Soap Opera Weekly

[ranger1rg]

Unfortunately, I'm subscribed to SOAP OPERA WEEKLY until August -- but they won't get a cent from me after that.

After the recent "regime change" at the mag, I really thought things would turn around after years of going downhill, but changesfor the better have been far and few between. I just don't think any magazine can compete with the great online soap sites out there.

Can a magazine like SOWbe turned around?

The staff there certainly isn't doing much -- with their soap scrambler puzzles and sodoku...."interviews" withe the same handful of actors....find the changes in the photos....lack of any kind of substance when it comes to hard-hitting / in-depth analysis of daytime or any soap....use of print and background colors that are excruciatingly difficult to read....

After I read an issue, I realize I've learned just about nothing. I know -- I should have stopped subscribing years ago. I kept re-upping out of habit, thinking things would improve.

[Jonathan]

This mag hasn't been credible or entertaining since Mimi Torchin was at the helm. I know some don't like her but she definitely gave us a true industry magazine. Plus, she came up with the best covers and catchy headlines.

Print is dying in general. We can get our news much faster on internet sites like this one.

[MarkH]

I basically agree. I was never a subscriber (SOD is what I subscribe to), but I was a semi-regular newsstand buyer. I haven't bought it since the Hinsey firing. Not for any other reason but that I have not seen an issue yet that gives me anything I want to read. I am not interested in spoilers and such. I want genuine interviews and Q&As, both with actors and with those behind the cameras. I am also interested in analysis.

The reality is that I get more of that on the net these days than I do from a magazine.

I think SOW is also suffering from much-publicized distribution problems of their parent company (Source Interlink) and a rumored (but debunked?) cash flow problem in that company. Basically, I think they do not have the resources--with shrinking newsstand sales and advertiser revenues--to do much more than hang on.

That said, I just read the latest SOD, and I was basically impressed. The magazine had a number of nice, longer Q&As (e.g., with James Scott and Ari Zucker; Joshua Morrow and Michelle Stafford), a nice exit interview with Rebecca Budig, a decent roundup for a change ("best Valentine's day"...but at least it was interview-based). It is not a "serious" magazine (and I wish there were such a thing), but it seemed okay.

That said, I confess that I weekly consider letting the SOD subscription lapse.