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Would banning all spoilers save the soaps? |
| View Poll Results: Should the UK soaps ban spoilers to save the genre? | |||
| YES, it's a radical change but ban all spoilers and bring back momentum and speculation to soaps |
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16 | 26.23% |
| SOME, don't ban them completely but slightly/drastically scale down the details |
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36 | 59.02% |
| NO, it's good to have spoilers as they help promote the shows and keep fans happy |
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9 | 14.75% |
| Voters: 61. You can't vote on this poll right now - are you signed in? | |||
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 7,591
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Would banning all spoilers save the soaps?
Was thinking about this today. Soap operas are argued to be a dying breed. Ratings are lower than they used to be (possibly less than they could be) and many are losing interest in soaps. But the recent shocks in EastEnders (Cindy leaving and Sharon finding out Bobby killed Lucy) and with Emmerdale (Ross Barton being written out, much of the helicopter crash in general) have thrilled audiences and I've began to realise spoilers are literally spoiling our soaps. Without spoilers, soaps would be so much more enjoyable - and pull higher ratings.
If all the UK soaps suddenly ceased to give any spoilers, like quite literally to zero, even to the press. I think something magical would happen. Even in the TV guides it would just have the generic "Residents of Albert Square in London's East End deal with life, love and loss" for EastEnders, for example. Now, TV guides would be up in arms at not having anything to write about. But I think if it happened, there would be a shift to the TV guides talking about LAST week's soaps and speculating about next week. It would be promoting what has happened and was good/bad/sad/dramatic and not what will happen. Obviously the press would find out if actors were leaving, and on DS we'd all be able to guess on here when certain scenes would air, or guess what was gonna happen due to cast lists, but overall it would be completely secret what was going to happen. The element of mystery and unknown would drive us nuts on DS and we'd furiously speculate about outcomes and plot progressions! 😄 I believe it would transform soap operas and to those who religiously spoil their viewing currently, practically completely reinvent them. Viewers would be excited again even about mundane storylines. A lot of these quieter storylines would probably be good if we hadn't read them already. As viewers we need surprise back, anticipation to watch the shows live and with more eagerness. I think this radical move would actually cause ratings to increase. The not knowing would create more buzz on social media and discussion. There wouldn't be a load of people who were sad enough 😂 to read Digital Spy knowing more and spoiling the episodes prior to transmossion - for themselves and others. Everyone would be on the same page. I know some people would argue we need less spoilers, not to ban them completely but reduce them, but I disagree. Only a full elimination of spoiler material would bring soaps back to the standard of interest of a normal drama. Did the creators of Humans and Channel 4 leak all the details of the plot twists and future episodes? No. Sure there were synopses, but vague. I'd argue no synopses at all would be good for soaps due to the amount they air. It would push people to watch more live / regularly. The ONLY downside I can imagine to banning all spoilers is the impact to magazine sales and to some extent the press. But I think it would drum up more mystery, more anticipation and interest and more discussion amongst viewers, as well as more reviews and speculation in the press. Thanks for reading. Thoughts? And vote in the poll. |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 7,591
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Poll up. Fascinated to hear people's thoughts. Maybe if enough agreed with me we could make a petition! It could be a soap uprising. 🙌🏼
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Alcohol aisle in Tescos *gulp*
Posts: 12,043
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It's nice when shocks/twists are kept a secret, EE do this really well & provide lots of speculation.
I don't think it's necessary to ban ALL spoilers because soaps do need to generate interest & having a basic idea of what's going on is fine it's just when everything about the plot is revealed (Corrie) then it's found quite boring & you don't look forward to it, or at least I don't anyway. I think something like on Sky TV when you press the info button about the program & it displays a short paragraph about what the episode is about, e.g a VERY vague description would be ideal if you wanted to eliminate spoilers but I do think there does need to be some spoilers to generate interest. Anyway a very well thought out & constructive post James
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Albert Square
Posts: 10,674
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Quote:
Poll up. Fascinated to hear people's thoughts. Maybe if enough agreed with me we could make a petition! It could be a soap uprising. 🙌🏼
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 7,591
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Quote:
If you ban every spoiler then there will be nothing to talk about or look forward too, however I do think that they should keep exits on a low.
Quote:
It's nice when shocks/twists are kept a secret, EE do this really well & provide lots of speculation.
I don't think it's necessary to ban ALL spoilers because soaps do need to generate interest & having a basic idea of what's going on is fine it's just when everything about the plot is revealed (Corrie) then it's found quite boring & you don't look forward to it. Zero spoilers would really be amazing. I'm telling you, the forums would be alive with discussion. "Oh my god, have you seen who's in the cast list for Monday's EastEnders? This will have to mean Duhduh will be back to confront Duhduh" or "Next week I think things will be kicking off as Actress Y stopped filming 6 weeks ago and that aligns with blah blah." I can think of more obvious scenarios that would unfold. ED kept the stunt secret till the week before and hype was nuts - I'd argue disaster week would have been even more effective if the spoilers hadn't been there at all - even if just a week before. I truly think it sounds mad but there would be more press coverage and more discussion on this forum and more ratings if soap spoilers became a thing of the past. Twitter would go off! |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 7,591
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Guess I'm more radical than most haha! The conservative (less but not none) approach is winning.
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,318
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Quote:
If you ban every spoiler then there will be nothing to talk about or look forward too, however I do think that they should keep exits on a low.
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Losing the plot and not caring
Posts: 68,975
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I agree that there should be far fewer and definitely less detailed spoilers but there's nothing wrong with dropping a few teasers a week or two in advance. That intrigues people and gets them talking and speculating about what might be coming up.
The worst offender of course is Corrie, which reveals pretty much every detail of every sl, often several months in advance - he practically prints the entire script fgs! By the time the eps air, everyone on here sits and moans how 'predictable' it all is. Well yes it is, when you read the spoilers weeks or months ago.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 7,951
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Yes from me. I'm old enough to have been around in the days before spoilers, the internet, social media etc and it was great. We had to wait to see what happened - there was no choice in the matter. Also since there were only a few TV channels then a lot of people watched all the soaps as a matter of course as there wasn't much else to watch at the time they were on so spoilers weren't needed to draw them in.
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Posts: 8,051
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Quote:
The worst offender of course is Corrie, which reveals pretty much every detail of every sl, often several months in advance - he practically prints the entire script fgs!
By the time the eps air, everyone on here sits and moans how 'predictable' it all is. Well yes it is, when you read the spoilers weeks or months ago. ![]() |
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 7,591
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Quote:
Exactly. As EastEnders is the only soap I watch on a regular basis I would have missed out on the Richard Hillman, John Stape, Tony Gordon storylines etc if there were no spoilers so I say no.
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: I like to singy singy singy...
Posts: 17,667
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Great idea.
I would also prefer it we didn't know when actors were leaving. And people who watch episodes early and come and blab on DS before they've aired should be shot on sight. No exceptions... |
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Hogwarts
Posts: 13,486
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Spoilers intice people to watch and are necessary to attract viewers. Without spoilers, media attention would be lowered which is the primary way of getting people tomwatch soaps.
However, soaps obviously compete for ratings and have come to spoil too much in which I have avoided the front page of this site etc at time because it just becomes really boring to watch as I know what will happen next. It does become counter productive as people know whats going to happen so why waste time on soaps? ED and EE inparticular (cant speak for HO) have been good at scaling back major details like deaths etc. I think Val's death and Kathys's comeback really paid off because of the whole OMG factor. So really I woukd say sopas should keep big moments to themselves and instead of full articles explaining what will happen, big teasers may be better. For actors leaving, I think a balance is needed there. Some, like Cindy's in EE weren't spouled and that was fine but ai think some exits shoukd be announced as they are among a shows biggest episodes and so do need to attract attention. However, for big stars, it would be great to keep their exits etc under wraps before unveiling them, even a teaser saying 'A popular face will leave soon' without revealing who it is could get more people to tune in just to see whereas if someone knows the departees identity, might influence whether they watch or not |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,318
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Quote:
No because people would have been talking about the SLs including the press.
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,351
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I love the idea of keeping stuff back, big happenings that EastEnders and Emmerdale have done really well with in the past year. Ditto too for Hollyoaks.
However, due to the sensitive nature of certain stories, for example, the upcoming Shabnam baby plot on EastEnders, they would need to advise of this well in advance. I mean, even when they do you still get the Mumsnet brigade tripping over themselves getting to the phone, to press the speed dial button for Ofcom. For general interest, spoilers are needed. But they should be teasers. Not full blow by blow accounts of every plot happening i.e. Coronation Street. |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The end of time.
Posts: 12,104
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I think banning ALL spoilers is too much, but they should be limited to what the Press Office releases and, naturally, the location pics can't exactly be kept hidden in a world of smartphones and Twitter. Nothing more than that though. Quote:
And people who watch episodes early and come and blab on DS before they've aired should be shot on sight. No exceptions...
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 69,012
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I voted for the some option because you need to tease a little to entice viewers. However the amount of information given away by Coronation Street at the moment is stupid. They tell virtually every plot detail
![]() EastEnders and Emmerdale are much better at surprising viewers. I love a few surprises. |
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 1,209
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I think some spoilers make viewers want to tune in and watch the show due to excitement however I think it would be nice to have ambiguous spoilers which don't reveal too much. I loved EE live week and the week where there was a shock arrest since barely any spoilers were released. Yesterday there were detailed spoilers but I liked how they kept the fact that Sharon was going to confront Jane and find out about Bobby even though that was a major part of the episode
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 143
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Quote:
I love the idea of keeping stuff back, big happenings that EastEnders and Emmerdale have done really well with in the past year. Ditto too for Hollyoaks.
However, due to the sensitive nature of certain stories, for example, the upcoming Shabnam baby plot on EastEnders, they would need to advise of this well in advance. I mean, even when they do you still get the Mumsnet brigade tripping over themselves getting to the phone, to press the speed dial button for Ofcom. For general interest, spoilers are needed. But they should be teasers. Not full blow by blow accounts of every plot happening i.e. Coronation Street. In regards to the BIB on your quote, I agree that this is an example of what would scare the execs to stop the spoilers, but think it's completely ridiculous. Yes, it's going to be sad
Spoiler
I think there are far too many spoilers released - Eastenders is a lot better of late and this has made the show exciting again - but i'd like it sscaled back even further. Emmerdale usually do it well around times of big stunts, but last month with the helicopter crash they released everything the week before and spoiled it somewhat in my opinion. Corrie at the moment seems hell bent on giving away the outcome of a plotline before the stroy has even began - sometimes when they cast an actor the even tell you how long they are staying and what the outcome of their storyline will be making it very difficult to even invest time in watching that character or care in the slightest about them! They really need to evaluate more than the others in my opinion. In regards to Hollyoaks, I don't watch it - i've tried to in the past but it all seems too cheap - but I do often read the spoilers for it and feel as though I don't need to watch it because I know everything that's happening - so maybe that's a point - if they weren't there and I couldn't read them, maybe i'd have to watch it! |
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 48
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Personally, I've always loved soap spoliers, as I'm an impatient person by nature, and sometimes a good spoiler entices me to watch a soap I haven't bothered with in a long time. If spoilers were banned, then I would find myself tuning out of some of the soaps - especially if a particular storyline was being dragged out, and I felt that there was nothing to look forward to.
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