The Archers listening figures. Partly established with the aim towards educating farmers following World War II, "The Archers" soon became a popular source of entertainment for the population at large, attracting nine million listeners by 1953. "The Archers" is set in the fictional village of Ambridge in the fictional county of Borsetshire, in England. Borsetshire is situated between, in reality, the contiguous counties of Worcestershire and Warwickshire, south of Birmingham in The Midlands. Possibly based on the village of Cutnall Green, various other villages claim to be the inspiration for Ambridge; "The Bull", Ambridge's pub, is modelled on The Old Bull in
Soap Opera Digest had up to 1.4 million subscribers. In 1980, Network Publishing Corporation purchased the magazine from Shapiro, who went on to found "Soap Opera Update". Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation bought the magazine from Gerry M. Ritterman in 1989. Ritterman had owned "Soap Opera Digest" for three years before selling it to Murdoch Magazines; Ritterman earned more than $50 million from his share of the $70 million purchase price. According to Ritterman, he'd purchased the magazine at 750,000 subscribers and sold it at 1.3 million. Murdoch sold Soap Opera Digest to K-III Communications in 1991. K-III was renamed Primedia in 1997, and