Which is probably why my interview with "TV Source Magazine" had to be two parts. I talk a lot.
It was also the first time I ever shared the below, publicly:
I have this very controversial theory which I have no evidence for that I want to share with you. You’re getting an exclusive – well, except for everyone that I’ve just sort of expounded to. I have a theory that soap operas don’t want longtime viewers. Soap operas are designed to sell product. Commercial television is called commercial television; it’s not a negative thing. They’re designed to sell product. If you have been watching the show for 20 years and you have not started using Crest, it’s highly unlikely you’ll start using Crest. So you’re a useless audience member. Soaps want new viewers who will tune in and buy Crest. If you are not going to buy Crest, you mean nothing to them. So a longtime viewer who hasn’t switched to Crest is worthless. The only viewer that’s worth something is the new one that can come in and you can pitch product to.
More on that, here: http://tvsourcemagazine.com/2015/07/part-2-alina-adams-shares-her-current-favorite-and-least-favorite-soap-and-her-thoughts-on-the-future-of-the-genre/
And here is some controversy from part #1:
TVSource Magazine: Speaking of Agnes Nixon, she was always very great at weaving current issues into soaps and even touching on a lot of topics that many people were scared to do. In your own blogs and a lot of your interviews, you do the same thing. You’ve spoken very openly on racial identity, your interfaith family, et cetera. Would you say soap operas these days are missing a beat by not touching on these issues?
Alina: Are they missing a beat? Yes. Would I say they’re doing the wrong thing? I don’t know. And I’ll tell you why! I was at As The World Turns during the Luke and Noah storyline. And Guiding Light at the same time was running the Olivia and Natalia. Which were very different and good in their own ways but here’s what happened! Because they were running gay storylines, they got a lot of flack from everyone who felt it should be A, B, C and D. The shows that were not running gay storylines got no flack!
Nobody called The Bold and the Beautiful to say, “You’re in the fashion industry in Los Angeles!” I always describe Bold and Beautiful as the show set in the fashion industry with no Hispanics, Jews or homosexuals.
And that’s the thing! No one was telling Bold and Beautiful they were doing something wrong. No one was giving them crap or threatening to boycott The Bold and the Beautiful. Where As The World Turns, which was telling the story of Luke and Noah, but maybe not the way some would like, got crap! So I don’t necessarily know that the soaps are doing the wrong thing. There’s no benefit to it. There’s nothing to gain and everything to lose.
When I wrote my book on soap operas greatest moments, there was a lot of feedback I got from fans about Natalia and Olivia. They would say that [Otalia] made coming out to my family easier. Some people would say they saw homosexuals in a different way. These are all wonderful things but they don’t move the ratings needle and they don’t put money in P&G’s coffers. I’m not saying these as negative things, they’re a business. So I don’t necessarily know that the soaps not tackling social issues is a bad thing for them. For society? Yes! For them? Not necessarily.
Read the entire interview at: http://tvsourcemagazine.com/2015/07/part-1-alina-adams-talks-about-writing-her-love-for-the-soap-genre-and-meeting-agnes-nixon/
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