Are soaps in danger of extinction?

[Contessa Donatella]

Australia current

B&B network TV 4:30

DOOL pay cable FoxTel noon

Y&R pay cable FoxTel 1 pm

No GH

[Manny]

Y&R still airs here in France. I believe B&B still airs too.

[AlexGrimaldi]

Here in Italy The Bold and the Beautiful is the last US soap standing. It's still popular and doing well, but not as huge as it used to be in the 90s an 00s. Back then it reached stellar tv ratings and a monster daily share (35%-, at its peak even 40%). Half the Country watched it and talked about it. Nowadays, airing at the same time slot (1,40 pm), the share is between 17 and 21%. It's successfull, but no more a cultural and intergenerational phenomenon. Since 2015 the tv network that broadcasts the show has shortened the lenght of the episodes. BB airs from monday to saturday (to sunday only in the spring). Each 'new' episode lasts about 10-13 minutes preceded by the last scenes of the day before. It's all about money and spending review. They want to save money with the dubbing and still make profits with lots of commercials inside the show. Fans are outraged. In 2015 episodes were 2 months and half behind US telecasts. Now 15 months behind. 

BB is doing well even in streaming. The show gains a solid number of views on the website of the tv network. Episodes are available for at least a month. Under the hashtag #TwittamiBeautiful the show is often trending topic on Twitter.

Other US soaps aired in Italy always suffered from constant changes of time slots and shortened episodes. Some of them were pretty successfull and lasted long (Capitol, Loving, Santa Barbara till the end; Guiding Light and The Young and the Restless were cancelled after 30 and 26 years). Other soaps were less popular and treated even badly by their tv networks and ignored by the press. Some of them lasted almost a decade; others were cancelled after months or a year. 

Edited March 27, 2023 by AlexGrimaldi

[Planet Soap]

Blaming OJ (and shift in viewing habits) as the sole reasons for the genere's decline is a way for the higher ups and actors to avoid taking accountabilty for poor story telling, visuals and budget.

[mikelyons]

This. All of this. 

[Soapfan8878]

Hi, Is THE CITY available on youtube?