Daytime soap operas have been a staple of American television for decades. In their current form, daytime soap operas are serialized dramas that air new episodes almost every weekday, with the exception of some holidays. These series have created hundreds of hours of daily shows on increasingly tight budgets, an impressive feat of both writing and acting that often gets overlooked by audiences unfamiliar with the genre. In the genre's most prolific era, over a dozen soap operas aired on television. Currently, only four remain: Days of Our Lives on NBC, General Hospital on ABC, Young and the Restless on CBS and The Bold and the Beautiful, also on CBS.
However, the daytime landscape might be undergoing a shift to new platforms. As Vulture reports, NBC announced that Days of Our Lives will be moving exclusively to Peacock on September 12, ending the series' 57 year run on broadcast television. While Days has had streaming options for years in various forms, these options were meant to supplement the daily broadcast rather than replace it. Days move to streaming exclusively marks the end of NBC airing soap operas on broadcast television and could signal the end of soaps on broadcast television.
What Is Days of Our Lives?
Days of Our Lives follows the lives of the residents of Salem, Illinois. While the series originally focused on members of the Horton family -- including beloved matriarch Alice Horton -- the show has expanded to include other intersecting families over the decades. Many of the same characters have been constant staples of the series. While some roles have been recast, actors like Deirdre Hall, Drake Hogestyn and James Reynolds have been playing their characters for decades. These familiar characters and families have been integral to the show's survival and should continue to drive the stories on Peacock as well.
Like most soap operas, Days has blended multiple genres over the years. On Days, super villains like Stefano DiMera have been an integral part of the story. Stefano's machinations often would not be out of place in comic book storylines and included mind control using microchips, amnesia, kidnappings, evil scientists, robberies, murders and multiple other crimes as he sought to destroy the Brady family and win the heart of Dr. Marlena Evans. Thus, like many other soap operas, Days has incorporated action, adventure and speculative stories as the residents of Salem try to thwart Stefano and other villains' plans. As Days moves to streaming, this blending of genres with Days' core focus on multigenerational family stories could be key to the show's survival on the new platform.
What Does Days of Our Lives Moving to Peacock Mean?
Days is not the first soap opera to be sent to streaming. As Deadline explains, Prospect Park, the production company behind ABC's All My Children and One Life to Live tried to save both shows through streaming in 2011. However, this attempt was unsuccessful. This failure might make Days' future seem bleak, but the television landscape has changed in the past decade. Television in general has increasingly become more focused on streaming over broadcast television, with many popular series such as The Mandalorian, Stranger Things and Squid Game airing exclusively on streaming but still maintaining important places in the cultural consciousness.
While Days' move from broadcast television to streaming might seem surprising, NBC tested the waters for exclusive soap opera content on Peacock with Beyond Salem and the Christmas movie Days of Our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas. These are not the first soap opera spinoffs ever, but they do point to new efforts to explore different storytelling structures to continue the stories of Salem, both in town and beyond. While old episodes of Days are currently available streaming on Peacock with a basic account, Beyond Salem and Days of Our Lives: A Very Salem Christmas have only been available through Premium accounts. The fact that Beyond Salem aired a second season in July shows that there has been an audience for Days on the streaming platform.
Streaming also fits in with many viewers' approach to watching the show. Since daytime soap operas air during the workday, for decades viewers have used VCRs, DVRs, smart TVs and other means to record the show to watch later. However, with Peacock, a basic account still is required to view episodes, and a premium account is required to view episodes on the same day that they air. While many members of the audience might already have Peacock accounts, some members of the audience might be reluctant to embrace streaming or pay extra to view episodes on release day when they have been able to watch new episodes for free. However, the move to Peacock could also engage a new audience, especially if Days continues to experiment with spin-off series and special event movies.
Thus, while Days' move to streaming might seem like the death knell of soap operas, the move could revitalize the genre for future generations. If Days succeeds on Peacock, ABC and NBC might follow suit. Soap operas have switched mediums and platforms before. Many older soap operas began as radio dramas before moving to television, where they thrived for decades. Rather than the end of soap operas, Days' move to streaming could just be another step in the evolution of the genre and allow soap operas to continue to air for decades more.
To see how Days of Our Lives adapts to these changes, stream new episodes exclusively on Peacock starting September 12th.