P&G Comes to Rescue of Soaps on the Ropes

[Noel]

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."

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

[Actor87]

This has already been posted in Spoiler Island.

[Noel]

Oh crap. I didn't consider this as spoilerish. My bad. I guess MODS could either delete or merge. My apologies for that.

[Noel]

Here's a Crstal Chappell interview with TVGuide kind of explaining the new film techniques plus a little bit more:

Crystal Chappell TVGuide Interview

[jcar03]

They think this is going to bring viewers back in droves (I didn't really read this article but others). They are going to have to face the reality that sooner or later they need to focus on good storylines that might bring people back.

[Noel]

Here's another article including a picture of the new Cedar's Hospital set.

Soaps scrubbing old look

[Loretta3938]

I watched today's GL episode, and I think the realism is much better when you're viewing an outdoors scene that is really outdoors. I can put up with bad camera angles while these camera people are getting their act together. In time, they'll learn how to use them accurately, just as they did with the big cameras. Meanwhile, I've been so tired of fake parks and parking garages, etc. set up on sound stages that this is refreshing to me. When a kid gets his shoe stuck on a real train track...it's a lot more believable than if it was played out on a sound stage with everything fake...and expensive to put together for one scene. JMO, of course.

[JamesF]

The exterior stuff I'm still all for.

However I just read the LA Times article and I can't believe Ellen Wheeler's office is being used as both an office set and a church set -- "There are pews lined up behind my desk." Oh this is going to be fun.

[detroitpiston]

I did too.

[stenbeck212]

Is there a link that doesn't require registration?

Nice. During the day she can pray for absolution over the havoc she wrought on GL.

[Noel]

Really? Because I didn't have to do a registration at all.

Ain't that the truth! She was okay in 2004, but it all went to hell during the budget cuts of 2005.

[miss wolf]

http://z7.invisionfree.com/DaytimeRoyalty/...?showtopic=7329

And here's the pic of the article

[Noel]

GL's New Look

Source: http://www.guidinglighttv.com/

A totally revamped Main street and bi-level residences are just two of the changes viewers will see when GL airs its Feb. 29 episode.

"That soap opera stuff is gone for us," declares Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler. "we can make a change and still deliver the same story. We don't have to live in this old-fashioned world that was developed in the 1950's."

The biggest change is that instead of sets similar to those of stage plays, all of GL's sets now have four walls and a ceiling. "Everything is more real, and everything works," shares Wheeler. "The water runs, the refrigerators are plugged in, and when you open the closets, they are really closets."

When Wheeler began exploring revitalizing production, CBS and P&G requested she make set changes - request that didn't come with an offer of more space. Their ideas of more was a room of 8 by 10 feet," sighs Wheeler. "That really [didn't] help me."

Armed with a $30,000 budget, Wheeler worked with designer rick dennis to maximize their resources. "I thought, 'My office is quite large. We can shoot in it," laughs Wheeler. "I sat the producers down and said, 'Your offices are not off limits to me. I'm going to turn them into sets.' "

For instance, Wheeler's office is the church complete with pulpit and pews. When a scene is scheduled to shoot in one of the office-turned-sets. GL execs work from a designated holding office. "Everyone has been very supportive, because they know it's for the good of the show," insists Wheeler. "Before, I could only play six sets at a time. Now I can play 50 sets in one episode if I want to."

The sets aren't the only change. Scripts that were 90 pages have been shortened to 50, and as previously reported, all episodes are now filmed with 8-pound, handheld cameras.

"Everything is now wireless," reveals Wheeler. "the crew I shoot wth inside can walk outside and shoot, and nothing is different. We have a much more intimate kind of shooting. Camera operators no longer have someone in their ear telling them what shots to get. They are now creating the shots as the moment happens."

As are the actors creating moments. "It was daunting to go in and talk to the actors." admits Wheeler, " but they were incredibly embracing of it."

All in-house changes will complement GL's location shoots in their adopted town of Peapack, NJ, which will also begin airing Feb 29- along with a series a new openings for the show. "We shoot on location in Peapack twice a week," affirms Wheeler. "Before, we'd do location shoots twice a year if we were really ambitious."

Robert Bogue (Mallet) is all for the the new format. "When you're working in a real environment where the rain really is drizzling on your face and the park bench really is cold, you spend less time trying to convince yourself it's real so you can convince the audience that it's real," explains Bogue. "this way, you can just tell the story. I love it."

Here's hoping viewers will,too!

==================================

Also here is a picture of the New Spaulding Study Set

[UKBoi]

The new Spaulding study set looks awesome, and the Cross Creek study is also quite nice looking too. I was scared that, due to them shooting in offices etc, everything would just be white and look really cheap, although the sets look quite good. The only thing I'm worried about is that the Main Street set will continue to be indoors and then will totally not mesh with the rest of the outdoor shots. Hopefully they'll erect something permanent (does anyone remember Salem Place...) in the Peapack town. I'm looking forward to seeing what this 'new' GL looks like, although if the quality of storylines is not up to par, it wont make a blind bit of difference how good the show looks.

[JamesF]

Wow.

The Spaulding study set really does look fantastic. I was very doubtful as to how they'd fit 40 sets into the studio and assumed we'd just end up with a load of tiny little rooms but it makes sense that they have more space by doing away with the camera, lighting and sound equipment. I'm really pleasantly surprised.