Trish Hobbs, 60, has been watching “Days” since she was 9. And, perhaps most of all, they resent the disruption of a cherished daily ritual during a time of dizzying change. They feel as though after decades of unstinting loyalty, they are being abandoned by entertainment conglomerates desperate to woo elusive younger audiences. They may be intimidated by new technology or lack the funds for a smart TV or tablet. They balk at the idea of paying for something that was once available for free over the airwaves. While some fans welcome the move as a vital lifeline for their beloved soap, many other longtime viewers, particularly older ones, are outraged. ”And ‘Days’ has always been good at pioneering change.” “As things change, you either adapt with them or you get left behind,“ he says.
He sees the transition to digital as the latest evolution for a medium that began on radio before migrating to broadcast TV. “The writing has been on the wall for quite a while, at least two years, that the future of dramatic broadcast television will be behind the paywall on streaming venues,” said executive producer Ken Corday, whose parents, Betty and Ted Corday, created “Days,” one of the first soaps to air in color and expand to a 60-minute format. Peacock had already tested the digital waters with two installments of a spinoff, “Beyond Salem,” which proved that at least some of the “Days” fan base could be lured to a new platform.
Still, its audience is loyal and, by the fragmented standards of 2022, significant: It drew around 1.7 million viewers to NBC each day (roughly the same number of people who tuned in to the Season 3 finale of HBO’s much-lauded “Succession” on the day it ran). “Days” was the least-watched of the four daytime soaps remaining on broadcast TV, and it has endured numerous budget cuts as its ratings dwindled. 9 to air a pre-recorded address from King Charles III about the death of his mother, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, the previous day.)Īnnounced with little fanfare last month, the news that “Days” would live on as a streaming exclusive was not as surprising as, say, the time a completely unrecognizable Roman Brady reappeared in Salem years after he was presumed dead. (In a final indignity for some viewers on the East Coast, NBC cut away in the final two minutes of the show’s last linear broadcast on Sept. From now on, new episodes of “Days” will be ready to view on demand each weekday at 6 a.m. But last week, the daytime drama took a leap that many longtime viewers may never accept: NBC moved the soap, a staple of its daytime programming since 1965, to Peacock, NBC Universal’s streaming service, replacing it with a daily news broadcast.
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