Not a dream, not an imaginary story, folks.

Like sands through the hourglass, another iconic TV title is switching to streaming: NBC’s Days of our Lives will become a Peacock exclusive starting September 12, Vulture has learned. The move will end the show’s 57-year run on broadcast television and also marks the exit of NBC from a genre it pioneered 73 years ago with the launch in 1949 of These Are My Children, widely credited as TV’s first-ever daytime sudser. It comes as two other major broadcast titles — Thursday Night Football and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars — prepare to shift to streaming this fall.

In the case of Days, there has been industry speculation about it jumping to Peacock for some time now. The series, produced by Corday Prods. in association with Sony Pictures Television, has dodged cancellation multiple times over the past 15 years, with Sony and NBC often engaged in very last-minute negotiations to hammer out deals which make financial sense to both parties. Days has been the least-watched of the four remaining network daytime dramas for years now, making it increasingly difficult for NBC execs to justify keeping the show around absent reduced license fees (which Sony has largely been able to deliver).

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“This programming shift benefits both Peacock and NBC and is reflective of our broader strategy to utilize our portfolio to maximize reach and strengthen engagement with viewers,” Mark Lazarus, chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming said of the decision. “With a large percentage of the Days of Our Lives audience already watching digitally, this move enables us to build the show’s loyal fanbase on streaming while simultaneously bolstering the network daytime offering with an urgent, live programming opportunity for partners and consumers.” NBC will fill the gap left by Days with a new one-hour news program, NBC News Daily, anchored by Kate Snow, Aaron Gilchrist, Vicky Nguyen and Morgan Radford.

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Full article in Twitter link.

 

2 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

I don't know. It all just seems a bit rushed which is often never a good sign.

The announcement should have read that 2022/23 would be Days final season on NBC before moving to its new home on Peacock. This would have given writers more time to wrap up stories on Network TV while being able to create a fresh start for the soap on Peacock that would allow for casual viewers or unaware streamers to pick up or dive in to the show. It would also allow for promotion of the switch over an extended period of time to allow viewers to make the switch more seamlessly. 

The only benefit I see with this transition is that there will be no pause in new episodes, which for retention, I believe is a good sign. Viewers won't have to wait months or a year for new episodes. However, everything about this sudden move, from the fact it has seemed to come out of nowhere down to episodes just being the same old stuff that's already being produced for NBC, screams like a last ditch effort by Days but also Peacock. No offense but Days is not going to save Peacock and if Peacock is this desperate than it's not a great sign.

Very rushed.  I think what will happen is that the shows that have already been taped by DAYS will go to Peacock. Supposedly they are doing January 2023 then the rest of the shows will be taped for the rest of the season to run through Sept. 2023 as per the contract. Then in Sept. 2023 DAYS will be cancelled or reformatted into a 3 episode week for streaming. 

41 minutes ago, JoeCool said:

Very rushed.  I think what will happen is that the shows that have already been taped by DAYS will go to Peacock. Supposedly they are doing January 2023 then the rest of the shows will be taped for the rest of the season to run through Sept. 2023 as per the contract. Then in Sept. 2023 DAYS will be cancelled or reformatted into a 3 episode week for streaming. 

You're right...anything is possible. There's nothing in the announcement that says Days will continue with its original format of 5 hour long episodes per week. I can see Peacock doing more of these 5 episode specials like Beyond Salem or maybe producing something more similar to a telenovela with 80-150 episodes per year "book" style and release all the episodes at once on a yearly basis. Netflix has heavily invested in telenovelas lately and they've found great success.

Edited August 6, 20223 yr by GLATWT88

45 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

You're right...anything is possible. There's nothing in the announcement that says Days will continue with its original format of 5 hour long episodes per week. I can see Peacock doing more of these 5 episode specials like Beyond Salem or maybe producing something more similar to a telenovela with 80-150 episodes per year "book" style and release all the episodes at once on a yearly basis. Netflix has heavily invested in telenovelas lately and they've found great success.

Whether Days is on Peacock after Sept. 2023 when the current contract runs out remains to be seen. Honestly, I do not see Days surviving past Sept. 2023. Moving it to Peacock was because of the contract.  The ratings will not be significantly higher on Peacock especially since Days will be in Peacock Premium.  I do not think Comcast/Universal is going to turn DAYS into a telenovela. NBC should have just cancelled Days and let it finish up on NBC through Sept. 23. It is all about money. Making it and saving all the costs.

Edited August 6, 20223 yr by JoeCool

I agree. My initial and gut feeling is that this is a way to get rid of Days.

I also didn't mean that they would turn Days into a telenovela in a traditional sense, but some telenovelas nowadays have multiple seasons or series. So instead of Days producing 200+ daily episodes. Stories can be condensed to a telenovela of 120+ episodes that are released all at once to viewers each year. Stories can have a set course and some can wrap by the end of the season - taking viewers through a story beginning to end, while other stories can be left to pick up on the next season. It would reduce the number of episodes produced, but also create content that is more accessible to the modern viewer

They could do story arc like Port Charles did, IMO that show was ahead of its time

36 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

I agree. My initial and gut feeling is that this is a way to get rid of Days.

I also didn't mean that they would turn Days into a telenovela in a traditional sense, but some telenovelas nowadays have multiple seasons or series. So instead of Days producing 200+ daily episodes. Stories can be condensed to a telenovela of 120+ episodes that are released all at once to viewers each year. Stories can have a set course and some can wrap by the end of the season - taking viewers through a story beginning to end, while other stories can be left to pick up on the next season. It would reduce the number of episodes produced, but also create content that is more accessible to the modern viewer

Yeah, pretty much. Even if it does survive beyond September 2023 (big if, yes), there's really no sense in producing 200+ 40 minute episodes per year. Add that even if they continue to produce episodes for somewhat regular consumption for several times per week, I don't think they need to be more than ~21 minutes; the reason why they expanded soaps in the first place was because it was more cost effective to fill airtime, but creatively, soaps do better with a shorter format imho.

Why are they lying that they are giving 14000 episodes to fans... why... give such hope when it's not going to happen.

Count me among the skeptics doubting that Peacock will feature the entire DOOL library. It’s hard to see Sony or NBC going to expense of digitizing all those old episodes. I read elsewhere that Peacock will feature the the last five years of episodes. That sounds more realistic since they’re already in digital format. And then they could put up a few special episodes from before that era to pacify fans: the first episode, Doug and Julie’s wedding, Bo and Hope’s wedding, Marlena seemingly getting killed by the Salem Strangler, etc.

I also think that if the show is renewed past the 2022-23 season, it will be for these little five episode limited series a la Beyond Salem. Maybe once a month or even just once per quarter. No way will they show five episodes per week. Broadcast soaps were designed for viewers who tuned in 2-3 times per week. That’s why there’s so much repetition. With streaming, viewers can catch every episode if they want, so they simply won’t need as much content.

I know this is not ideal and many people are upset.  But the talk that this is being done as a way to just get rid of DAYS altogether is not realistic.  If they wanted the show gone they could very easily have announced the show is done when this contract is up.

They are attempting to draw viewers to Peacock, with something they think is a big enough asset to do it.  They want the show to help them succeed.  The question is will viewers tune in?

And moving them to less than 5 days a week would honestly be for the best.  

Currently, the confines of network programming demand that soaps build to an exciting moment before every commercial, at the end of every episode, with special considerations for Friday and sweeps.  Streaming is obviously free of those constraints.  So, I wonder how that will effect pacing and storytelling?

So, many of elements of what defines a soap were developed in order to sell household products that I don't know what a serialized story with no ending would look like on a streaming platform where everyone consumes it differently?

Imagine a twenty year old college student in 2025 with a free afternoon and their parent's Peacock password in college.  Where would they start watching?  How would they know the characters?  It doesn't feel like something you would choose to jump into; especially 60 years into the story...

Edited August 7, 20223 yr by j swift

30 minutes ago, j swift said:

Currently, the confines of network programming demand that soaps build to an exciting moment before every commercial, at the end of every episode, with special considerations for Friday and sweeps.  Streaming is obviously free of those constraints.  So, I wonder how that will effect pacing and storytelling?

So, many of elements of what defines a soap were developed in order to sell household products that I don't know what a serialized story with no ending would look like on a streaming platform where everyone consumes it differently?

Imagine a twenty year old college student in 2025 with a free afternoon and their parent's Peacock password in college.  Where would they start watching?  How would they know the characters?  It doesn't feel like something you would choose to jump into; especially 60 years into the story...

Valid concerns, none of which I expect will be addressed. I think is just a case of dumping clearance merchandise into a outlet store. (Although I'm now imagining the ghost of Gloria Monty making a valiant effort to tailor DOOL into a show that follows modern streaming conventions.)

1 hour ago, Franko said:

Valid concerns, none of which I expect will be addressed. I think is just a case of dumping clearance merchandise into a outlet store. (Although I'm now imagining the ghost of Gloria Monty making a valiant effort to tailor DOOL into a show that follows modern streaming conventions.)

Now that is an excellent analogy. The cynic in me says that this is a best of all worlds for NBC: do a ‘soft cancellation’ of DAYS off network, burn off the last year’s worth of episodes while potentially luring viewers to Peacock, and all while giving a public pitch that they’re moving DAYS forward into streaming. 

2 minutes ago, DaytimeFan said:

Now that is an excellent analogy. The cynic in me says that this is a best of all worlds for NBC: do a ‘soft cancellation’ of DAYS off network, burn off the last year’s worth of episodes while potentially luring viewers to Peacock, and all while giving a public pitch that they’re moving DAYS forward into streaming. 

Thank you, I'm proud of it.

If Days intends to survive on Peacock. TPTB best step it up. In its current incarnation it's horrible. Ron needs to go. Days also needs to be aesthetically modernized. A budget of loose spare change on a streaming service is just beyond pitiable. I see people on social media happy over the move. But what's the point. If the show is still horrible. The divisiveness i see on twitter and Days fb groups from the fanbase. Is far more entertaining than the soap itself.

12 hours ago, divinemotion said:

Why are they lying that they are giving 14000 episodes to fans... why... give such hope when it's not going to happen.

All 14,000 episodes will not be available on Peacock when it moves to the platform exclusively next month. I don't care how WSJ or FOX News wrote their article, that's not what NBC said in their PR and that's not what they are saying behind the scenes right now.

 

According to NBC, "For the first time ever, all new episodes of the 58-time Emmy Award-winning drama will debut on Peacock daily with the show’s robust library already available to stream for Peacock Premium subscribers." They go on to say, "The historic move to Peacock creates the ultimate destination for daytime fans to access the library, new episodes and Peacock Original 'Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem' in one place."

 

This means fans will have access to the library of episodes already on the platform, all new episodes released by Peacock starting September 12, plus the two seasons of "Beyond Salem" as long as they are a premium subscriber to the service.

 

Deals are still being made and discussed behind the scenes, and news will be released very soon to clarify things, but I'm told as of right now nothing is changing right now except the show will no longer be available on NBC or NBC On Demand for those viewers who watched it that way. I'll have more on this later today.

Also, regarding 14,000 episodes:

It's mentioned in the "About Days of our Lives" section of the PR. Some interns writing for FOX/WSJ decided to misinterpret that to mean that 14,000 episodes of the show are currently available on Peacock. Not the case at all, obviously.

 

ABOUT “DAYS OF OUR LIVES”

“Days of Our Lives,” a consistent favorite among fans and critics alike, aired it’s 14,000th episode in 2020 and remains NBC’s longest-running series. The show has garnered 58 Emmy Awards, including most recently 2018’s Outstanding Daytime Drama, and 372 nominations, as well as multiple People’s Choice Awards, GLAAD Media Awards, and Prism Awards. The show’s success stems from its consistent commitment to excellence in writing and storytelling – supported by a diverse ensemble of performers – and an uncanny knack for anticipating viewer interests. With its mix of classic genre traditions and groundbreaking narratives reflecting modern life, “Days of Our Lives” remains a perennial favorite among viewers of all ages. “Days of Our Lives” is produced by Corday Productions Inc. in association with Sony Pictures Television. Ken Corday is executive producer with co-executive producer Albert Alarr. Ron Carlivati is the head writer.