outdoors has long been a rarity for soap-opera productions.

Keeping those story lines alive

Thanks to the continuing writers strike, original episodes of prime-time comedies and dramas have become rare beasts. Fresh episodes of soap operas, however, continue to run wild.

From "Days of Our Lives" to "General Hospital," the broadcast networks' soap operas continue to run with new episodes every day. Insiders attribute the feat to select writers declaring "financial-core" status, which allows members of the Writers Guild of America to return to work without necessarily being punished, and to certain producers taking on more of the work themselves.

Soap operas have seen their audiences erode over the years, which is cause for concern among the people who keep the programs going day in and day out. "Whoever is involved in these shows realizes that, from a creative standpoint, they have to put original product out there, because they are concerned about the longevity of the daypart," said Shari Cohen, co-executive director of national broadcast at WPP Group's MindShare. "They are concerned about their survival."

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=123364

[ljacks13]

I want to say is that soaps have experimented with new techniques before, i.e. the City and All My Children, and they were utter disasters. People don't care about production values if the story you tell is strong, and none of these articles ever discuss that.

[JamesF]

While I agree that strong writing is needed, people do care about production values these days for all the reasons mentioned in the article. Particularly casual viewers who could be tempted into watching soaps during the strike but drop the idea when they see things like GL's Main Street.

I cannot fathom why people think soaps should stick to outdated, cheesy production methods. Just as primetime moved on, so should daytime. I really can't fault P&G for doing this. Writing aside, it could really revitalise the genre and remove a bit of the stigma.

In short, most of the soaps look like [!@#$%^&*]. It wouldn't fly in primetime and daytime viewers shouldn't settle for it.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

I don't think the change is necessarily a bad idea but:

1) The writing for GL just absolutely sucks. It is so horrible that it's almost surreal. Unfortunately, it's not bad in an almost entertaining "Plan 9 From Outer Space" kinda way, it's just bad. Storylines, if they even qualify as such, make no sense and characters are being changed and mangled left and right to accomodate the stories that make no sense. This won't address any of that. The show itself is virtually unwatchable, how it's shot will be largely irrelevent to the few viewers that haven't been completely driven away.

2) Alot of the "practice" scenes we've seen so far have hardly been impressive. Most were scenes filmed in parking garages, stairwells, and public bathrooms. I know the Main Street and TikiHut Cedars sets are bad but public bathrooms? No thanks. A few of the actual outdoor scenes have been good but there have also been scenes filmed in a hail storm making dialogue unintelligible at best and shaky, unprofessional-looking camera work. There needs to be better execution and better locations for this to come close to working. And seriously, no more public bathroom shots. They've done that three times now. It's not gritty, it's just gross.

[Adam]

I am kind of expecting this to fall flat on its face... its the pessimist in me, but just the thought of shakey cams again gives this fan nausea.

[DaytimeFan]

I think, if done like a British soap, the new filming technique could jazz up GL and ATWT. The bigger bonus I see to these new techniques is that they make the shows even cheaper to produce. Cheaper budgets equal larger revenues which equal contract extensions.

By no means does it solve the *horrid* writing...but I think it helps.

[stenbeck212]

If it's anything like the current exterior shooting on ATWT, it could work. They've been using camera techniques that don't simulate a roller coaster.

[MichaelGL]

It might work for ATWT, however when GL goes on location the camerawork is practically lazy.

[AMCGio83]

I caught some OutdoorGL the other day (Harley was outside and some car wouldn't start). Though I didn't care or th technique, I didn't hate it. What I hated was that the episode was slow, rather boring and I didn't care for many of the characters. Back in the day Search For Tomorrow was filmed at something like 4,000 a week and it wasn't until the 80s that most soaps had these enormous budgets (YR notwithstanding) and they managed to produce quality programming. Production helps but GL needs new writers plain and simple. It seems like the show was going through the motions

[Khan]

I've decided I am of two minds on this. On the one hand, these latest changes amount to little more than window dressing. But, at least someone is attempting to improve the show and prolong its life, if only for a little while.

I just wish someone at P&G would wake up and give this show the expert production regime it needs.

[Actor87]

Is ATWT following suit in this or not? We've all seen the promos for GL and they're slowly filtering in short scenes of outdoor scenery with handheld cameras. However, where is ATWT in this? Why have we not seen any promos or scenes for ATWT yet? Or are they even going to do it for ATWT?

Does GL get special star treatment because of its "longest running soap still in production" label??

And BTW, saw some GL scenes today like the ones mentioned with Reva/Alan and Lizzie/Jon/Bill..............................and I am sooooo not impressed. For seconds at a time, the camera would zoom so far in that it would cut off the actor's face. In one scene, it zoomed in on Alan's chin while he was talking.

I'm all about improving soaps, but I don't think camera techniques or going to do it. It's going to be a matter of improving story material....not camera angles.

[Faulkner]

I tuned in to GL for the first time in a long time over the holidays, and there was this episode in which Josh and Reva were locked in a shopping mall - and it looked AWFUL. The camera was so close to the actors' faces that you could literally see up noses and ears. Sometimes, during pivotal scenes, actors would go completely out of shot. And the shakiness and image quality were far worse than anything I've seen on AMC. It was sub-amateurish.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

The mall episode was pitiful, but not quite as bad as the Halloween episode in which several characters were trapped in a mental institution and the lights went out. All dark hallways, tunnels, and stairwells. It was so claustrophobic and dark, you couldn't make anything out and the sound was horrible.

[Paul Raven]

Hopefully.once the cast and crew get into the new filming techniques,the quality will improve.

It really is a major overhaul.Apparently,the studio sets are being revamped so we see four walls.One report said the show will move from having 8 sets to 40!It will really allow for some creative story telling.Whether GL can get it together,is another matter.

[stenbeck212]

Hmmm. When I saw that episode online, I loved it.