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.

 

6 hours ago, Errol said:

Look for a big promotional push starting today, September 1. Don’t have specifics yet but there’s a reason today is kick off day. I’ll share more in the coming days. 

To be blunt, our frustrations on how this transition has been handled is shared with more people than you might think. Some might say the sky is blue in public but they are pissed!

I would assume the cast and crew are pissed the most, especially if Ken Corday & NBC/NBCUniversal knew in 2021 what was happening.

Yeah has to be cast and crew. Thanks Errol!!

No matter how you cut it, it's an absolute disaster. They are going on a streaming service with 6 months of episodes originally produced for broadcast TV. If they think streaming = broadcast TV, they are in for a rude surprise.

At the very least, viewing habits are different. Most won't be watching daily as new episodes come out; they will let episodes pile up and watch them whenever.

Maybe they can use that in their promotion. If it takes older viewers awhile to find Peacock, at least they won't miss anything, since all the episodes are there. Whether they will ever watch them when they find them, that's another story.

Edited September 1, 20223 yr by Jdee43

 

3 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

 

Ugh. The production on these web exclusives is so nice. Imagine if the soap looked like this?? It'd be gorgeous!

19 minutes ago, Jdee43 said:

No matter how you cut it, it's an absolute disaster. They are going on a streaming service with 6 months of episodes originally produced for broadcast TV. If they think streaming = broadcast TV, they are in for a rude surprise.

For all the complaints about the first attempt at streaming the soaps (Erika Slezak still echoes some of those critiques about OLTL 2.0 today in her most recent newsletter, and some of them are valid and understandable re: BTS issues/writing or choices while others are just old-fashioned IMO and I disagree with her), those shows on Hulu at least knew to do something different and change up the tone and rhythm for a different medium, and approached the idea of a seasonal model (albeit only when they realized they were broke!). DAYS has had no chance to do that here on top of (again, unlike the other shows) the lack of adequate promotion or real build-up and rollout. They've been given a stacked deck and told to win the poker tournament or die. And it's all for Peacock IMO, because NBCU is flailing. DAYS is a sacrificial lamb, not because I think they actively want to kill it but because they're trying anything for Peacock and don't care what happens to the show.

This seems to confirm that DAYS will continue to air on Global in Canada.
 

 

Why would you feature a couple no one cares about talking about purchasing peacock?

1 minute ago, Soapsuds said:

Why would you feature a couple no one cares about talking about purchasing peacock?

srsly! Rafe and Nicole?  ewwww.

I finally saw something on my NBC affiliate this morning explaining the move and directing viewers to both the Peacock site and a telephone 'help line' if they needed clarity or assistance signing up. So that's something.

Like @Errol said, it does appear that Sept 1 is the start of some kind of push, which is way too late, but at least it's happening. 

And @Vee, I'm with you -- Days is a sacrificial lamb here. I truly don't think they want to cancel it, but NBCU is throwing sh*t at the wall to make Peacock work, and Days is going to wind up collateral damage.

This move to streaming is a few years premature. DAYS still works, not creatively, but economically on broadcast TV. They should have waited. DAYS could have reached 60 on NBC TV. Now it will be a miracle if it does. They are throwing away the legacy of a 57 year show way too cavalierly.

Edited September 1, 20223 yr by Jdee43

3 hours ago, Vee said:

For all the complaints about the first attempt at streaming the soaps (Erika Slezak still echoes some of those critiques about OLTL 2.0 today in her most recent newsletter, and some of them are valid and understandable re: BTS issues/writing or choices while others are just old-fashioned IMO and I disagree with her), those shows on Hulu at least knew to do something different and change up the tone and rhythm for a different medium, and approached the idea of a seasonal model (albeit only when they realized they were broke!). DAYS has had no chance to do that here on top of (again, unlike the other shows) the lack of adequate promotion or real build-up and rollout. They've been given a stacked deck and told to win the poker tournament or die. And it's all for Peacock IMO, because NBCU is flailing. DAYS is a sacrificial lamb, not because I think they actively want to kill it but because they're trying anything for Peacock and don't care what happens to the show.

Outside of any thing to do with the writing, directing, etc...the real problem AMC/OLTL 2.0 had was the lack of MONEY. Prospect Park got a $25 million loan from a single financial firm and no one else ponied up the funds. They spent way too much at the outset with no clue how they were going to properly recoup the money they were lent. They didn't realize even $20 million was a conservative number to produce just ONE show for a single year, let alone two...especially when they'd only be available on the internet. And then they hired all those reality stars and social media personalities thinking they'd gain an audience through their followers, plus the plan to license expensive music... MESS!

I do agree that DAYS is being sacrificed for the greater good of the company. Let's just hope that it works, not just for DAYS but for NBCU overall. Otherwise, yikes.

2 hours ago, janea4old said:

This seems to confirm that DAYS will continue to air on Global in Canada.
 

 

Yeah I've read it's already confirmed they were keeping it, that hadn't changed for Canadians

6 hours ago, Liberty City said:

I would assume the cast and crew are pissed the most, especially if Ken Corday & NBC/NBCUniversal knew in 2021 what was happening.

 

5 hours ago, dragonflies said:

Yeah has to be cast and crew. Thanks Errol!!

Without naming any names (obviously), you'd be surprised how many non-DAYS affiliated people are pissed about this move internally at NBCU. Those are who I'm talking about.

15 minutes ago, Errol said:

 

Without naming any names (obviously), you'd be surprised how many non-DAYS affiliated people are pissed about this move internally at NBCU. Those are who I'm talking about.