The Museum of Broadcasting in New York City has a radio program on tape as well as a kinescope of an early television program. Both are available to the public. Readers who would like to consult summaries of the very recent programming should read The Soap Opera Digest. The intensity of the drive to improve ratings led to scheduling and program cancellations during the time of the study and shortly afterward. Ratings are used to determine the costs of commercials and profits of networks and program makers.
Demographics are important since sponsors want to reach specific audience members.
For soaps, sponsors want to reach women 18-49. It was explained with explicit crassness, that high ratings among viewers over forty have little commercial value since middle-aged people purchase fewer tubes of toothpaste, bottles of shampoo, and jars of deodorant than do younger people. While soaps routinely deal with highly dramatic conflicts and problems, there are some topics that are generally avoided. A soap related industry was developing over the two years covered by the research. The major concern in many situations is that costs be kept down.