Why do they cal soap operas?

Question

soap operas is that short for anything maybe

Answer 1

While soaps themselves have complicated stories involving romance, betrayal, and dark family secrets, the story behind the term "soap opera" is simple and squeaky clean.
In the 1920s, radio was booming, and broadcasters wanted to get advertisers in on the act to increase their station's profits. So radio stations convinced businesses that sold household goods to sponsor radio shows. To appeal to the main consumers of these items -- female homemakers -- the radio stations created the daytime serial drama format. The first radio soap opera ran in Chicago and was sponsored by a margarine company.

Soon, all the networks had serials aimed at women, and companies selling cleaners and food products rushed to sponsor the shows. For example, Proctor & Gamble's Oxydol soap powder sponsored a popular serial drama in 1933. By 1939 the press started calling the shows "soap operas" because so many were sponsored by soap manufacturers. "Opera" had already been used in a non-musical sense in the '20s with "horse opera," which described Western movies.

Soaps moved from radio to TV along with most entertainment forms in the 1950s. Despite the intervention of evil twins, presumed-dead spouses, vengeful lovers, and the occasional vampire, soap operas have been going strong ever since.

Answer 2

The term "soap opera" originated from the fact that when these serial dramas were aired on daytime radio, the commercials aired during the shows were largely aimed at housewives. Many of the products sold during these commercials were laundry and cleaning items, and included a jingle praising the product. This specific type of radio drama came to be associated with these particular commercials, and this gave rise to the term "soap opera" — a melodramatic story that aired commercials for soap products. Though soap operas are still sponsored by companies such as Procter & Gamble, the diverse demographic groups that soap operas attract have caused other advertisements for such things as acne medication and birth control, appealing to a much younger audience.

Answer 3

Opera because of the turgid plots and overacting. Soap because they are used to sell things, including soap.

Answer 4

They used to advertise soap and cleaning supplies aimed at the stay at home moms that watched in the afternoons.

Answer 5

because way back---when women stayed home to watch over their homes and children---they would watch tv during the day --when they could---alot of the advertisers were laundry detergents and dish soaps---ads aimed at the housewives-----if it were the men that stayed home they would probably have been called car operas!!

Answer 6

When these TV programs began, most of their commercial sponsors were companies that sold household products to housewives, including, of course, soap. Hence the name.

Answer 7

Back in the Day. Those mid-day shows were sponsored by things that were marketed to " housewife's" and what do "housewife's " do? They clean hence Soap sponsor's. It's an out dated term.

Answer 8

The original sponsors on the radio shows were the soap companies, because they knew that these shows appealed to females, who were their audience, and their potential consumers.

Answer 9

Because they chronicle the lives of dirty people........


Soap companies used to sponsor the shows.

Answer 10

I guess they were created back in the 20s, and they wanted to target them to housewives. They apparently did not used to be so dirty and violent like they are now. Read the article in the sources...it explains it pretty well.