Friday, May 1, 2009

Joshua Morrow Digest

Multiple people have sent me the cover of the May 12 issue of Soap Opera Digest. I wonder why. Could it be because Joshua Morrow is on the cover for the third straight week and fourth time in the past five issues? I really hate to be known for ranting about SOD covers but this is ridiculous.

Let me set the record straight on this. I like Morrow. I also love Eric Braeden. But there are other things going on in the soap world besides Victor and Nick Newman, right?

And why are Morrow and Braeden never on the cover together? Seems like a match made in SOD cover heaven. If they are the two best sellers, wouldn't a cover featuring them both sell even better?

For those who are keeping score, in the previous 52 issues, here are the updated rankings based on number of cover appearances (some of the images are inset pics not the main photo).
1. Joshual Morrow 12 covers (23%)
2. Eric Braeden 10
3. Sharon Case 10
4. Tamara Braun 9
5. Maurice Benard 8
6. Deidre Hall 7
6. Jason Thompson 7
8. Drake Hogestyn 6
8. Laura Wright 6
8. Michelle Stafford 6

Note: I have not received my home subscriber cover yet so it may or may not be different than this newsstand cover.

6 comments:

  1. I think we need far more Billy Miller covers.

    Preferably shirtless.

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  2. So, I really am torn here. And not just because Y&R is my show.

    But what IF, at this point, the only covers that move off the newstands ARE Y&R covers. Let's pretend, for example, that they sell 100,000 more Y&R issues than non-Y&R issues. And let's say that EVERY time they do a non-Y&R cover, they take a bath on at least 100,000 issues. (The numbers are out of the air).

    Then...if you were in their business shoes, needing BOTH the cover-price money and the eyeballs (for the advertisers)...wouldn't you just say "I've got to sell issues"?

    Because this is a business, not NPR, don't we have to assume that they're not doing this by choice, but by proven market factors?

    It's not like you haven't called this to their attention. Still they persist. So something tells me this is a survival issue for them.

    I'm not criticizing you at all on this! I see your point entirely! But I'm thinking this is "end times' for this once great publication, and the covers demonstrate that they are hanging on by a thread. And that thread, like it or not, is Joshua Morrow.

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  3. Mark, I say the same thing every time. Since basically three shows get all the covers and have for the past several years, how do they know what will sell NOW, in 2009? It's been so many years since the covers were more evenly distributed that I have a hard time believing that any sales data being used is valid at this point. We know ATWT, GL, OLTL and B&B don't really get covers so any real data on those shows is VERY old.

    The only non-Morrow cover in the past five weeks was the week they covered GL being cancelled but had Patch and Kayla on the cover (two months after they left the show). If that cover didn't sell as well, it's probably because the cover story wasn't timely or newsworthy that week.

    Out of the major magazines, the only comparison I can make is TIME and their Obama covers in the past year. But that seems a little more warranted than Nick Newman. Even when Susan Lucci did Dancing with the Stars and was everywhere, she wasn't on the SOD cover. That one was most puzzling because it seemed like a natural tie in to get prime time viewers to buy a daytime magazine.

    I understand the need to sell and that many print publications are hanging on by a thread. But if the cover draws possible buyers in at the check-out line, some of these covers are so similar I wouldn't even think it was a new issue.

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  4. Mark - I completely get what you're saying, and I understand that the top rated shows, like Y&R, are going to get more covers.

    But let me tell you, when I write about Nuke and/or Otalia, my traffic goes through the ROOF. The chatter on these two couples rivals the big GH, DAYS and Y&R couples.

    There are marketable couples on the P&G shows, couples that I believe would sell magazines.

    I'm not saying (and I don't believe Roger is saying) that lower rated shows should be on the cover all the time.

    I don't think it's unreasonable, though, to see a cover once every few months.

    But SOD in particular doesn't seem to be willing to TRY new ideas or new couples. They should be.

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  5. Let me be clear :-). In my universe, SOD would rotate. Right now (probably not this mechanistically), each soap would get a SOD cover or part of a SOD cover every 8 weeks.

    In addition, since I know that is idealistic, even if I "featured" my "big-selling" soaps, I'd have the other five soaps with prominent inset boxes.

    So, for example, this week I would not only have Y&R, but I'd also have a little box with -- say -- Reva or Nuke or Ryan Lavery or whatever--on the cover.

    But, SOD's denials notwithstanding, Eric Braeden and his publicist have previously gone on record as saying that when they do an interview, they INSIST on the cover.

    I think the same guy, Charles Sherman, handles a lot of those Y&R actors. So, it would not surprise me if the "price" paid to get a Y&R story or cover is an EXCLUSIVE cover or something like that. I know Lynn sort of denied this in her interview with Roger, but clearly there is some deal

    In away, SourceInterlink is doing this experiment. SOW much more commonly features all or most soaps on its cover. Clearly, it seems to me, Source is not assuming (from SOW's sales) that approach will somehow boost SOD.

    Maybe--since Roger has tried and failed to get honesty on this issue--another blogger (like Patrick, or his colleague, Marlena) should try again?

    But I have little believe that SOD will be transparent. Not only are they fighting for their lives (with the Source bankruptcy this week), but they NEVER honestly ACKNOWLEDGED any details regarding the Hinsey affair...even though there was clearly huge public interest in the topic (the now-defunct Jossip hits went through the roof).

    Like Sara Bibel said of ABC today (I'm paraphrasing), sometimes these corporate entities need to be willing to try something new, but for reasons we'll never understand, they remain intransigent until they die. I guess Chrysler and GM are kind of figuring that out too.

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  6. ETA: "I have not received my subscriber cover..."

    Mine usually arrives about 5 days after it hits newsstands. I realize this is probably the fault of the fulfillment house, not SOD directly...but that ain't doing much for business either.

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