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.

 

From an email newsletter by The Vulture's Joe Adalian:

As for how Days is doing so far on Peacock, that’s a much trickier proposition. One not-so-great sign: Parrot Analytics says audience demand for Days actually declined during the soap’s first full week as a streaming exclusive. Days went from having 11.6 times the demand of an average show in the U.S. to a 10.1 demand score, a drop of 13 percent. That’s not what you’d expect for a series making such a big move and getting more publicity than it has since the last time somebody was possessed by the Devil. But given how little time there was to promote the switch — and the relatively small footprint of the Days audience when it was on NBC — it’s not that surprising.

Unless the internal data for Days ends up looking awful, I’d say odds are good Peacock will be patient. For one thing, the show is very inexpensive on a cost-per-episode compared to so much other streaming content. What’s more, Peacock doesn’t have a ton of megahits, so it doesn’t take a lot for a show to have a positive impact. Even if the Days audience ends up being relatively small, if it consists of a decent number of new subscribers and shows up consistently, then it could have similar value — and cost efficiency — than more high-profile titles. Plus, Peacock really doesn’t want to make enemies out of 2 million loyal soap-opera fans.

 

The premier week of episodes weren't that good. I'm sure a lot of viewers did not make the transfer over to peacock too. The transition was badly done and rushed.

14 minutes ago, teplin said:

From an email newsletter by The Vulture's Joe Adalian:

As for how Days is doing so far on Peacock, that’s a much trickier proposition. One not-so-great sign: Parrot Analytics says audience demand for Days actually declined during the soap’s first full week as a streaming exclusive. Days went from having 11.6 times the demand of an average show in the U.S. to a 10.1 demand score, a drop of 13 percent. That’s not what you’d expect for a series making such a big move and getting more publicity than it has since the last time somebody was possessed by the Devil. But given how little time there was to promote the switch — and the relatively small footprint of the Days audience when it was on NBC — it’s not that surprising.

Unless the internal data for Days ends up looking awful, I’d say odds are good Peacock will be patient. For one thing, the show is very inexpensive on a cost-per-episode compared to so much other streaming content. What’s more, Peacock doesn’t have a ton of megahits, so it doesn’t take a lot for a show to have a positive impact. Even if the Days audience ends up being relatively small, if it consists of a decent number of new subscribers and shows up consistently, then it could have similar value — and cost efficiency — than more high-profile titles. Plus, Peacock really doesn’t want to make enemies out of 2 million loyal soap-opera fans.

 

Interesting! I think a lot of the issue is that there's no rush to catch up on today's episode if it doesn't air on tv since you can watch at your own pace - time will tell if people will binge watch the episodes they missed.

On 9/14/2022 at 7:30 AM, AMCOLTLLover said:

Such a shame. I really believed it at first and hoped to see the Susan Flannery and Denise Alexander years of Days and early Maggie 

 

DAYS was a masterpiece, really on fire, from 1966 to 1976 under William J. Bell and Pat Falken Smith. And that cast!

1 hour ago, teplin said:

From an email newsletter by The Vulture's Joe Adalian:

As for how Days is doing so far on Peacock, that’s a much trickier proposition. One not-so-great sign: Parrot Analytics says audience demand for Days actually declined during the soap’s first full week as a streaming exclusive. Days went from having 11.6 times the demand of an average show in the U.S. to a 10.1 demand score, a drop of 13 percent. That’s not what you’d expect for a series making such a big move and getting more publicity than it has since the last time somebody was possessed by the Devil. But given how little time there was to promote the switch — and the relatively small footprint of the Days audience when it was on NBC — it’s not that surprising.

Unless the internal data for Days ends up looking awful, I’d say odds are good Peacock will be patient. For one thing, the show is very inexpensive on a cost-per-episode compared to so much other streaming content. What’s more, Peacock doesn’t have a ton of megahits, so it doesn’t take a lot for a show to have a positive impact. Even if the Days audience ends up being relatively small, if it consists of a decent number of new subscribers and shows up consistently, then it could have similar value — and cost efficiency — than more high-profile titles. Plus, Peacock really doesn’t want to make enemies out of 2 million loyal soap-opera fans.

 

I wouldn't put any weight into this data, personally. 

1 hour ago, te. said:

Interesting! I think a lot of the issue is that there's no rush to catch up on today's episode if it doesn't air on tv since you can watch at your own pace - time will tell if people will binge watch the episodes they missed.

Since episodes are disappearing from the platform every day from last season (season 57), I've started recording episodes every night off of Peacock this week and finding myself actually paying attention and enjoying the show in a non-daytime/work time setting. I'm actually interested in some of the characters.

What needs to change, IMO, is on-air look, tightening the writing and less gimmicks (ie. no more silly nonsense or tongue in cheek BS).

@Errol what's your secret, how do you record from Peacock?? 

38 minutes ago, Errol said:

What needs to change, IMO, is on-air look, tightening the writing and less gimmicks (ie. no more silly nonsense or tongue in cheek BS).

Agreed

2 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

DAYS was a masterpiece, really on fire, from 1966 to 1976 under William J. Bell and Pat Falken Smith. And that cast!

I read all available scripts, books, synopsis and watched all available episodes from the 60’s and 79’s and I can see that. I just wish all of it was available like the 1966 episodes of June/July of Guiding Light I got hooked . I love the classic soaps so much. I was naive to think that they would give us 14400 episodes 🤣

No surprise the first week didn’t catched the audience and of course it wasn’t a big one. I still think that NBC just wants to burn off the current contract until 2023 and then it’s goodbye for Days

1 hour ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

. I was naive to think that they would give us 14400 episodes 🤣

Many people hoped that that would be part of the deal. I still hope that it will remain a possibility, even if it was partial where they would curate different storylines.

1 hour ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

I still think that NBC just wants to burn off the current contract until 2023 and then it’s goodbye for Days

If this is what you see in the future, then, can you tell me why they wouldn't just cancel the show now? They have LOADS of experience in canceling soaps. They did it many times. If that is their outcome why in the world would they even fool with this?

 

 

 

3 hours ago, teplin said:

From an email newsletter by The Vulture's Joe Adalian:

As for how Days is doing so far on Peacock, that’s a much trickier proposition. One not-so-great sign: Parrot Analytics says audience demand for Days actually declined during the soap’s first full week as a streaming exclusive. Days went from having 11.6 times the demand of an average show in the U.S. to a 10.1 demand score, a drop of 13 percent. That’s not what you’d expect for a series making such a big move and getting more publicity than it has since the last time somebody was possessed by the Devil. But given how little time there was to promote the switch — and the relatively small footprint of the Days audience when it was on NBC — it’s not that surprising.

Unless the internal data for Days ends up looking awful, I’d say odds are good Peacock will be patient. For one thing, the show is very inexpensive on a cost-per-episode compared to so much other streaming content. What’s more, Peacock doesn’t have a ton of megahits, so it doesn’t take a lot for a show to have a positive impact. Even if the Days audience ends up being relatively small, if it consists of a decent number of new subscribers and shows up consistently, then it could have similar value — and cost efficiency — than more high-profile titles. Plus, Peacock really doesn’t want to make enemies out of 2 million loyal soap-opera fans.

 

It's important to keep in mind it used to be on the free tier and moved to the paid tier. I actually think it's impressive it kept that much of its audience. It's unfair to compare the free episodes to the paid. I saw a lot of comments on articles with people saying they won't pay and others replying "no I watch it on Peacock for free." They might pick up viewers once people realize they have to pay.

I'm surprised it's 10x as in demand as an average show. I wonder if that means on Peacock or all of streaming.

 

I have to laugh at the idea that Peacock doesn't want to make enemies of soap fans. Yeah right.

1 hour ago, BoldRestless said:

I have to laugh at the idea that Peacock doesn't want to make enemies of soap fans. Yeah right.

Yes, I laugh and think, really who would be afraid of us?! But, when Charlotte Savitz was the next to last EP at AW & time came for the Annual Luncheon, supposedly she hired personal security for the day.

If that's true and they did keep a good portion of their audience, it's only cause of the $1.99 deal Peacock has going on 

1 hour ago, AMCOLTLLover said:

I still think that NBC just wants to burn off the current contract until 2023 and then it’s goodbye for Days

That's the feeling I get from this move. Remember Passions didn't even last a year on DirecTV.

I don't like the move to Peacock. It's better than getting cancelled of course and VOD/streaming services really do seem like a great platform for soaps, but it's a major downgrade. The main problem is that people who don't have Peacock won't get to see it (while you didn't even need cable to see it on NBC) and there's no guarantee that people who do have Peacock will ever check it out.

I hope Days works out. If it's a success, it could lead to the return of other soaps or new soaps, but that feels like the underdog bet.

Edited September 23, 20223 yr by SoapAnon

I personally wished they would have ended the show. Back when NBC was with Hulu then the show would had a better shot on a stronger platform. But on peacock I mean talk about a weak streaming service. With the budget, the writing and some lack of effort it seems like from some of the cast. I think the air was let off the show long before the move. It’s sad to see. The life is just gone.