Soap Opera Digest - History

History

Soap Opera Digest debuted in November 1975, co-founded by Angela Shapiro and Jerome Shapiro and featuring actors John Aniston, Ron Tomme, Audrey Peters, Birgitta Tolksdorf, Jerry Lacy, and Tudi Wiggins of Love of Life on its first cover. In the early 1990s, the magazine 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 in 1989, and sold it to K-III Communications in 1991. K-III was renamed Primedia in 1997, and sold its magazines to Source Interlink in 2007. American Media, Inc. began publishing Soap Opera Digest in 2011.

Soap Opera Digest, originally published monthly, moved to biweekly issues in 1979, and started publishing weekly in 1997. The issue dates were on Tuesdays, but changed to Mondays beginning with the April 16, 2012 issue. In June 2011, Stephanie Sloane became the magazines Editorial Director replacing Lynn Leahey, who had been with the magazine for 27 years. Columnist Carolyn Hinsey reviews current series and soap-related events in her regular feature, "It's Only My Opinion."

The magazine holds an awards show annually to promote excellence in the genre, as decided by the fans who read the magazine. The Soap Opera Digest Awards (formerly the Soapies) have been held every year since 1977, and were last televised in 2000. The Soapy Award was originally designed by Janis Rogak, the magazine's then-Art Director.