Question 1 is regarding the length of story lines people prefer. Exactly half of the people who took the survey declared that they enjoyed story lines that last several months whereas the other half stated that they did not like this. In regards to my own soap opera, I would make sure that I never used just long story lines, nor short ones.
Question 2 is about the type of character that people most look forward to seeing in a soap opera. The most popular character was the arrogant/confident one, with 37.5% agreeing with this, followed by someone who is likable, amusing and funny both of which gained 25% of the votes. The least popular type of character is someone who is annoying, a character which only 12.5% of people stated to prefer. This information is in keeping with long standing soap opera characters - Eastenders Alfie Moon recently made a come back to the soap as a "cheeky chappie" who is very likable.
Question 3 considers the type of story lines people are most interested in seeing. Story lines based around relationships and which are shocking both took 37.5% of votes, with story lines that deal with current issues taking 25%. No one voted for a storyline that centres around friends or family which surprised me because of the longevity of established families in soap operas - The Mitchell family in Eastenders is very long standing, with new additions Ronnie and Roxy joining the soap in July 2007. Their popularity is obvious with the actress who plays Roxy winning the award for "Best Newcomer" at the Digital Spy Soap Awards in 2008. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxy_Mitchell)
Question 4 is about the timing of soap operas; my survey shows that over 60% of viewers would like a soap opera to be shown in the early evening, followed by 25% saying Prime Time (8pm) and 12.5% in the afternoon. Soap Opera "Hollyoaks" is shown in the early evening and has lasted since October 1995 (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_Hollyoaks_start) and so proves that its viewing figures are still high.
Question 5 is about the times per week people watch a soap opera. 62.5% watch soap operas 2-3 times a week, which indicates that people prefer a soap opera which is aired frequently throughout the week as opposed to just once.
Question 6 is about whether soap opera trailers entice a viewer to watch the soap opera; interestingly 71.4% said that trailers aren't effective in making them watch the soap, which makes me wonder why. Regarding this, I would definitely aim to try and bring something new to my trailer so that it catches the audiences eye and offers them something different.
Question 7 is enquiring about what it is that attracts an audience to a soap opera. 37.5% of people said that interesting characters is what they look for in a soap. Typical characters include a 'jack-the-lad' type character, a nosy pensioner, a young teenage mum and a cheating husband. The reason I think these characters are so popular is because people can relate to their own lives; the use of verisimilitude forces them to draw comparisons or to emphasise with characters. Shocking story lines and attractive characters were next most important to those carrying out the survey. Examples of shocking story lines used in soap operas include a plane crash in Neighbours (2005) and a baby swap in Eastenders (2011)
Question 8 is about what peoples favourite soap opera is. The benefit of this question is that it gives us an insight as to which soap opera is the favourite and so we can then look into why it is so popular.
Question 9 and 10 looked into what type of audience watch soap operas. 62.5% of viewers are aged between 17 and 24, and so when making my own soap opera I will be concentrating heavily on that age group. We also found that more men than women watch soap operas, but I would still try to make a soap opera appealing to both genders.
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