All Soap Opera's are of course fictional, although they cover real-life issues and problems; however the characters are not real. Most people watch soaps as it makes them feel happier about their own lives if they can see that these characters have bigger problems than them. People enjoy seeing characters develop and seeing how they react to certain issues; how they behave with one another and how relationships grow. Slowly but gradually we become experts on our favourite characters as we pick up on their mannerisms and we can begin to predict certain actions and emotions they may display. We basically enjoy watching soaps as we like watching how other people live and soaps are a good example of this; they are just a lot more interesting and dramatic than our own.
Broadcasters continue to create Soaps are they are quite cheap to produce and gain huge audiences which in turn enables them to generate huge revenues. Most soaps can run for years for example Coronation Street has been going on for over than 40 years! The same set can be used over and over again and little location filming is needed. Most episodes are quite quick to film in contrast with films. However not all soaps are always successful. Crossroads is an example of one; this particular soap just didn't catch the interest of any viewers and was dropped after a few years.
Due to the popularity of Soaps, the advertising slots in between are expensive to purchase. However there are a guaranteed large number of viewers that will be seeing the advert. There are numerous opportunities for the soap producers to see themed items which will sell due to the very large interested market.
