Days of Our Lives is about to introduce a plot twist that will change everything. Not on the show, though. In real life, this time. Not only a change for Days but potentially for all soap operas to come. It’s time we talk about the inevitable. We apologize if you find this triggering. Old school broadcast TV is dying out. It is a fossil that has been aged out of existence, almost. But you know what’s never been touched? Soap operas. But after The Real Housewives did it, we knew it was just a matter of time. What are we going on about? Days of Our Lives is moving to Peacock.
It’s the ‘go streaming or go home” mentality of 2022. You keep up with technology trends, or you get left behind.
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When Days of Our Lives moves to Peacock this month, there will be only three televised soap operas still on network TV, which is a major twist in the industry. This stands in total opposition to the dozens that used to inhabit daytime television. But all that is set to change now. Days is moving on to greener pastures but might be leaving some long-time fans in the dust with the change.
“But the attraction of so many years ago — appointment television offering daily intrigue and weekly cliffhangers, and how many times did those characters come back from the dead already? — has changed as audiences find TV love and villains on reality TV. Last week, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) announced that the long-running daytime drama is moving exclusively to Peacock beginning Sept. 12. A news program will run in its place, The New York Times reports.”
So there you have it. And the reason we say it might be far-reaching into the industry is if this works for Days, do you know how many other soaps will follow suit? And for some people who have tuned in to the same channel at the same time for most of their adult lives, this change is, in a word, scary. It also means fans will have no choice but to get Peacock if they want to stay up to date on the misadventures of the Days of Our Lives cast.
As Bob Dylan said years ago, times, they are a-changing.