As a long time fan (I'm just slightly older than the programme itself), I've been reading through this thread with sadness but have tended to agree with the general sentiments that have been expressed.
So what's the solution? Is Coronation Street (and perhaps soap operas in general) in terminal decline and we should be put of it it's misery? Should ITV try cutting the number of episodes per week? Should there be a change in the Production team? Should there be a cull of some of the worst actors?
I think what will happen is Coronation St will move into daytime if ratings really start to fall. It would still get about 3 million in a daytime slot as many of its viewers are elderly and would also rejuvenate ITV daytime. Killing it off might be too radical, but I do agree it's now suffering from overkill( five episodes a week, ten repeats on ITV 2 and two ominibuses no one watches) and is tired. I think cut it to three episodes a week and if this doesn't work, move it to daytime.
As a long time fan (I'm just slightly older than the programme itself), I've been reading through this thread with sadness but have tended to agree with the general sentiments that have been expressed.
So what's the solution? Is Coronation Street (and perhaps soap operas in general) in terminal decline and we should be put of it it's misery? Should ITV try cutting the number of episodes per week? Should there be a change in the Production team? Should there be a cull of some of the worst actors?
Both of these, DavyBoy60; otherwise some soaps will die of neglect.
Both of these, DavyBoy60; otherwise some soaps will die of neglect.
I think viewers are losing interest now. I can see all of the soaps in daytime in the next five years as ratings fall.. 5.5 million is hopeless, but I'm sure these sort of audiences are to become more common.
If you think about it, soaps actors are laughed at in the acting profession as most of them are too poor to do anything else, they're the only shows to be made in a studio now, which makes them cheap and dated looking, and the plots are predictable and often very boring. The days of Coronation St being a reasonably accurate story about people in a poor part of Manchester are long gone.
I haven't watched it properly for ages, but I noticed the second episode had a significant drop in viewers (6.1m vs 5.57m). That's much bigger than usual, people obviously couldn't face another episode.
That's interesting. Just goes to show, they can't rely on soap addicts to keep audience figures up. Yes we love Corrie but we don't swallow any old rubbish.
Yasmeen is obviously a blatant copy of Zainab Masood as well. Only Nina Wadia can't be impersonated. So its a big fail on Corries part.
Because Zainab is so unique Corrie clearly copied off her with Yasmeen? Lol, both are your typical westernised middle age Asian mother character. Only difference being Nina Wadia was talented enough to take the character beyond that.
And it's only going to get worse with kylie leaving as actress goes on maternity leave actress plays Carla goes on her break and the actors that play rob and peter leaving around the same time
By the end of the decade I can see both Coronation St and Emmerdale being lunchtime shows. There just isn't the interest now and, like America, they moved the soaps out of peaktime when they realised the audiences were drying up.
As a long time fan (I'm just slightly older than the programme itself), I've been reading through this thread with sadness but have tended to agree with the general sentiments that have been expressed.
So what's the solution? Is Coronation Street (and perhaps soap operas in general) in terminal decline and we should be put of it it's misery? Should ITV try cutting the number of episodes per week? Should there be a change in the Production team? Should there be a cull of some of the worst actors?
Before you could justify when the extra Monday episode was added -- now you can't.
Quality should come before quantity. Everything's looks rushed and done without much thought or proper research. The end product is awful.
There must have been a significant viewer drop on Friday night to achieve that low on the second episode, well I didn't watch it, I was doing other things.
Jim's only returning for 3 months & he's still in prison so I don't think he will be on the street itself. Ken returning will be good but I don't think there will be much of an impact tbh.
EastEnders & Hollyoaks seem to be the only soaps I watch these days, I don't watch Emmerdale since I watch E4 Hollyoaks instead & Corrie is on in the background, it's a great time to be writing reviews whilst Corrie is on, no dristractions.
Corrie is just so predictible, of course Peter Barlow is going to be freed eventually, probably this time next year or at Christmas because it's CS & Rob is going to put away & shunned by all the whiny, bottom-of-the-barrel Weatherfield residents, who have never, ever put a foot wrong.
But I don't think Stuart 'The Hat' Blackburn won't be going anywhere yet, if DS are doing an interview. Shame, but I think ITV will only start to take note that Corrie is in serious decline when it's too late & viewers have abandoned it in their droves. Then they'll be trying anything to spice it up, next all ITV need to do is start shifting it around the schedules because of low viewing figures & bang, you have Brookside ll.
I have no idea how it's still the most watched soap. The last storyline that really interested me was the Kirsty storyline, and that was ages ago.
It's the most watched in a faltering genre of shows. I know it still has its big gay following and its traditional Northern audience, though even this is declining now, but I think the days when Coronation St ruled the roost and never got less than 15 million viewers are over. I often wonder if overkill with episodes( though Emmerdale is even worse for this) and largely forgettable storylines are killing it.
I think since the classic cast finished in the eighties, it's never been the same.
And it's only going to get worse with kylie leaving as actress goes on maternity leave actress plays Carla goes on her break and the actors that play rob and peter leaving around the same time
I dont think Kylie leaving for a bit will make one iota of difference. But I agree with the post that Corrie and Emmerdale in particular should be moved to the afternoons and the very good Doctors should be moved to the 7.00 pm slot.
By the end of the decade I can see both Coronation St and Emmerdale being lunchtime shows. There just isn't the interest now and, like America, they moved the soaps out of peaktime when they realised the audiences were drying up.
BIB If I remember rightly, Emmerdale started off as an afternoon programme. It was centered around the farm and the Sugden family. That's why it was called Emmerdale Farm.
I think there are too many episodes each week, I watch both Corrie and Emmerdale and sometimes you can get confused which one you are watching. One is a gritty, working class, inner city type soap, and the other is Corrie.
Cut out the repeats every single day, twice a day of Corrie and Emmerdale and why on earth do we have to have both soaps having two half hours each week broken up by some nonsensical programme? It breaks the rhythm of the show and I often cannot be bothered to watch part two.
Corrie, under Blackburn telegraphs all the upcoming s/ls, plot devices are glaringly obvious, there is no element of surprise any more. If people want to know spoilers they can go on the forums, for those that like to be entertained and surprised by what is going to happen, the shock value if you like is completely ruined. But blackburn delights in leaking upcoming s/ls and absolutely loves giving interviews to show off how clever he is.
A case in point is the Faye s/l and he "leaked" the Tina murder s/l too
I remember EE, which I no longer watch, the Christmas episode where Den served Angie divorce papers, what a shock, because we did not see that coming!
Because Zainab is so unique Corrie clearly copied off her with Yasmeen? Lol, both are your typical westernised middle age Asian mother character. Only difference being Nina Wadia was talented enough to take the character beyond that.
Well, if a character like her appeared in EastEnders, that means EastEnders has the sole rights over that particular type of character, apparently...
Comments
I think what will happen is Coronation St will move into daytime if ratings really start to fall. It would still get about 3 million in a daytime slot as many of its viewers are elderly and would also rejuvenate ITV daytime. Killing it off might be too radical, but I do agree it's now suffering from overkill( five episodes a week, ten repeats on ITV 2 and two ominibuses no one watches) and is tired. I think cut it to three episodes a week and if this doesn't work, move it to daytime.
Both of these, DavyBoy60; otherwise some soaps will die of neglect.
I think viewers are losing interest now. I can see all of the soaps in daytime in the next five years as ratings fall.. 5.5 million is hopeless, but I'm sure these sort of audiences are to become more common.
If you think about it, soaps actors are laughed at in the acting profession as most of them are too poor to do anything else, they're the only shows to be made in a studio now, which makes them cheap and dated looking, and the plots are predictable and often very boring. The days of Coronation St being a reasonably accurate story about people in a poor part of Manchester are long gone.
That's interesting. Just goes to show, they can't rely on soap addicts to keep audience figures up. Yes we love Corrie but we don't swallow any old rubbish.
Because Zainab is so unique Corrie clearly copied off her with Yasmeen?
Quality should come before quantity. Everything's looks rushed and done without much thought or proper research. The end product is awful.
Jim's only returning for 3 months & he's still in prison so I don't think he will be on the street itself. Ken returning will be good but I don't think there will be much of an impact tbh.
EastEnders & Hollyoaks seem to be the only soaps I watch these days, I don't watch Emmerdale since I watch E4 Hollyoaks instead & Corrie is on in the background, it's a great time to be writing reviews whilst Corrie is on, no dristractions.
Corrie is just so predictible, of course Peter Barlow is going to be freed eventually, probably this time next year or at Christmas because it's CS & Rob is going to put away & shunned by all the whiny, bottom-of-the-barrel Weatherfield residents, who have never, ever put a foot wrong.
But I don't think Stuart 'The Hat' Blackburn won't be going anywhere yet, if DS are doing an interview. Shame, but I think ITV will only start to take note that Corrie is in serious decline when it's too late & viewers have abandoned it in their droves. Then they'll be trying anything to spice it up, next all ITV need to do is start shifting it around the schedules because of low viewing figures & bang, you have Brookside ll.
It's the most watched in a faltering genre of shows. I know it still has its big gay following and its traditional Northern audience, though even this is declining now, but I think the days when Coronation St ruled the roost and never got less than 15 million viewers are over. I often wonder if overkill with episodes( though Emmerdale is even worse for this) and largely forgettable storylines are killing it.
I think since the classic cast finished in the eighties, it's never been the same.
EastEnders is very good at the minute and the only soap i am watching. Has had a few dodgy patches in the past though.
I dont think Kylie leaving for a bit will make one iota of difference. But I agree with the post that Corrie and Emmerdale in particular should be moved to the afternoons and the very good Doctors should be moved to the 7.00 pm slot.
BIB If I remember rightly, Emmerdale started off as an afternoon programme. It was centered around the farm and the Sugden family. That's why it was called Emmerdale Farm.
I think there are too many episodes each week, I watch both Corrie and Emmerdale and sometimes you can get confused which one you are watching. One is a gritty, working class, inner city type soap, and the other is Corrie.
Cut out the repeats every single day, twice a day of Corrie and Emmerdale and why on earth do we have to have both soaps having two half hours each week broken up by some nonsensical programme? It breaks the rhythm of the show and I often cannot be bothered to watch part two.
Corrie, under Blackburn telegraphs all the upcoming s/ls, plot devices are glaringly obvious, there is no element of surprise any more. If people want to know spoilers they can go on the forums, for those that like to be entertained and surprised by what is going to happen, the shock value if you like is completely ruined. But blackburn delights in leaking upcoming s/ls and absolutely loves giving interviews to show off how clever he is.
I remember EE, which I no longer watch, the Christmas episode where Den served Angie divorce papers, what a shock, because we did not see that coming!
Yeah, because Corrie is always getting fully praised on here, and the other soaps as well lol.
Well, if a character like her appeared in EastEnders, that means EastEnders has the sole rights over that particular type of character, apparently...
No why would Roy and Yasmeen win.
The council gave it them back, only for fire to take it away.