ALL: Speculation on the Future of Successful Daytime Soap Operas

[Tisy-Lish]

It seems daytime soap operas have been producing fewer new episodes for the past several years.  Nowadays, we get a rerun of nearly every soap opera on all major holidays, plus Beyond the Gates recently broadcast an entire week of reruns in early July (for no apparent reason, and with no explanation).  Does anyone think perhaps TPTB in daytime are preparing the audience for even fewer new episodes per year in the future?  Is it possible in the future, daytime soaps might cut-down to four episodes per week (Monday through Thursday)?  Or perhaps going even further -- start taking a three-month hiatus and show reruns during the entire summer -- similar to primetime dramas? 

And is the fairly recent use of the term "seasons" in regard to daytime soaps meaningful or important in any way? Less than a decade ago in television, the term "seasons" was used almost exclusively for prime time shows.  And nearly all daytime shows used the term "years." But now, all the soaps are referring to "seasons" rather than years.   Just a couple of examples:  In 2024 or 2025, the soap press reported Days of Our Lives was renewed for a new season on Peacock.  And Beyond the Gates was recently given the green-light for a second season on CBS.  Just a few years ago, in both of those cases (and many others), the term "year(s)" would have been used rather than "season(s)."  This might not be a big deal or important in the least, but the pushing of the term "seasons" onto daytime does seem deliberate to me, and not just a simple evolving of the language. Not sure it is meaningful but certainly noticeable.  

So these are a couple of topics to think about in this new discussion thread, where we can speculate on the future of successful daytime soap operas.   I'd enjoy hearing the opinions and speculations of other soap opera fans. Since everything here will be speculation (educated speculation, I hope), there can be no right or wrong.  

Edited July 23 by Tisy-Lish

[Paul Raven]

I think introducing proper 'themed' flashback days or weeks could be an effective way to cut down in producing new episodes.

A bit like the tribute eps Y&R do for milestone anniversaries.

Properly promoted I think they could hold viewer interest. Maybe 4 Wednesdays in a particular month. eg This month every Wed we're looking back at the lives and loves of Nick Newman or

Tomorrow on BTG its Danni day looking back at her triumphs and tragedies etc

Either/or characters/actors reminiscing about certain storylines.

Although it would be more expensive to produce than a straight repeat, surely less expense than a new episode.

 

[Tisy-Lish]

Interesting thoughts.  Well, Y&R is certainly not too proud to reach way back for old scenes. or even occasionally entire very old entire episodes.  And those are often wonderful to see in 2025. But the other soaps seem either unwilling or unable (lack of old tapes) to use that very old cherished material.   

I love your term, "properly promoted."  because if a soap is going to do a tribute episode for a particular actor/character, or even a full week of old episodes -- it should be promoted loud and proud -- not sheepishly and ashamedly slipped into the schedule as if no one is supposed to notice.   

[Faulkner]

I’m just looking at what’s happening in late night right now, with Colbert’s show ending (beyond the Trump/merger approval factor—it’s well established the show was bleeding tens of millions of dollars), the late-late shows getting axed, Seth Meyers losing his band, and Fallon, Kimmel, and others cutting down to four nights a week. Seems like a sign that the networks are bracing for further contraction.

If this holds, it could eventually reach other dayparts too, including daytime. With younger audiences barely acknowledging the broadcast networks outside of live events and ad dollars shrinking, the incentives now point toward fewer originals, lower costs, and tighter schedules.

Beyond the Gates didn’t lose much steam during that rerun week. There was some dip, but nothing dramatic. That alone makes the idea worth considering. Still, we’re creatures of habit, and soaps are built on consistency. If too many days go by without new episodes, people fill the gap with something else. The older viewers—the ones who watch every day—would notice and complain. I see a lot of comments from people who live alone and treat these shows as part of their daily routine, like checking in with family. Even the ones who say Y&R is mind-numbingly boring still tune in because it’s familiar.

A primetime-style schedule wouldn’t hold up for this audience. You’d also run into trouble on the production side. If you cut down the episode count, actors and writers may start picking up other projects. That’s when you lose people. Slowly at first, but permanently.

[Michael]

I do think there could be something to, like, doing four original episodes a week (M-Th) and then using Friday as a recap show of the week, maybe with a deleted scene thrown in or an interview clip or something. If it were to come to the point of wanting to reduce episode orders, that is.

[Ryanc2]

I actually like that idea of a recap episode weekly. CBS needs to reach out to Ali on YRChat from YouTube. She’s always enthusiastic about the show even when the show sucks a**. She’s just the type of person who would hype up the show for them week after week

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She has been recapping Y&R every WEEK since 2008. 

[Maxim]

Bold constantly recaps everything. In fact... you can even say that we only get 5-6 new episodes a month and the rest is constant lazy rehashing of what happened. Constant... to ad nauseum. You can stop watching for 2 weeks and go into the show very easily. This to me... is very underwhelming and boring storytelling. I want the genre to evolve into something better... not degrade. I don't know... 

[cityfan01]

Didn’t ABCD do something like this before they cut AMC/OLTL? Weren’t they doing something called Flashback Friday or am I making that up in my head? 

[cody_1990]

I definitely think the ending of Colbert should be a warning for soap fans. Politics aside, the networks are obviously willing to cancel shows that are losing money regardless of legacy. While we have no reports soaps are a financial burden for networks at this time, I can imagine the time may come. 
 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/global-advertising-revenue-1-trillion-linear-tv-decline-1236079668/  

This report from December says by 2029 streaming will have overtaken networks for the majority of ad dollars. Most linear tv is struggling now, imagine then. I suspect Days will get one more year renewal until 2027, just because the show is currently Peacocks second most streamed original, but if NBCU leans more into live events and films for streaming and cuts peacocks programming budget, I can honestly see them cutting Days, especially since they don’t own the show. B&B and Y&R are both renewed until 2028, if 2029 hits linear tv like expected, I could see cuts or cancellations by 2030. GH and BTG same. Will any of these show move to streaming permanently? I could see it but possibly with cuts to runtime and episode counts. And they will have to probably move to a Days production model, filming months in advance. Y&R and GH have the biggest online presence along with Days, so it will be interesting to see if they can last past their network runs. 

[DRW50]

I don't know if any soap fan would be surprised. Soaps like OLTL were canceled even though they supposedly came in under budget. Most of the legacy soaps are long gone. The only thing keeping some on the air now is not legacy, but that the alternatives were nowhere near as successful or profitable as CBS or ABC had anticipated.

I wouldn't be surprised if all the soaps are gone within 5 years, although I don't know how many of us will be here in 5 years either the way things are these days, to be honest.

I do think a new and ugly turn is the anti-DEI obsession that is being put through everywhere with brute force. I would not be surprised if this is used to go after or get rid of Beyond the Gates.

Skydance Tells FCC Paramount Eliminated DEI, Pledges to Appoint CBS Ombudsman

Edited July 24 by DRW50

[Errol]

We need to kill this rumor/lore. If OLTL were under budget, it would have lost money for subsequent years in terms of the budget. The show was within budget, not under. What killed the show was that it and AMC were down significantly in the key demos compared to previous quarters, so the decision was made to cancel, particularly as ABC Daytime was dealing with the loss of ad dollars due to the housing crisis that led to the economic crisis.

The ratings OLTL had just before the cancellation announcement are confusing people, giving them the idea that OLTL was doing well on the network. By the time those numbers started to grow, the decision was already made. Plus, there's no evidence that the ratings would have stayed on the upswing had the network decided to reverse course.

All the above said, I want to be clear I'm not calling you out @DRW50. I'm just calling out the OLTL part in terms of budget.

[Errol]

I do not anticipate Fridays being dumped for soap original episodes like I once thought they might do in years past, likely programming Fridays with different types of content. I say that because currently Fridays remain a viable day for the soaps, with fans tuning in for Cliffhanger Friday again. It's odd.

Late night lost the fight for Friday because their hosts kept asking for more money and more vacation time. See Kimmel.

[Michael]

Thanks for the additional insights, Errol.

One benefit of Days shifting to streaming has been that they aren't beholden to such exact episode lengths. We've gotten a few 45-minute-plus episodes since the move, but sometimes they're as short as 31-32 minutes. I think that CAN benefit the shows both creatively and financially.

[dragonflies]

Errol it also doesn't help that Kassie DePaiva did an interview a few days ago saying OLTL was doing well and that the cancellation made no sense 

[Contessa Donatella]

No, never happened. You're not perhaps thinking of "A Daytime to Remember"? when ABC filled the time before a new half hour show at midday failed with reruns of classic ABC soaps?

Chris Goutman & Barbara Bloom talked about their idea that soap fans did not have enough interest in soaps anymore to do 5 hours per week, suggesting, 4 per week instead. I'm not convinced they had any intel to show that this was #1 needed or #2 would be effective. I do know that later Bloom claimed to have run the numbers every possible way & always came up with ratings dropping, inevitably. Of course, generally speaking that is what happened, across the board, not just daytime.

It has nothing really per se to do with soaps. It has to do with the Nielsens themselves & people's changing viewing habits. If you look at the numbers in the 60s & 70s, it is obvious that the broadcast networks have been facing a foregone conclusion. 

One thing that is interesting to me is that many people took a very pessimistic view when we reached the point of having only 4 soaps on the air. There were many dire predictions that we would be totally soapless in x number of years, etc. And, that did not happen. That to me is a point of realistic optimism, although I don't think anyone understand why. However, Bielby & Bielby's classic "All hits are flukes." probably still is as true now as then since what will or won't succeed is hardly scientifically known. 

Edited July 24 by Contessa Donatella