BTG: History, Behind the Scenes Articles & Photos

[John]

Even though The Gates is being developed for CBS, I wouldnt be shocked if it just went streaming on Paramount Plus. I feel streaming is the future for daily soaps.

[Errol]

I'm just going to say this. Personally, streaming is NOT the future of soaps. It's an element of where soaps can be watched. As evidenced by the recent streaming failures across the industry, there isn't truly any shows that will survive long-term on a streaming service. Some of the most watched shows don't even go beyond five or six seasons, if they are lucky, and they only get 6-10 episodes a season.

Yes, of course, it'll be available on Paramount+, or whatever that eventually evolves into by the time the show (hopefully) reaches the air. That's not in question.

I think what bothers me about today's announcement, and this has nothing to do whatsoever with your post or you, John, in particular, but people can't seem to read. I can't tell you how many people asked when is it going to air or where is it going to air when it is clearly stated it's for CBS. Countless people on social are asking if this is going to Paramount+ and I'm like...not even in the PR about it was Paramount+ even mentioned.

[dragonflies]

Paramount Plus is likely being merged with Peacock, so yeah that's probably not even remotely what would happen

Errol this does NOT shock me at all. Especially from soap fans who barely pay attention to what's happening on screen already lol. 

[John]

Right

A lot of variables here

How long will development take. Passions took over two years. So Im thinking Earliest I could see it on CBS is fall 2025.

[Maxim]

Am I dreaming? Soap opera are here to live and breathe. This is a day to remember. Thank you, God.

[BetterForgotten]

I wonder what the production model will be like for this show - will it be shot like a traditional soap, or more like primetime/film? It’s clear they aren’t interested in doing things the way they’ve been done before. 

[Vee]

I take your point, but the problem is I don't think broadcast/network as is has a long-term future track either. I think the best we can hope for (for both the networks and for shows' extended longevity) is a kind of hybrid model for certain shows, where they may be both on network and straight to stream.

Meanwhile:

 

[Contessa Donatella]

It does not bother me & the reason is that people are wildly speculative about something new. So many details & they are so impatient for information that is  unavailable & will not be available for at least months. But underlying the impatience is extreme interest & I take that away from it as the good part of it. 

I would add that I have auto-posted "in development, no pilot, no order to series, no greenlight," an amazing number of times. The one poster who came back that according to the way they read it those things had happened, yes, that did annoy me. 

 

Edited March 7, 2024 by Contessa Donatella

[Taoboi]

Oh lord. Don't even put that in the Universe. PP is currently merged into my system now and I cannot say I dislike having it. Peacock not so much.

 

I do hope that since we appear to be on the same page in terms of timeslots or how the shows should be placed...that CBS see it the same way as the rest of us. 

[All My Shadows]

I feel like any new game show revival would have to be host-heavy, to go along with TPIR and LMAD. Maybe a new run of Millionaire?

Gosh, if they cut The Talk and put in this new soap plus a new game show, CBS would have three soaps and three game shows, which...once again, never in a million years did I think we'd ever be back here.

[Vee]

Only on this forum would folks be going down the list of old game shows like Joker's Wild or Tic-Tac-Dough. That's not a diss. God bless.

[Errol]

Agreed. A hybrid model is the way to go, and is even more evident now that studios that own TV networks are seeing the potential in airing originally ordered as streaming exclusive series and placing them on their broadcast networks months later. ABC did it with Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building," CBS is doing it this summer with Paramount+'s "Tulsa King," and NBC has done it with several shows on Peacock, along with Disney+ shows on ABC. A hybrid model is the way of the future. Not exclusively broadcast or streaming. That's where I see things going.

TV networks will NEVER go away in the sense that CBS will be canceled in five years. Despite reduced eye balls, only on CBS can 120+ million people watch the Super Bowl without a glitch all at once. You can't even dare think to do that (with current technology) on a streamer. Even Netflix is not immune to performance glitches for their live shows. The worst they'll have to deal with is in 2025 when they have live WWE programming from "Monday Night RAW."

[1974mdp]

I do wonder what will become of broadcast networks in five or more years. How will they evolve? SVU, NCIS, and Grey's Anatomy can only go for so long, and I think the reason shows such as those are still on the air is that the networks would rather keep something known with a smaller audience that risk something entirely new. Hopefully, if The Gates happens, it will result in networks taking risks again.

[Marco Dane]

ABC the ball in your corner next....

[BetterForgotten]

So, apparently, P&G started to throw their hat back in the ring again for scripted content in 2020/2021. Of course, the goal is to push their brands in a subliminal/less obvious way.

They also have their hand in producing films, documentaries, and streaming content.

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With Fewer Ads on Streaming, Brands Make More Movies

Imagine is also working with the consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. The company, which effectively created soap operas when it began to sponsor serial radio dramas in the 1930s to help promote its soap products, is cofinancing a feature-length film with Imagine called “Mars 2080.” It will be directed by Eliza McNitt and begin production later this year. The film, which is scheduled to be released theatrically by IMAX in 2022 before moving to a streaming service, focuses on a family resettling on Mars.

It grew out of a breakfast in New York in 2019, where Mr. Wilkes, Mr. Howard and Marc Pritchard, Procter & Gamble’s chief brand officer, discussed technology in the pipeline. The Imagine team later toured Procter & Gamble’s research labs in Cincinnati, seeing examples of its “home of the future” products and meeting its scientists.

Kimberly Doebereiner, the vice president of Procter & Gamble’s future of advertising division, said the company hoped to do more long-form storytelling, like “The Cost of Winning,” the four-part sports documentary its shaving brand Gillette helped produce. It debuted on HBO in November.

“We want to be more interesting so consumers are leaning into our experiences and we’re creating content that they want to see as opposed to messages that are annoying to them,” she said. “Finding a way to have content that is in places where ads don’t exist is definitely one of the reasons why we’re leaning into this.”

It’s all part of a deliberate shift by brands to try to integrate themselves more fully into consumers’ lives, the way companies like Apple and Amazon have, said Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst with Forrester. And they want to do so without commercials, which, he said, have “zero credibility” with consumers.

“If the right story has the right ingredients and it becomes worthwhile for sharing, it doesn’t come across as an intrusive bit of advertising,” Mr. Chatterjee said. “It feels much more like a natural part of our lives.”

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Edited March 7, 2024 by BetterForgotten