Soap opera Soap opera A soap opera is an ongoing drama serial on television or radio, featuring the lives of many characters and their emotional relationships. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas being sponsored by soap manufacturers. BBC Radio's "The Archers", first broadcast in 1950, is the world’s longest-running radio soap opera; the world's longest-running television soap opera is "Coronation Street", first broadcast on ITV in 1960. The first serial considered to be a "soap opera" was "Painted Dreams", which debuted on October 20, 1930 on Chicago radio station WGN. Early radio series such as "Painted Dreams" were broadcast in
Soap opera it in terms of nudity and sexual situations and was scheduled in a nighttime slot. Produced by Crawford Productions, many critics considered "The Box" to be a more slickly produced and better written show than "Number 96". "The Box" also aired on the Ten Network, programmed to run right after "Number 96". For 1974 "Number 96" was again the highest rating show on Australian television, and that year "The Box" occupied the number two spot. Also in 1974, the Reg Grundy Organisation created its first soap opera, and significantly Australia's first "teen" soap opera, "Class of '74". With its attempts