EastEnders, Coronation Street and your other favourite soaps could be at risk after audience numbers plummet faster than anything else on TV, The Mirror reported.
Ratings for the first eight weeks of 2021 showed that terrestrial TV viewing is down by 9% compared with the first two months of 2017 due to the fact that there are now a ton of streaming services being watched.
The likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, iPlayer, All 4, and Now TV all offer lots of options to their audiences, making themselves one-stop shops for TV for their viewers.
Out of all terrestrial TV, it has sadly been soaps which have seen a far steeper decline in people tuning in to watch.
(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes)
Emmerdale is down by 22%, EastEnders has dropped by 37% and Coronation Street ’s audience has fallen by 19% in those four years.
It appears if viewers are tuning in to their TVs they are more likely to watch something else other than our much loved soaps these days.
In 2017, Corrie had an average of 7.6 million viewers, but by last year that had dropped by 15% to 6.7m. On BBC1, EastEnders had 6.6m, regular viewers, for 2017 but that figure dipped to 5m for 2020.
TV rating expert Stephen Price has claimed the soap love has died down.
Writing in Broadcast magazine, he said: “The soaps’ dominance of traditional TV appears to be on the wane, no longer impervious to challenge from the linear opposition and losing fans to the streamers.
“With volume falling faster than overall TV viewing and the challenge of other genres more keenly felt, soaps’ all-conquering prowess is disappearing.”
News got even worse for the soaps when viewing figures revealed the habits of younger soap fans.
Fans aged 16-34 have been dropping like flies, with Corrie losing 39% since 2017, Emmerdale 48% and EastEnders 53%.
Like what you see? Then fill your boots…
There’s MUCH more where that came from! Want all the jaw-dropping stories from the world of showbiz and up to the minute news from TV and soaps?
Well, we’ve got you covered with our showbiz, TV and soaps newsletters – they’ll drop straight into your inbox and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
We’ll bring you the inside track from telly expert Ed Gleave and soap specialist Sasha Morris. Oh, and your daily fix of Piers, Katie Price, Demi Rose and all your other Daily Star favs.
You can sign up here – you won’t regret it…
ITV said: “ITV soaps are consistently amongst the most-watched programmes in primetime and they are in the top three most streamed on ITV Hub.”
The BBC said many younger fans watched on laptops or phones – which are not included in the ratings figures.
Here’s to hoping people start watching again!
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
