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Soap Opera Digest

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Soap Opera Digest
Debut issue (November 1975), featuring the cast of Love of Life
Editorial DirectorStephanie Sloane
Staff writersCarolyn Hinsey
Jennifer Lenhart
CategoriesEntertainment
FrequencyWeekly
Total circulation
(December 2011)		292,219[1]
FounderAngela Shapiro and Jerome Shapiro
First issueNovember 1975
CompanyAmerican Media, Inc.
Country United States
Based inNew York City
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.SoapOperaDigest.com
ISSN0164-3584

Soap Opera Digest is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information. Founded in 1975, the magazine has historically included certain prime time soap operas in its coverage as well.

History

Soap Opera Digest debuted in November 1975, co-founded by Angela Shapiro and Jerome Shapiro[2] and featuring actors John Aniston, Ron Tomme, Audrey Peters, Birgitta Tolksdorf, Jerry Lacy, and Tudi Wiggins of Love of Life on its first cover. In the early 1990s, the magazine had up to 1.4 million subscribers.[citation needed]

In 1980, Network Publishing Corporation purchased the magazine from Shapiro, who went on to found Soap Opera Update. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation bought the magazine in 1989, and sold it to K-III Communications in 1991. K-III was renamed Primedia in 1997, and sold its magazines to Source Interlink in 2007. American Media, Inc. began publishing Soap Opera Digest in 2011.[3]

Soap Opera Digest, originally published monthly, moved to biweekly issues in 1979, and started publishing weekly in 1997. The issue dates were on Tuesdays, but changed to Mondays beginning with the April 16, 2012 issue. In June 2011, Stephanie Sloane became the magazine's Editorial Director replacing Lynn Leahey, who had been with the magazine for 27 years. Columnist Carolyn Hinsey reviews current series and soap-related events in her regular feature, "It's Only My Opinion."

The magazine holds an awards show annually to promote excellence in the genre, as decided by the fans who read the magazine. The Soap Opera Digest Awards (formerly the Soapies) have been held every year since 1977, and were last televised in 2000. The Soapy Award was originally designed by Janis Rogak, the magazine's then-Art Director.

"Soap speak" acronyms

Soap Opera Digest coined the term and popularized the use of "soap speak," in which show names are abbreviated as acronyms to save space. These abbreviations have come into more extensive use outside of the magazine with the advent of internet chat rooms and message boards.

For example, current soap operas and their acronyms include General Hospital (GH), The Bold and the Beautiful (B&B), and The Young and the Restless (Y&R). Days of our Lives is referred to as DAYS in the magazine, though the acronym DOOL is sometimes used elsewhere; General Hospital: Night Shift is similarly designated SHIFT rather than an acronym. Now-defunct series include All My Children (AMC), As the World Turns (ATWT), Guiding Light (GL), and One Life to Live (OLTL). The now-defunct series Sunset Beach (1997–1999) was known as BEACH to differentiate it from the previously-cancelled series Santa Barbara (1984–1993), which itself had been referred to as SB. Other past series with single-word titles (like Loving and Passions) are fully capitalized but not typically abbreviated. Prime time soap operas have also been attributed with acronyms and abbreviations in the magazine, including Melrose Place (MP) and Dynasty (DYN).

Circulation

Soap Opera Digest's circulation has declined over the years, reflecting both a decline in soap opera viewership and a decline in magazine circulations in general. A 40 percent decline in 2003 was due to eliminating reduced-rate subscriptions.[4] This is a list of Soap Opera Digest's average circulation per issue, per year.

  • 1988: 1.1 million[5]
  • 1998: 1,101,146[6]
  • 1999: 1,102,940[6]
  • 2000: 1,110,527[7]
  • 2001: 1,025,869[7]
  • 2002: 987,525[8]
  • 2003: 598,739[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "eCirc for Consumer Magazines". Audit Bureau of Circulations. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  2. ^ Kroll, Dan J. "Angela Shapiro to Leave ABC Daytime Post". Soapcentral.com. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
  3. ^ American Media, Inc. Reaches Licensing Agreement With Source Interlink Companies
  4. ^ Fine, Jon (2002-12-30). "Primedia soap mags slice rate bases for '03 | News - Advertising Age". Adage.com. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
  5. ^ "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Soap Opera Magazines Fight For Fans' Hearts and Dollars - New York Times". Nytimes.com. 1988-10-24. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
  6. ^ a b "Magazine Publishers of America - The Definitive Resource for the Magazine Industry". Magazine.org. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
  7. ^ a b http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/EA0D9C68C7D848F49059AF6AB6299D3E/ALLABC2001.xls
  8. ^ a b http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/D205C2B661124D3ABFFBC4FC7B697C74/2003allabccirc.xls
  9. ^ a b http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/DCBAEB04DABA4E55B606C4B4776169F5/AllcircABC05.xls
  10. ^ a b http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/5C491848A2784726A4E64A98F4805BFD/FYABC2007ALLCIRC.xls
  11. ^ a b http://www.magazine.org/ASSETS/FB4FAE645D5E46EAA7E4233DCE11EB55/2009FYALLABCCIRC.xls
  12. ^ "Consumer Magazine Search". Audit Bureau of Circulations.
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