Soap Operas Development - Essay Example

?Running Head: Soap Operas Soap Operas [Institute’s Introduction To begin with, Irna Phillips spent most of her career as a staff writer on a daytime soap opera but her big break through came somewhere in the summer of the year 1930 when she pitched the idea of a daytime serial, titled “Painted Dreams”, to her network bosses at WGN in Chicago. She acquired the permission to go forward with the project, which was a huge success, but more importantly, it emerged as the first daytime soap opera in the American history (Mumford, 1995, p. 78). Particularly, Irna Phillips is credited with the creation of several other soap opera, that featured on radio and television, such as Guiding Light, Young Dr, Malone, The Brighter Day, These are My Children, As the World Turns, Our Private World and Love is a Many Splendored Thing and several others. These ongoing serials, which first appeared on radio and later on television, were called “soap operas” because the leading soap manufacturers such as P&G, Lever Brothers, Colgate and others were the major advertisers, producers and financers of these soap operas (Katzman, 1972, p. 210). By the 1930s, most of the networks and advertisers were realising the potential and the size of the daytime market, as most men would spend their daytime on their job and children would spend most of the morning and afternoon at school and playing outside, which left the women and homemakers as an enormous untapped market (Baym, 1996, p. 149). Soap operas provided these networks to tap into this market and attract the advertisers since these women made most of the important purchasing decisions in their homes. Furthermore, with the advent of television and its widespread distribution and use in industrialised and modern economies, advertisers began to focus on developing soap operas on television and it is on television that the genre of soap opera has developed and nurtured (Nariman & Rogers, 1993, p. 152). This paper will make a brief attempt at exploring and analysing the development and evolution of soap operas in the global television industry with highlighting the significant and noteworthy changes that have taken place over the past few decades in terms of the format and content of soap operas. Discussion For the most part, a crucial defining element of soap operas has been its open-ended narrative nature, where the story line has the potential to go into so many directions. Every episode ends in such a way that it does need to explicitly run a ticker saying, “To be continued” because the viewers easily infer that the story will move on to several upcoming episodes. A soap opera may have several parallel story lines, which may intersect with each other and shape each other. Soap opera are least likely to bring all of their storylines to conclusion during the show and even if one storyline moves towards its conclusion, the other storyline is likely to take its place (Nariman & Rogers, 1993, p. 152). During the early years, when the soap operas represented stage plays and theatre settings, the actors relied heavily on blocking techniques. Every now and then, during conservations between characters, one character would suddenly change his or her direction so that they could both face the camera or the stage at the same time (Matelski, 1988, p. 37). The conversation or dialogue delivery, which takes place in such a setting, is not at all realistic but this was a technique which was heavily relied upon during the early years when most of the soap operas were shot in live format. The same does not apply to soap operas and television dramas of today, whether they are using single camera or multi camera format (Liebes & Livingstone, 1998, p. 68). During much of the 1940s-1960s, many of the soap operas never left interior settings or were shot in fictional settings of Midwestern midsized towns. Furthermore, since most of the early actors that took part in these soap opera were theatre actors, the focus remained on live broadcasting in order to provide a feeling of stage play. However, with the passage of time, shows began to leave the interior confinements of their sets and incorporated real exterior locations for shootings, allowing them to demonstrate more credibility (Bielby & Harrington, 2005, p. 391). During the mid 20th century, personal relationships, family drama, sexual lives, emotional and moral conflicts remained the centre of storylines of these soap opera. Most of their scripts were based on the topics such as romance, family life, marriages, marital discord, legal drama and other topics; however, in the recent past, many soap operas have incorporated themes related to supernatural beings, action, suspense, thrillers, adventure and others (Lavin, 1995, p. 80). Some might call the same as innovation and creativity, but the fact is that many American soap operas are branching out to newer and unorthodox themes and storylines because they are trying extremely hard to attract new viewers and retain their existing viewers in a highly competitive business environment. Nevertheless, the available evidence suggests that these new themes have done little to maintain viewership and ratings and in fact, such storylines have alienated the core market of soap operas, middle aged working or non working women (Ford, et al., 2011, p. 557). Competitive pressures have also forced the network owners and soap opera producers to focus more deeply on exploring and analysing consumer opinions and behaviours. This has increased the use of focus groups for examining the opinions of customers about existing shows and gathering new ideas for future projects (Baym, 1996, p. 149). However, several fundamental loopholes in the focus groups as a research method render much of this exercise as les fruitful than expected or anticipated. The focus group offers too small of a sample to generalise the opinions of the viewers about an existing and since the customers never really know what they “actually and really” want in a show, they end misguiding the researchers about the design and layout of shows (Matelski, 1988, p. 37). However, for the most part, the soaps that have been produced in Britain differ from the US soaps in the regard that they are more likely to focus on the middle class common people with conversations taking place in public settings and realistic scenario (Mumford, 1995, p. 78). On the other hand, in an attempt to attract the attention of the upper middle class and upper class segment of the society or the people who aspire strongly to reach that income class, American soap operas are prone to focus on storyline involving Riche Rich characters with money and finances as no issue. They remain highly disconnected and disconnected with the daily struggles of the common man and instead, tell the story of families and people who have achieved the American Dream (Bielby & Harrington, 2005, p. 391). Furthermore, American soap operas have failed to evolve from their extensive focus on creating and promoting their super couples or power couples. Since most of the daytime soap operas move forward with romantic themes or storyline, they keep their viewers hinged to the television through ensuring that the super couple goes through a never ending cycle of getting together and breaking up. This couple would continue to love each other despite the enormous challenges that might be in their way (Ford, et al., 2011, p. 557). For several years, the “tag” remained a defining characteristic of US daytime soap opera. Tag refers to a pregnant pause given between conversations in an attempt to build up suspense while the camera closes-in on the character that is expected to provide a response and the music further amplifies the suspense (Mumford, 1995, p. 78). However, the character never delivers that dialogue; instead, the soap takes a commercial break or the soap changes the storyline. Tag became a trademark of soap opera; something, which also remained the centre of mockery and comedy when critics expressed their disdain for soap opera story delivering format. Although, tag still remains the a major element of screenplay in the soap operas from Latin America, South Asia and several other developing countries of the world, many US, UK, Australia and Canada-based soap opera have been able to move away from this feature (Geraghty, 1991, p. 42). Since the 1980s, after realising the potential revenue streams that could be generated from reruns, most of the soap operas from the past began to rerun on other broadcast networks but rarely on their parent networks. Furthermore, in the recent past, realizing the high costs associated with developing and producing new soap operas, many networks are using successful soap operas aired in other countries and dubbing them into the local languages with acquiring the rights from the parent networks. The same creates a win-win situation in a declining soap opera industry (Ford, et al., 2011, p. 557). As mentioned later in the paper as well, that during the 1980s and 1990s, soap opera producers realized that with changing demographics and more women working outside their homes, their core market is drifting away. In an attempt to sustain their revenue streams, they began to target the teenage children and more youthful audience (Liebes & Livingstone, 1998, p. 68). However, in order to tap into this market segment, they had to create more charismatic, attractive, seductive and powerful characters with extensive focus on appearance, glamour, fashion sense and physical beauty. Many Australian, Indian and UK based soap operas have tried to appeal to this niche segment, however, with the passage of time; they have found it difficult and troublesome to retain these viewers as they are the most responsive to the growing use of internet and mobile phones (Nariman & Rogers, 1993, p. 152). For decades, soap opera have been perceived as “chewing gun for the eyes” by its critics, who regard them as distracting, wasteful, harmful and corrupting the thoughts and minds of thousands of people. The people addicted to soap operas also receive similar criticism for being addicted to this senseless form of entertainment (Baym, 1996, p. 149). Over the years, the common stereotype associated with soap opera lovers has been that they are likely to women or less effeminate men, less literate, emotionally and socially deprived people, with nothing more productive than tuning into their favourite soap opera at a specific time of the day or week. These women were perceived to be using these soaps to have a temporary escape from their boring and mundane routines. These women are perceived to be using these soap operas for constant advice on their personal matters. However, experts and critics no longer share the perception for several reasons (Bielby & Harrington, 2005, p. 391). A very significant development that has taken place over the past years is that now soap operas do not merely serve the purpose of entertainment but many have moved forward to “entertainment-education” with focus on educating the audiences about social issues. From teenage marriage to personal bankruptcy, from domestic abuse to substance abuse and from family planning and reproductive health to HIV/Aids, these soap operas create characters with model positive or negative role models regarding these issues (Nariman & Rogers, 1993, p. 152). Unlike short films and documentaries, these soap operas, which air in primetime television slots, are able to reach the intended audience. Furthermore, since soap operas usually run for extended periods, the viewers able to form closer bonds and emotional attachments with these characters, which in turn increases the possibility of the lessons learned from these soap operas to influence their judgments and decisions (Liebes & Livingstone, 1998, p. 68). It was in the early 1980s that the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi invited a famous Mexican soap opera writer, Sabdio to develop the first ever soap opera for India viewers. It was called “Hum Log” (We People), which drew an average viewership of over 50 million people. More importantly, in an India deeply divided with racial and caste differences, the show was able to openly discuss issues that were regarded as taboo within the Indian society (Lavin, 1995, p. 80; Baym, 1996, p. 149). Evidence about the influence of soap operas on the general population, especially women came up during the 1970s but the evidence was only theoretical in nature. Even the empirical evidence lacked credibility and reliability as the samples were not large enough to permit generalisations. However, in the recent past, many credible and reliable studies conducted by several NGOs and research organisations have conclusively proven this link. For example, research proved that women who watched Ethiopian soap operas, “Yeken Kignet” and “Dhimbibbawomen” demanded contraceptives; research revealed that demand for contraceptives increased by more than 157 percent (Ford, et al., 2011, p. 557). Conclusion Nevertheless, at least, in the United States, considering the soap opera viewership ratings, it is apparent that the soap operas are in decline since the past couple of decades. The demographics and dynamics of the core target market of these soap opera, which are women, have changed significantly (Mumford, 1995, p. 78). Most women no longer prefer to stay in their homes during the day, but they are most likely to work, and even if they do not work, they are likely to keep themselves occupied with going out or engaging in other leisure activities. Furthermore, soap operas are expensive for the networks and as their ratings decline, networks are looking considering talk shows or game shows as more profitable options for daytime programming. Several leading daytime soap operas, some of which have been on television for more than four decades, such as “All My Children”, “One Life to live”, “Guiding Light” and others have been cancelled during 2009-2011, in the aftermath of the recessionary environment in the United States. In an attempt to capture the lost market share and appeal to the new generation of viewers, some soap operas have even ventured into the mobile phone soap opera industry, where soap operas are produced specifically for mobile phones. Similarly, there are shows that are being produced primarily for the internet viewers. Surprisingly enough, the same is not true for the soap operas that are presented in countries such as South Asian, Southeast Asian and Latin American countries because the soap opera industry is still booming and enjoying the growth stage (Geraghty, 1991, p. 42). However, it would be premature to conclude that the soap opera industry will eventually fade away. Soap opera industry has a long history of trial and error as more than one hundred and fifty soap operas have come and gone on American television since the year 1952. Soap opera producers and networks are learning that the only formula to survive in this declining industry is to ensure better partnerships and mergers along with disruptive innovation to try new business models as the same will provide the industry to reduce costs and streamline its operations (Lavin, 1995, p. 80). References Baym, N. K. 1993. Interpreting soap operas and creating community: Inside a computer-mediated fan culture. Journal of Folklore Research, Volume 30, No. 2/3, pp. 143-176. Bielby, D. D., & Harrington, C. L. 2005. Opening America? The telenovela-ization of US soap operas. Television & New Media, Volume 6, No. 4, pp. 383-399. Ford, S., Kosnik, A. D., & Harrington, C. E. 2011. The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era. Univ. Press of Mississippi. Geraghty, C. 1991. Women and soap opera: a study of prime time soaps. Vol. 16. Cambridge: Polity Press. Katzman, N. 1972. Television soap operas: What's been going on anyway? Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 36, No. 2, pp. 200-212. Lavin, M. 1995. Creating consumers in the 1930s: Irna Phillips and the radio soap opera. Journal of Consumer Research, pp. 75-89. Liebes, T., & Livingstone, S. 1998. European Soap Operas: the Diversification of a Genre. European journal of communication, Volume 13, No. 2, pp. 147-180. Matelski, M. J. 1988. The soap opera evolution: America's enduring romance with daytime drama. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. Mumford, L. S. 1995. Love and ideology in the afternoon: Soap opera, women, and television genre. Indiana University Press. Nariman, H. N., & Rogers, E. M. 1993. Soap operas for social change: Toward a methodology for entertainment-education television. Westport, CT: Praeger. Read More