Are the soaps losing their appeal?

I can remember all the Australian soaps that were shown in the afternoons in the eighties and nineties, and not forgetting Dallas and Dynasty in the eighties. There were a heck of a lot to choose from then, and there was even a soap from Brazil called Dancing Days.

I only watch Classic Coronation Street. I never thought there would be a time when I wouldn’t keep up with the latest episodes. But the quality of the story lines are so poor, I can’t bring myself to watch it.
Classic Corrie is my evening treat. The current story line where Vera is excited about moving to Blackpool but dies suddenly is so poignant. Jack is bereft. A very moving performance.

I used to watch Coronation St and Emmerdale but when we moved almost 3 years ago I stopped watching live tv at all and just became unbothered about keeping up with them. It was just becoming too ridiculous. So many of them end in prison or something else so far fetched

I think young people are much more likely to not watch live tv at all now

It’s 8.30 now, BlueBelle.

They lost our appeal over 20 yrs ago when the themes became a never ending drama and bad behavior, EastEnders was banned, why would you want your children to think that was normal behavior?.

I don’t watch Soaps anymore - I have turned to real-life documentaries

I watched Corrie from when it started (1960?) and Eastenders (1985), every episode. And I listened to evening Archers. It fitted in with kids' bedtimes, something to get the washing up finished for and the washing on.
Then they expanded from 2 episodes/wk twenty years ago, and I lost interest. I stopped listening/watching all of them simultaneously.

I still enjoy the soaps ass well. Corrie, Emmerdale and Enders. All have changed dramatically and not for the better but I still like to keep up with them and a link to UK.
None of my children or grandchildren watch soaps.

I love my two soaps still, Corrie and Emmerdale but they keep mucking the times up, taking them off for football, and now changed to 8 pm they just don’t feel right at that time they should be early evening viewing, maybe it’s because they are more violent than they used to be.
I love Casualty too I don’t know if that’s counted as a soap, but they are constantly taking that off for a week or two and the continuity is gone. You start looking forward to something and it’s gone
I think now with all the ‘paid for’ viewing, plus the fact that people under 40 don’t watch TV at all it’s hardly surprising the viewing figures are down hugely.
I don’t have any paid for Channels so rely on Freeview and some nights are putrid

I'm not sure they're losing their appeal but it wouldn't surprise me and I think the OP makes some valid points.

I haven’t watched soaps for decades. Growing up, Corrie was on regularly but I personally stopped watching it around the time Alan Bradley got clobbered by a tram.

I did watch Home And Away but again, stopped decades ago. I also watched a bit of Eastenders and Brookside when they started but never really got into them.

I haven’t a clue about any of them now, and when I see headlines regarding current storylines, I'm glad I avoid them.

I accept many people are fanatical about them, and that's fine if soaps are their thing. What I cannot understand is why the actors get abuse if their characters do something bad. It's not real life!

I've probably posted this because shows like Coronation St and Eastenders were enormous when I was in my twenties. You'd even have the Prime Minister getting involved in the Free Deidre campaign for fun. Also for a time, Neighbours was watched by everyone from children to pensioners.
It's just so odd how in the space of 20 years, a massively popular genre of programmes has become far less watched. It does seem now entertainment shows are much more popular.

TBH I haven’t watched any soaps for many years. When DDs were still at home (well over 20 years ago now) we would usually have Neighbours and EastEnders on, but that era is now in the distant past.

Gave up watching them over 10 years ago, I used to watch them all at one time, CS, Emmerdale, evening and earlier day time edition when it was Emmerdale Farm, Eastenders , Neighbours, Brookside, each one gone to the wayside, like others have said there was an overkill on CS when it went to nightly then sometimes twice nightly, the characters in all soaps got more stupid and the storylines more outrageous.

We have watched Stenders since the beginning and one daughter and a couple of her friends also watch it. I'm too nosey to give up now.

Home and away is still going.

Perhaps it is not available on all tv systems?

I used to watch Emerdale and CS as my dh watched them . But we gave up years ago . I think we were on holiday and cba to watch on catch up.
I used to have Neighbours on when feeding my DC when they were young and DS used to sing along to the theme tune.
We tend to use Netflix, Amazon prime or bbc iplayer .

Possibly as we get older our tastes change too. Programmes that once were a must watch are now replaced by others. I’d rather watch Monty Don, holiday programmes etc. there’s so much more choice now.

I think Netflix and Prime video have taken over from soaps, with people able to binge watch serials rather than waiting a day for the next episode.

Yes, for our age group.

I’ve not watched for many years. I used to never miss Coronation Street but it lost its appeal for me. I’ve never watched Eastenders or Emmerdale.

I’ve not watched a soap for over 30 years.

When the children were little it was great to get them in bed and sit and watch Coronation Street, a great way to unwind.

I think Deidre, Ken and Kevin and Sally were in it then although I still remember Betty Turpin, Hilda Ogden etc!

I remember having nights out in Manchester clubs in the early 80’s and getting very excited seeing some of the Corrie stars.

There's a finite number of TV viewers and with more and more people turning away from traditional programming and turning to streaming, this was bound to happen.

I used to watch Corrie and Eastenders. Neighbours when the kids were young just because it was on. When my darling Mum passed away in 2005, that very night, during a troubled and haphazard sleep I suddenly thought that she was never going to know what happened in Corrie (which she always watched). I never watched another episode.

I've tried to stay loyal to Easternders, but I've pretty much given up. I do have it on permanent record and tended to watch a few episodes on a Sunday afternoon, but the last one I watched was recorded at the beginning of January so I'm way behind. I suspect it will drop off my radar soon.

You have asked this question a few times on here - do you have a vested interest? Genuine question, as it seems an odd thing to keep asking.

I enjoy Coronation Street as a way of separating day from evening. I sit down after dinner, watch it and relax. I say 'watch it', but as those on the CS thread on here will know, I don't pay attention most of the time . It is a way of switching off from whatever I've been doing in the daytime and marking the start of a (usually relaxing) evening.

I think that the pattern of watching regular drama such as soaps is changing. Other than that, I hardly watch any TV as it's broadcast, as I prefer to see drama 'back to back' as wait a week between episodes, and I hate the scheduling that puts out an episode a night for a few days - I am too busy to commit to that. If I am typical then maybe traditional soaps (as in regular, continuous dramas) have had their day, but there are series' such as Waterloo Road and others that have repeated series with a core group of characters that are soaps by another name.