Starting today, the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives will be available on iTunes for the usual $1.99 per episode. Fans can also get episodes a bit cheaper by purchasing twenty episodes for $9.99.
According to Variety, placing Days on iTunes is most likely a move to get more people to watch the series, which has lost some viewers over the last year or so. Frankly, I don't see why more soap operas aren't made available this way, or, even better, made available for free online. Soaps more or less require a person to be tuned in day in and day out, and fans, one assumes, would love to be able to go back and catch up on whatever they might have missed.
This, however, leads to another question, which is "how old are the people watching Days, and how many of those people are going to use iTunes for anything?" Something tells me an iTunes promotional push isn't going to be much help.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-12-2007 @ 10:58AM
Michael said...
That's not a *bit* cheaper. that's 75% off.
then again, it's Days of Our Lives, so it's not like it has the biggest drawing power...
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6-12-2007 @ 1:19PM
Allison Solow said...
You're under the false assumption that soap watchers are little old ladies who are technically challenged. Check out the soap sites on the net and you'll discover that there are millions of soap watchers who are 18-30. They are posting on message boards, searching for spoilers and Tivo-ing their soaps if not downloading clips from YouTube. The thing you have to realize is that soaps are generational -- fans learn to watch from their parents and pass it down to the next generation. That's how a show like Guiding Light has been on the air (radio and TV) for 70 years! Only soaps have that kind of longevity -- and despite dwindling ratings (which most other TV genres are experiencing as well), they continue to be of value to daytime programmers. They still are a strong revenue stream. Days of Our Lives on Itunes could be a good seller -- especially if NBC is smart and start selling "classic" episodes.
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6-12-2007 @ 11:29AM
Allison Solow said...
You're under the false assumption that soap watchers are little old ladies who are technically challenged. Check out the soap sites on the net and you'll discover that there are millions of soap watchers who are 18-30. They are posting on message boards, searching for spoilers and Tivo-ing their soaps if not downloading clips from YouTube. The thing you have to realize is that soaps are generational -- fans learn to watch from their parents and pass it down to the next generation. That's how a show like Guiding Light has been on the air (radio and TV) for 70 years! Only soaps have that kind of longevity -- and despite dwindling ratings (which most other TV genres are experiencing as well), they continue to be of value to daytime programmers. They still are a strong revenue stream. Days of Our Lives on Itunes could be a good seller -- especially if NBC is smart and start selling "classic" episodes.
Reply
6-12-2007 @ 1:12PM
BC said...
"Soaps more or less require a person to be tuned in day in and day out"
You might think so, but if you watch soaps every day you can be driven crazy by the fact that an enormous proportion of the dialog is devoted to expositing events that previously occurred. Some are worse than others in this respect, and "Days" was one of them when I tried watching it.
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6-12-2007 @ 8:39PM
KelsBerry Crawdad said...
I have been watching DOOL since I was a Little Girl because my mom watched it. I am now 41 years old and still watch it along with my 18 year old daughter. Some times I DVR it... and sometimes (when work is slow on fridays) I watch it on the Net... Who wants to pay 1.99 to watch it when you can watch it at the NBC site. I love the show and will watch it til it dies.
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6-22-2007 @ 6:35AM
janie said...
I think days lost alot of viewers when they switch roman and christ and i was so wrap up in it since i was 16 and now 48 but i stop watching awhile back because 1, it was starting to look phony and then the switch they need to get they act together and now the the actors are strating to come back Anna Steptroe and Tony who knows i might strate again
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6-24-2007 @ 12:12AM
Jul said...
I started watching Day's the first year it came on. I use to cut school every once in awhile just so I could catch up on what was going on. I got my mom, dad, brother interested in watching it. Then I found out that my grandmother and aunt watched it. I got a job working graveyard just so I could watch Day's. Thank God for VCR's. I was able to work dayshift and then watch Day's when I got home from work. Then I got married and yes you guessed it my husband got hooked on watching Day's of our lives and he is still hooked on it even more than I am. Then my step-daughter became a Day's fan and a Passions fan. She got me hooked on watching Passions. I hate to see Passions leave NBC and will miss the show. I just hope Day's starts getting more interesting and get some comedy on there. That's why I love Passions it's so comical at times.
That's the Day's of my life.
Thanks
Jul
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7-06-2007 @ 7:33PM
MARY said...
I started watching Day's sends I was 16 years old I'm now 58 and I still watch it if i have to go out i tape it so i can watch it wind i get home , i also like watching Passions. I hate to see Passions leave NBC and will miss the show alot.I'm a fostermother and i stay home alot with my fosterkids and we all love watching Day's and Passions together,may G
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7-31-2007 @ 12:50PM
Allie said...
I watch days on Soapnet and it says you can watch it online @ soapnetic or something. I dont watch daily cause it can be mundane but got hooked because my sister watched it when I was younger and then in 93 really got hooked and had a serious crush on the original Austin -- Richard Muldoon? I think thats his name LOL
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