As for daytime soaps, their ratings are eroding constantly, and I doubt they will all be on the air in 10 -15 years from now.
Industry insiders say that the demise of the soap is actually probably less than five years away. That's why shows like
Days of Our Lives are killing off major characters--to get the high-dollar people off the payroll as a means of survival.
But the real reason the form is dying is because the writing generally sucks and is totally manipulative, unnatural and silly. And casting directors tend to cast genetic masterpieces as opposed to people who are pretty much good looking, but who can actually act--like
DS did all those years ago.
Port Charles probably also failed because it was against--in most markets--
The Young & The Restless, TV's top-rated soap.
Passions--Spike's favorite soap--is also big with the supernatural storylines--but, oddly enough, now that
PC is canceled, it is TV's lowest rated soap.
If soaps do go the wayside, the producers and writers have no one to blame but themselves, for they are the ones killing off the audience.