View Full Version : How much longer will the soaps last?
I am putting this on the Corrie site as Corrie has been going the longest from the soaps (as far as I know). Corrie has been going for over 40 years, EE for over 20 and so has Emmerdale and Neigbours/H&A etc. Do you think there will be a time when the bell in the Rovers and the Vic and Woolpack will ring for the last time? I hope none of them go the way Brookside did but how many storylines can the scriptwriters come up with to keep the interest of the viewers going? I would be interested in your views.
To my mind they have all gone on far too long already.
I stopped watching soaps a few years ago, and I think that they are a bad habit.
i don't think they'll ever die to be honest, well Emmerdale maybe, Hollyoaks maybe, but definatley not Eastenders and Coronation Street
we're now in the digitial multi channel age and the main two regulary get over 7 million viewers, even when they're not that good!
hollyoaks and emmerdale get a lot less, but the channels are happy with the ratings they produce
the only reason brookside died a death was becuase they kept changing the schedules of it all the time, and when people dont know when to tune in, the ratings are bound to go downhill, then once the interest goes the quality of the show will decrease
but with Eastenders and Corrie always in the top10 shows of the week, there's no way they're going anywhere, not in our lifetime anyway!
I think soaps are the backbone of life.. I don't know anyone who doesn't watch at least one or knows about one... there is a lot of them and if they keep getting viewers, they will keep making them.. Look at reality shows, they keep producing them and getting more and more bizzare but it is car crash tv and won't stop
As long as Five don't stop showing Home and Away then I'm happy :D
the australian ones might not last forever, as their ratings are really low ovee there. Neighbours has had it's fair share of crisis over the past few years and is suffering down under. I can see them pulling the plug on that or Home & Away in the next ten years...
If you look at ratings across Australia though, they are much lower compared to the ratings here. Most shows only average one to two milliion viewers over there.
If Eastenders and Coronation Street don't cut down on their episodes, then they will begin to die a slow death. And when that starts to happen, it will be easy for them to get rid of it all together. Look at Doctor Who. It was one of the top shows around, then they pitted it against Coronation Street, and it got cancelled. No soaps will last forever.
DaVeyWaVey
08-09-2008, 17:49
Soaps are still getting good ratings, even though there are now loads more programmes to choose from on digital TV. Eastenders and Coronation Street in particular, have ratings that is impressive for terrestrial TV nowadays.
I think soaps won't be dying out anytime soon. As old viewers lose interest, new younger viewers will probably take their place and start watching soaps. It's a never ending cycle and are programmes that appeal to a big and wide target audience.
Chris_2k11
08-09-2008, 21:10
I still maintain that Corrie, EastEnders, and Emmerdale have ALL declined in quality over the past few years. I feel Hollyoaks has improved a lot since around 2005 and im not just saying that to be biased cos its my favourite, I genuinely do think its a better show nowadays.
I think Corrie is the only one that will outlive us all. Hollyoaks unforunately due to its unpopularity (ratings wise) I think will be gone in 10-15 years max << no pun intended btw lol
:eek: They cant end. I dont think Corrie and EE will stop, I agree that maybe Emerdale and Hollyoaks could.
Home and away cant stop, in my opinion its the best soap, far better than our english ones!!!!
Oh and the thing about ratings in Austrailia, do they not watch as much TV as us then? :p
I think soaps are the backbone of life.. I don't know anyone who doesn't watch at least one or knows about one... there is a lot of them and if they keep getting viewers, they will keep making them.. Look at reality shows, they keep producing them and getting more and more bizzare but it is car crash tv and won't stop
I know about them, but I no longer watch them at all. None.
As for reality TV - I don't watch BB or ICGMOH or that sort of thing. I admit to watching the X Factor to see if I could see my niece (she was on on Saturday - but not singing, she was sitting beside one of the contestants with a hard luck story looking suitably bored). But I will stop now. I did love Joseph and Maria - but the Nancey program had me switching off too.
I do watch Come Dine with Me, Dragons Den, University Challenge, Stargate (any series), Ghost Whisperer, Private Practice (but I am not too impressed really).
I will probably go back to Desperate Housewives - I have been recording it but haven't had time to watch it yet.
I just don't have time to watch any more TV than I do. I have taken up cycling, I swim, I play tennis, I go to first aid classes, I work full time. I love cooking and I have two teenagers.
Oh and the thing about ratings in Austrailia, do they not watch as much TV as us then? :p
I think its because the population of Australia is only about 21million compared with 60mil in the UK.
Its roughly in proportion to the UK, average soap ratings are about 6-8million viewers, three to four times that of an average Australian soap rating.
Could be due to Australian tv being rubbish too.
But their soaps are good :p
StarsOfCCTV
09-09-2008, 23:30
Yeah australian tv is rubbish :p But it's also because of the climate they're outside most of the time so don't get to watch soaps, or anything else. Australian idol is apparently popular though :lol:
As long as people keep watching soaps they'll still be made. It's all about ratings.
If you look at ratings across Australia though, they are much lower compared to the ratings here. Most shows only average one to two milliion viewers over there.
Exactly, but then if i lived in Australia, i'd be out on the beach everyday not sitting at home watch tv!
Not all of Australia is close to a beach :D
Chloe O'brien
12-09-2008, 14:48
Every programme will end eventually even our favourite ones. Even more now with the change in technology. We no longer have to be sitting in our living rooms at 7.30 to see a programme we can watch it anytime, and because of this viewing figures are dropping week by week. Another factor to consider is that some of the soap casts are getting on in years and the new characters that are joining the soaps don't want to stay in the soap too long.
di marco
13-09-2008, 13:10
i dont think soaps are likely to end any time soon, at least not all of them anyway. i can maybe see the australian soaps, and emmerdale and hollyoaks ending, maybe not yet cos they still have high enough ratings to keep them going, especially as ch4 and ch5 programmes dont get that high a ratings anyway. i think ee and corrie though will carry on as long as people continue to watch tv, i cant see either of them being axed, unless tv as a whole starts to fizzle out. they are quite often the highest rated programmes and so i cant see the producers/channels deciding to just drop them. however, seeing as ratings are so much lower than they were 20yrs ago, i dont see any new soaps being successful if they were tried out
I came across some ratings for autralian TV:
Friday 31st October
1 Better Homes And Gardens Seven 1.284
2 Seven News Seven 1.258
3 Today Tonight Seven 1.161
4 Home And Away Seven 1.043
5 Taggart ABC 0.994m
6 Two And A Half Men Nine 0.979m
7 Nine News Nine 0.973m
8 ABC News ABC 0.920m
9 A Current Affair Nine 0.861m
10 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets Nine 0.843m
M-Sweet Home Alabama Seven 0.505m
Terminator 2: Judgment Day TEN 0.487m
Ice Road Truckers TEN 0.426m
Will & Grace TEN 0.414m
which proves really that they cant really watch a lot of TV as the highest rating is just above 1 million
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