Soap Opera Weekly Magazine Shuts Down...Unless It Was All Just a Dream

Original main title (Photo credit: Wikipedia)With once-thriving daytime dramas down to four stalwart soap opera hangers-on, including General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, it's not surprising news that American Media Inc. has discontinued Soap Opera Weekly ("SOW").

According to an article in Ad Week citing Audit Bureau of Circulations numbers, SOW circulation plunged 50 percent over the past four years to 107, 817. Competitor Soap Opera Digest ("SOD") continues to keep readers abreast of all the torrid affairs, long-lost twins and other hijinks among their favorite  "soaps" characters, but also saw  circulation decline by 40 percent last year to 292,219.

Sounds as if this segment of the publishing industry is undergoing a not-so Secret Storm and can use a Guiding Light to show it the way to profitability.