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watson71 Community Regular

watson71

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There are so many sub-channels today, I'm shocked that the P&G shows have not shown up on MeTV, Antenna TV, etc. or on a streaming service.   On the AOL streaming service Another World, Texas, Edge of Night, and Search for Tomorrow were streamed for about 18 months of episodes.  They would only need to add Guiding Light and As the World Turns to the mix.  The only thing I've seen edited out of the old episodes are the sponsor tags for each show.  Is this the problem with P&G- they are too cheap to pay to edit out the sponsor tags?  If that is the case, leave the sponsor tags in the episodes.  Makes you wonder why they are letting the episodes collect dust on shelves.

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DramatistDreamer Grand Master

DramatistDreamer

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IMO, DVDs are an antiquated video platform.  If SoapClassics were around, I doubt they'd want to do DVDs these days since they are more time consuming and not as cost effective. There are quite a number of streaming platforms that now run ads as a monetization method.  Crackle, IMDB and Pluto all do this. 

 

I know curating which episodes to release and dealing with music rights, etc. are all time consuming but if it were just streaming and not DVDs, that would be one less onerous task to deal with. 

I remember people discussing AOL's streaming of ATWT episodes in years past. It would make a lot of sense to use a streaming platform like AOL/OATH and just run ads, rather than try to sell DVDs.  6-7 years later, I think people are a lot more comfortable with streaming now than they were in 2012-2013.

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DramatistDreamer Grand Master

DramatistDreamer

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Oh, so the old AOL service didn't stream ATWT or GL? I guess because they were still on the air back then?

 

If P&G had one iota of sense, they'd have gotten back with AOL (now known as OATH) and make a deal to use that streaming service.  P&G could even run their own ads, which they do online anyway (it's actually cheaper to run ads online, although the revenue is a bit less than OTA).  Yes, the ads tend to be redundant and they usually do run the same ads over and over but if people could watch without a subscription would they really complain?  

 

I guess the only thing we can do is hope that someone cares enough to try to preserve these archives because P&G has already lost a lot of their history when it comes to their dramatic serials.  If those reels degrade there will be no future for their classic soaps.

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SFK Rising Star

SFK

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I think it would be more about the music than the actors. I thought about this when RetroTV aired episodes of The Doctors which prominently featured Roberta Flack's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. While ABC soaps (GH to this day) would replace top 40 songs heard in classic episodes with new/copyright clear music. 

 

I doubt those old AFTRA soap contracts covered much in terms of residuals which at the time must have been an unheard of notion for daytime dramas, particularly when tapes were being wiped. At any rate, residual tracking would be more tedious than costly. Those checks would be for pennies, if that. I got a residual check for nine cents the other day. The worst I ever got was a check for $0.00. Seriously. The stamp cost more. And these are for SAG-AFTRA projects in this decade.

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All My Shadows Proficient

All My Shadows

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I'm all for whatever we get. A part of me still would like DVDs for the simple fact that they would be "mine" to keep forever as opposed to simply being online until someone decides to take them down. Also, DVDs would preserve the original picture quality - I hate how videotaped series look on the internet.

I still have cable, and there is a surprising number of TV shows available, complete, via on demand services. Starz/Encore has several older shows available, especially a ton of major westerns from the 60s and some 70s sitcoms. I think there are some channels out there that exist only on demand. That'd be a nice place to present classic soap.

I know the music thing has always been a problem, but how was this addressed when Texas, Search for Tomorrow, The Edge of Night, and Generations were rerun in the 80s and 90s? I didn't have SOAPnet when Ryan's Hope and Another World aired - did they have popular music?

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DramatistDreamer Grand Master

DramatistDreamer

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You could burn a digital file onto a blank DVD with some basic software that is usually free or low-cost.  I've done it and depending on the length of the program, it can take a short amount of time or be time consuming. 

It's my understanding that if you purchase the digital download, it's yours to do with what you like, as long as you don't try to redistribute copies for sale.

 

But if doing the downloads as opposed to spending money on the materials to manufacture DVD copies keeps costs down, it may make it a less onerous process and more feasible to get episodes of these classic soaps into circulation.

I'm talking classic, of course, not new.

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titan1978 Veteran

titan1978

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If something like GH episodes from the 1990’s showed up one day on a platform I could stream them for a monthly fee and or buy them, I would.

 

Maybe not every day, but the big episodes that I loved I would absolutely buy.  And if we are talking the first 3 to 4 years Riche was there, I would buy a lot of them.

 

ABC, that’s money on the table.  I know I’m just one person, but still.

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