Why Are Soap Operas Continuing to Lose Ratings?

There was a time when there were twelve soap operas on the three major networks. Now with the soon to be cancel Passions, there will only be eight soap operas left on the major networks. In the last five years all the soap operas have suffered a ratings decline. I will look at the reasons why there is such a ratings decline and I will also look at ways that the soaps can regain their former glory.

There are several reasons why the ratings have gone down for soap operas in the last several years. First, with more people working, especially women, which is who soap operas were originally aim toward, people just don't have the time to sit and watch their favorite shows during the day.

Another reason for the ratings decline, is when soap operas originally made their television debut, there were only a few channels on television. The soaps did not have much competition in their time slots, except against each other. Today, people can select from over 200 channels, and have many different options of what they can watch on television.

Back in 1995, when the O.J. Simpson trail was all over the television, the soap operas were preempted due to the trail. Because of the length of the trail and all the preemptions, people begin to do other things with their time. Once the trail was over and the soap operas return to their regular schedule, some of their fans had lost interest in the soaps, and soap operas have continue to struggle to regain their old fan base.

Soap operas are also losing viewers because some of the storylines are either way over the top or just not very interesting. Soap operas are now working with a smaller budget, so they are also firing some of their veteran actors, who have been with their respective shows for years, and who had many fans who have been invested in their characters for years.