Daytime Soap Opera Spoilers

From LoveToKnow Soap-Operas

Daytime soap opera spoilers run the gamut from who will be nominated for a Daytime Emmy to what actor will return to a favorite soap opera to what character will be recast? Is Erica going to get back together with Jackson? What will happen when Michael wakes up on General Hospital? Will Ashley and Victor finally be happy?

Is Stephanie's involvement in Ridge's love life creepy?

About Daytime Soap Opera Spoilers

Daytime soap operas have been airing daily for over three quarters of a century. They began on radio and transitioned to the small screen. Fans ranging from housewives and stay at home moms to college students and more will tune in daily to find out what will happen next. Soap operas market themselves based on the cliffhanger, the need to tune in and find out what will happen.

Spoilers cater to that demographic by teasing what will happen, sneak peaking it, scooping it and sometimes, just plain making it up based on wishful thinking. Spoilers get people to log into websites, buy magazines, scan commercials and even watch the ‘coming next’ that tails every modern day soap opera. The ‘next time’ feature is a relatively new one in soap opera time, designed to hook the viewer into tuning in the next day in case they might have planned to do something else.

Spoilers Hurt Daytime Television

Soap operas earn profit for their networks through commercial placement and advertising. When ratings decline on soap operas, the amount of money they can charge for their advertising spots also declines. In the mid-1990s, the real life sensational trial of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife and her friend took over the airwaves for months on end. Soap operas were either bumped to late into the night or off the air altogether. When soaps returned after the trial, ratings dropped off sharply.

Experts argued that in the three plus months that the OJ Simpson trial dominated the airwaves, daytime viewers found something else to do with their time. Cable television was now in every home and the Internet rapidly became a must-have for every home owner. Soap opera fan sites cropped up, providing fans on the West Coast with East Coast synopsis. In some areas, All My Children and the Young and the Restless ran a day or two ahead of other areas. Fans posting those synopses provided spoilers for fans elsewhere.

Websites grew to provide fans with interviews, news bytes, videos and spoilery speculation along with message boards. Daytime message boards provided one of the single greatest resources for fans to communicate with each other, share spoilers and learn what would happen on their soap opera long before the scenes aired.

Jaded Fans

Daytime soap opera spoilers create jaded daytime fans. Fans could see what was coming and tune in or tune out. Storyline speculation and ‘haters’ could create a negative atmosphere that turned some fans off. The growth of the TIVO and DVR markets coupled with Internet television in the early part of the 21st century contributed to the continuing decline of the soap opera genre.

Since 1995, seven daytime soap operas have gone off the air. As of 2009, only seven daytime soap operas remain in production: three on CBS, one on NBC and three on ABC.

Generations - Ended in 1991
Santa Barbara - Ended in 1993
Loving - Ended in 1995
The City - Ended in 1997
Another World - Ended in 1999
Sunset Beach - Ended in 1999
Port Charles - Ended in 2003
Passions - Ended 2008
Guiding Light - Ended 2009

Fans should tune in to watch their favorite soap operas on a regular basis to help prevent their soap operas from joining the annals of soap opera history as a canceled show.

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