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I have been looking at the ratings for the remaining daytime dramas that are on the air and something occured to me - although I may be wrong about the actual viewing figures, so apologies if I am.
I was looking at cancelled shows such as AW, PC, SB and others that were cancelled back in the 1980's and it seems to me that some if not all had higher ratings than the ones that are still in existence - certainly higher than GL and maybe a few of the others that are now at the bottom of the ratings.
I am relieved that these shows are still on but I just wondered if anyone could say why the shows were cancelled when the networks are still showing faith with the remaining 8 shows on air - I thought it could be for sentimental reasons as AW must have been on the air for over 30 years when it was cancelled.
I am very pleased the 8 shows remain but wonder why the others were axed.
Also, does anyone think that any of the cancelled shows will ever been resurrected?
I come from the UK and we have had countless soaps over the years but in 2001, a soap that had been axed in 1988 was revived with some of the original cast - it was axed again a couple of years later but this has never been done before or since.
Just wondered if anyone thought this was a possibility with american daytime?
Also, as well as ratings erosion with more channeIs; which is a problem we have in the UK, I have read that the american youth dont watch daytime.
I just wondered why this is - do they see it as being an old fashioned genre? In Britain, soaps - and programmes from all other genres have seen their ratings decrease due to there being more choice of channels and the new media available such as the internet, but although the ratings are lower, there are still all ages watching the UK soaps.
If the youth arent watching US daytime is there a way of enticing them back?
But at the same time Y&R has been the Number 1 rated show for YEARS. I think the main problem is that the soaps retread their plots so often that they have become too predictable, and move slowly. You can in some cases tune out for months and some of the plots have either been dropped, or the storyline hasn't progressed. Passions was supposed to be a different kind of soap geared directly to the yothful audience, but it limped along for years moved to Direct TV which alot of peoplke don't subscribe to, and was eventually cancelled. One thing that woul d help all soaps is some new blood writers. Most of the shows fire 1 head writer only to have then be rehired at another soap. In most cases they carry the old storylines in one form or the other on to their new show. I wonder if anything can be done at this point. And with the actors saleries being cut, and new faces that are cheaper being hired to replace them, you do have to wonder where all of this is going. Just my opinion...
I think Y&R continues to be #1 because it has so much of what soap fans want. Good stories, good pace (not too fast - you can miss a day and not be lost, and not too slow - they aren't still telling the same plot two months later), and most importantly the same actors (this allows for flashbacks to years or decades ago which I love). When they do have to recast, they take their time so that the audience starts to recognize the character (they also do an excellent job of casting new actors who look like the old actor to make that easier).I tuned in to ATWT about a week ago, and it was like I was watching a different show. NuMaddie and NuCasey were discussing "their" past relationship. NuLucy was talking to NuAlison about NuJohnny and NuCraig. NuJade came on and talked to NuLilly and NuBonnie. I was seriously confused for the entire hour. It gave me a headache trying to remember what these characters used to look like when they used to know each other so I could catch up to what they were talking about. If Lucy was only going to be around for three episodes, couldn't they have gotten one of the actresses who played her before to do a guest shot? When Traci shows up on Y&R, it's still Traci, even for the day. Kay's funeral had such an impact because the characters we've missed were played by the actors that made us love them.
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I don't have many answers for you, but I do have one. Yes, many soaps were cancelled with higher ratings than - say GL - has now. However, the average soap opera rating was higher than even Y&R gets now. Just ten or so years ago, a 4.0 rating would put you in the middle of the pack so if you came close to a 2.0 rating you were history. Now, Y&R struggles to stay in the high 3. and many shows (GL, DOOL, ATWT) would kill for a 2.0. The only thing I can think for where the soap viewers are going has to do with our lifestyles now. Many of us were introduced to our soaps by an older family member. (And many of us had no choice - there was one tv and if you wanted to watch it you had to watch what the older member watched - now every house has multiple tv's with hundreds of other choices). TV doesn't seem to be a "group event" with the entire family sitting around watching a show together anymore. Also, when there was only three channels, there was nothing else to watch in the summer so the soaps got many younger viewers by default.