Soap opera largely aired soap opera reruns, began to be phased out in 2012 and fully ceased operations the following year. The Daytime Emmy Awards, which honor soap operas and other daytime shows, moved from primetime network television to smaller cable channels in 2012, then failed to get any TV broadcast at all in 2014, 2016, and 2017. Several of the U.S.’s most established soaps ended between 2009 and 2012. The longest-running drama in television and radio history, "Guiding Light", barely reached 2.1 million daily viewers in 2009 and ended on September 18 of that year, after a 72-year run. "As the
Soap opera early 1970s and in 1972, debuted "Emmerdale Farm" (now "Emmerdale"), based on the successful format of the Irish soap opera. In the late 1970s, "The Riordans" was controversially dropped. The creator of that series would then go on to produce the second of his "Agri-soap" trilogy "Bracken", starring Gabriel Byrne, whose character had appeared in the last few seasons of "The Riordans". Bracken was soon replaced by the third "Agri-soap" "Glenroe", which ran until 2001. As RTÉ wanted a drama series for its Sunday night lineup rather than a soap opera, "On Home Ground" (2001–2002), "The Clinic" (2002–2009) and "RAW"