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.
Soap Opera Digest
Debut issue (November 1975), featuring the cast of Love of Life
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 from Gerry M. Ritterman in 1989. Ritterman had owned Soap Opera Digest for three years before selling it to Murdoch Magazines; Ritterman earned more than $50 million from his share of the $70 million purchase price. According to Ritterman, he'd purchased the magazine at 750,000 subscribers and sold it at 1.3 million. Murdoch sold Soap Opera Digest 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 triweekly issues in 1979, biweekly issues in 1980, and on April 1, 1997, started publishing weekly.[4] The issue dates were on Tuesdays, but changed to Mondays beginning with the April 16, 2012 issue.
Meredith Brown Berlin was named executive editor (the magazine's equivalent of editor-in-chief) in 1982 at the age of 26, making her the youngest editor of a national magazine at that time. Ritterman later promoted her to editor-in-chief and vice president. She stayed in that position until 1991. During her tenure, the magazine saw its greatest circulation growth. Berlin was followed by Lynn Leahey, who headed the magazine for 27 years. In June 2011, Stephanie Sloane replaced Leahey as the magazine's editorial director.[citation needed]
The magazine used to hold 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. Berlin and Ritterman earned a handful of Daytime Emmy Award nominations, with Dick Clark Productions, for co executive producing the Soap Opera Digest Awards.[citation needed]
"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 the magazine with the advent of internet chat rooms and message boards.
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.[5] This is a list of Soap Opera Digest's average circulation per issue, per year.
^Fine, Jon (2002-12-30). "Primedia soap mags slice rate bases for '03 | News - Advertising Age". Adage.com. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
^"THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Soap Opera Magazines Fight For Fans' Hearts and Dollars". The New York Times. 1988-10-24. Retrieved 2011-08-09 – via Nytimes.com.
^ ab"Magazine Publishers of America - The Definitive Resource for the Magazine Industry". Magazine.org. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
^ ab (Excel spreadsheet). Magazine Publishers of America. 2001. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012.
^ ab"Fact Sheet: Average Circulation" (Excel spreadsheet). Magazine Publishers of America. 2003.
^ ab"Fact Sheet: Average Circulation" (Excel spreadsheet). Magazine Publishers of America. 2005.
^ ab (Excel spreadsheet). Magazine Publishers of America. 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
^ ab"Fact Sheet: Average Circulation" (Excel spreadsheet). Magazine Publishers of America. 2009.
^"Consumer Magazine Search". Audit Bureau of Circulations.
^"Total circulation of Soap Opera Digest in the United States from 2014 to 2016". Retrieved May 16, 2020.
soap, opera, digest, weekly, magazine, covering, american, daytime, soap, operas, features, onscreen, offscreen, news, about, series, interviews, with, articles, about, performers, storyline, summaries, analysis, related, promotional, information, founded, 197. 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 Soap Opera DigestDebut issue November 1975 featuring the cast of Love of LifeEditorial DirectorStephanie SloaneStaff writersMara LevinskyDevin OwensCategoriesEntertainmentFrequencyWeeklyTotal circulation Dec 2022 48 274 1 FounderAngela Shapiro and Jerome ShapiroFirst issueNovember 1975CompanyAmerican Media Inc CountryUSABased inNew York CityLanguageEnglishWebsiteSoapOperaDigest comISSN0164 3584 Contents 1 History 2 Soap speak acronyms 3 Circulation 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditSoap 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 from Gerry M Ritterman in 1989 Ritterman had owned Soap Opera Digest for three years before selling it to Murdoch Magazines Ritterman earned more than 50 million from his share of the 70 million purchase price According to Ritterman he d purchased the magazine at 750 000 subscribers and sold it at 1 3 million Murdoch sold Soap Opera Digest 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 triweekly issues in 1979 biweekly issues in 1980 and on April 1 1997 started publishing weekly 4 The issue dates were on Tuesdays but changed to Mondays beginning with the April 16 2012 issue Meredith Brown Berlin was named executive editor the magazine s equivalent of editor in chief in 1982 at the age of 26 making her the youngest editor of a national magazine at that time Ritterman later promoted her to editor in chief and vice president She stayed in that position until 1991 During her tenure the magazine saw its greatest circulation growth Berlin was followed by Lynn Leahey who headed the magazine for 27 years In June 2011 Stephanie Sloane replaced Leahey as the magazine s editorial director citation needed The magazine used to hold 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 Berlin and Ritterman earned a handful of Daytime Emmy Award nominations with Dick Clark Productions for co executive producing the Soap Opera Digest Awards citation needed Soap speak acronyms EditSoap 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 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 amp B and The Young and the Restless Y amp 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 Abbreviations used for now defunct series include All My Children AMC Another World AW As the World Turns ATWT The Edge of Night EON Guiding Light GL Love of Life LOL One Life to Live OLTL Port Charles PC Ryan s Hope RH and Search for Tomorrow SFT 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 Capitol Loving and Passions had fully capitalized identifiers while not typically abbreviating their titles in reference Prime time soap operas have also been attributed with acronyms and abbreviations in the magazine including Beverly Hills 90210 90210 Melrose Place MP and Dynasty DYN Circulation EditSoap 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 5 This is a list of Soap Opera Digest s average circulation per issue per year 1988 1 1 million 6 1998 1 101 146 7 1999 1 102 940 7 2000 1 110 527 8 2001 1 025 869 8 2002 987 525 9 2003 598 739 9 2004 524 358 10 2005 495 552 10 2006 517 743 11 2007 512 403 11 2008 514 094 12 2009 498 234 12 2010 490 310 13 2016 123 000 14 2019 71 406 15 2022 48 274 1 See also EditSoap Opera Magazine Soap Opera Update Soap Opera Weekly Soaps In DepthReferences Edit a b Consumer Magazines Audit Bureau of Circulations Retrieved Feb 9 2022 Kroll Dan J April 1 2002 Angela Shapiro to Leave ABC Daytime Post Soapcentral Retrieved September 24 2015 American Media Inc Reaches Licensing Agreement With Source Interlink Companies news sys con com sys con com Soap Opera Digest oapoperaworld com Fine Jon 2002 12 30 Primedia soap mags slice rate bases for 03 News Advertising Age Adage com Retrieved 2011 08 09 THE MEDIA BUSINESS Soap Opera Magazines Fight For Fans Hearts and Dollars The New York Times 1988 10 24 Retrieved 2011 08 09 via Nytimes com a b Magazine Publishers of America The Definitive Resource for the Magazine Industry Magazine org Retrieved 2011 08 09 a b Fact Sheet Average Circulation Excel spreadsheet Magazine Publishers of America 2001 Archived from the original on June 9 2012 a b Fact Sheet Average Circulation Excel spreadsheet Magazine Publishers of America 2003 a b Fact Sheet Average Circulation Excel spreadsheet Magazine Publishers of America 2005 a b Fact Sheet Average Circulation Excel spreadsheet Magazine Publishers of America 2007 Archived from the original on 2011 05 27 Retrieved 2013 09 23 a b Fact Sheet Average Circulation Excel spreadsheet Magazine Publishers of America 2009 Consumer Magazine Search Audit Bureau of Circulations Total circulation of Soap Opera Digest in the United States from 2014 to 2016 Retrieved May 16 2020 Consumer Magazines Retrieved May 16 2020 External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Soap Opera Digest amp oldid 1140228420, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
