http://www.adweek.com/aw/national/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000694915

What Women Don't Want? Soap Operas
November 01, 2004
By John Consoli


NEW YORK At the start of the 2003-04 fall TV season, the question the networks desperately needed to answer was, Where did all the young male viewers go in prime time? It was a quandary that dogged buyers, sellers and put Nielsen on the defensive. This year, it looks like women will be media buying's big soap opera.

Four weeks into this new fall season, the question is, Where did all the female daytime viewers go? So far, among the three biggest networks, the women 25-54 demographic is down a cumulative 9 percent—13 percent at ABC, 10 percent at CBS and 5 percent at NBC.
Season to date, daytime ratings on the Big Three networks are down a cumulative 13 percent in the daypart's key demographic, women 18-49, spurring concern among advertisers and media agencies who need to target that audience. ABC, CBS and NBC daytime programming has lost a total of 1.2 million viewers in the daypart, compared with the same period in 2003. Ratings are also down 16 percent among women 18-34, and CBS and ABC are showing double-digit ratings declines among women 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

"I do not recall seeing these high levels of ratings decreases in daytime across all the networks at the same time," said Lyle Schwartz, svp and director of media research at WPP Group's Mediaedge:cia. "If these levels of audience declines continue to go forward, the networks are going to have problems meeting certain advertiser needs. There are advertisers who are going to want their makegoods in the fourth quarter, and not wait till next year. If too many advertisers want their makegoods early, it could create problems for the networks."

The pain is spread evenly, as well. Every network daytime soap opera is down in the ratings. Among the biggest decliners in women 18-49 ratings are ABC's One Life to Live, down 23 percent to a 1.7, and General Hospital, down 20 percent to a 2.0; CBS' The Bold and the Beautiful, down 20 percent to a 1.6, Guiding Light, down 19 percent to a 1.3, and As the World Turns, down 18 percent to a 1.4; and NBC's Passions, down 16 percent to a 1.6. Even CBS' top-rated soap, The Young and the Restless, is down 12 percent among women 18-49 to a 2.3, as is NBC's highest-rated soap, Days of Our Lives, down 12 percent to a 2.2 in the demo.

Another media buyer, who asked not to be named, pointed out that NBC-with only two soaps, compared with four on ABC and four on CBS-will have fewer places to offer immediate makegoods and might have to shift advertisers into other dayparts such as prime time. Also, if the networks sold out 85 percent of their daytime ad inventory in the upfront-at $1 billion, it's the second largest daypart next to prime time-and have to use the bulk of the remainder for makegoods, they could be out of sale in the daypart without having brought in any new dollars.

So where have all the women gone? Researchers are as puzzled about this new disappearance as they were with the mystery of last year's missing men. Overall, daytime homes using television (HUT) levels are unchanged from last season. Ad-supported cable ratings are up only 6 percent in the demo. Ratings for pay cable, PBS and syndicated shows are fairly flat.

The one area that is surging among female viewers is independent TV stations, up 38 percent (although off a lower overall viewership base) to a 1.1 from a 0.8.

Concerned about the daytime falloff, Havas media agency MPG contacted Nielsen, which said 90 percent of the independent-station category is comprised of Spanish-language broadcast. But an MPG report on the situation stated, "While [Univision-owned network] Telefutura's ratings have increased significantly in daytime to a 2.1 from a 1.3 among Hispanic women 18-34, Spanish-language networks overall were only up 2 percent in the NHTI sample, hardly sufficient to have such a dramatic effect on the ratings."

Nielsen began weighting the sample for Spanish-language TV at the start of this season, but MPG does not believe that should affect ratings. "Based on demonstration data provided, the weighting should not have resulted in such significant changes," said the report. Both Mediaedge:cia and MPG have asked Nielsen to further investigate the situation.

Like the networks give a f-ck about anyone over 21. If they did, maybe their shows wouldn't be pure crap.

Maybe 'we' just turned off our tv sets and left town! Bored to death.

Women want love and romance and not the women on the show protrayed as moron or to stupid to live.

Soaps were once about love, and family in the afternoon. One hour plays, that had emotion at the center.

Now, they are just hollow shells of their former selves. The emotional centers of these shows have long since died. Killed by idiots who don't have a freaking clue about what women want.

Also viewers are not all morons, most can want actors who can act, not underwear models prancing around shirtless all the time, and incapable of acting if their lives depended on it.

Most viewers want character driven stories, not shock, gimmick plots. Most viewers have IQs about turnips and remember show history and are not ignorant to blatant inconsistencies or ridiculous plots and situations.

In the past TPTB listened more to the fans. If actors were not working they recast the parts, or got rid of the characters. If couples were not working they would try new combinations or just get rid of one or both of the characters. Now they do as they please, and seem to purposeful do the opposite of what the fans want, and promote the characters and couples they want as opposed to what the fans want.

I'm just a middle-aged nobody. I watch daytime tv to escape. I want romance, not sex. Characters who are both wise and flawed. Plots that make sense. Clues that actually lead somewhere. Adventure. Pathos. Laughter. Celebrations. Families that stick up for each other. Friends who really care. Give me an occassional murder or affair. But PLEASE don't kill the whole town or have them sleeping with each other like they won somebody's name in a lottery.

I live in a large city where people cut off private parts and illegal aliens are held as slaves. The streets flood and the pollution is terrible. I hear enough BAD all day every day.

I don't have cable right now, but if it did I would guarantee you I would be searching for old movies instead of watching DOOL.

Yeah, big surprise.

Do they even know what women want? I don't think so. Have they watched their own shows? I don't think so.

Instead of stories about families, love & romance with realistic, complex and layered characters, we are subjected to endless triangles, backburnered vets, cheap & meaningless sex, no emotion, no sense of family, cardboard characters, endless plot gimmicks, endless talentless models instead of actors who can emote, endless teens, no character distinction, and horrible B-movie dialogue. As if that wasn't enough, now they've morphed DAYS into some kind of freakish mix of Gilligan's Island, and 60's Batman. It's a cartoon. It's pure garbage.

But, hey, I'm not 12. I'm 29, and therefore I just don't count. Whatever. Why torture myself? I just stopped taping. I just don't bother anymore. It never gets better. It's not like the writers, producers, & networks haven't heard all of this before a million times. I've hung on long enough. That's it. I'm done. I have other things that I have to do, and yes, that includes shopping.

The funniest part is that if you read interviews with Corday, the HeadHack, or the HeadSuit, they always blame something or somebody else, and never themselves. Women are the problem. It's their fault they don't tune in to watch a drama so bad that it borders on comedy. We should just suck-up whatever BS their poison pens spew out. Yeah, ok, whatever, I don't think so.

I am not surprised about the decline, but I think I am surprised that the networks are noticing.

A big ditto to most everything said above. I feel in love with shows that showed a emotion and a little escapism (no one worried about paying the mortgage not the sci-fi bit, I like sci-fi, but not on my soaps).

I am getting tired of seeing women being portrayed badly. For instance, Hope. She was a police officer long before Bo ever joined the force (granted she was away longer too.) Now, Bo acts like she can't take care of herself at all. He didn't trust Patrick, but he told Patrick to make sure Hope got back to Roman and to tell Roman to make her stay put. For crying out loud, I'd put my money on Hope over Bo getting out of a situation safely, not to mention that the Bo I remember knew that he and Hope were better as a team.

I miss my soap.

Frankly, I would have written a post pretty much verbatim to yours!! I'm BEYOND frustrated. I'm tired of being patient. I'm tired of "hanging in there" for the sake of the show. Where have THEY been for us the last six years? They abandoned everyone over the age of 21--actors and viewers alike. It became all about the kids. Frankly, that's what many people are trying to escape from (OK, not me, but you get the gist). If the beast known as Shelle hadn't been on almost constantly, and hadn't been shoved down our throats as the "golden couple" or "money couple", it might have been more bearable. Even if they were peripheral instead of front and center every day, I could have sucked it up. But that's not the way it went down.

After enduring years of trials and tribulations of 15 year olds, then high school "last blast" dances, Dot.Com, Hartley House, days of the week panties and virginity debates, many of our beloved vets that we were "hanging on" were axed--both figuratively and literally. It's just gotten worse from there. The cage storyline? HORRIBLE. No Matt Ashford, Suzanne Rogers, Bill Hayes? Killing off Stefano DiMera and having Tony presumed dead AGAIN? Ridiculous. Day after day of people falling into ravines, hanging on vines, etc? Redundant. Weeks and weeks of repetitive pinings from Belle on whether to have sex? A deal breaker.

I'm done too. I've had it. I've watched since 1988, and I'm in the beloved demographic they want so much, but I'm tired of the kid pandering and the laziness of the writing. I'm sick of waiting for these people to get their act together. A writer who prides himself on pissing off viewers can only expect so much loyalty. I have my limits, and I'm there right now.

Women don't want storylines that last for years. We have lives and don't have time to see the same old story that never ends. If you don't watch for a year and return the next, you probably won't be missing much.

Since when do the networks care about anyone not in the 12-17 demographic? Did hell freeze over, and I missed it?

ITA with everything that has been said. There isn't much more to add except my opinion concerning Mr. Corday. I've read some of his interviews. For some reason, he is laboring under the delusion that knowing what the fans want, and then doing the opposite is in someway a good thing. And they wonder why they can't keep viewers, or attract new ones! Ha! Morons!

I really am beginning to suspect that they want to alienate any viewer who actually thinks. That way they can have a bunch of teen fans who know nothing about the history of the show and have no emotional attachments to characters and couples, or people who just lap up any garabage they are served. Fans who actually have watched, who actually care about the show, and who actually have brains are liabilities since they actually complain and are not blind sycophants cheering on anything TIIC do.

Bwha!

Women didn't leave soaps, the soaps left women. Some soaps, like Y&R, and AMC have fared a bit better in quality (unlike DOOL), but none of them are of the same quality as they were 10-15 years ago.

I think the real problem is that the networks have no idea what women want to watch. Instead of love in the afternoon, we get Reilly's slash-and-hack trash, the never-ending castaway saga, never-ending triangles, or the boy in the cage. The stories that centered on family, love, and relationships in general, are gone. They've disappeared right along with the viewers, but the networks just don't see it, or they just don't care.

Ahh, well. It doesn't matter because they won't change a thing. They will continue to write masochistic, misogynistic, campy, and tawdry trash, and more viewers will finally give up hope that their show will improve, and tune out for good. In the end, they will only have themselves to blame.