How Long Can Daytime Soaps Survive?

Are you a fan of soap operas? Millions of men, women, and teenagers are. Whether you enjoy watching General Hospital, All My Children, One Life to Live, The Young and The Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Guiding Light, As the World Turns, Passions or Days of Our Lives, you may have noticed a few changes over the past few years. These changes may be causing you and other views concern. How much longer will daytime soaps be able to survive? The answer is impossible to predict, but the hints being dropped are shocking.

One of the most noticeable changes in today's soap operas is the elimination of veterans. Veterans, also referred to as vets, are soap stars who have been in the business for a long time, many as long as thirty or forty years. These individuals are rapidly disappearing from our screens. The individuals in charge are making the decision to go with newer, younger stars. One of the reasons for this is budgetary reasons. As the popularity of daytime soaps slowly decreases, so do the ratings. Advertisers take notice of this and are pulling their commercials from the daytime television time slots or offering less money for their advertisements. This has led many daytime soap opera producers to believe that they cannot afford their veterans stars. Unfortunately, many do not realize this very act is what is costing them fans.