VanessaReardon

For the week ending 8/26/84 the rankings of the top 8 soaps were: GH, AMC, Y&R, OLTL, GL, ATWT, DAYS, CAP

Y&R was the #1 daytime show (beating The Price is Right) from Oct 29-Nov 2, 1984. Soap Rankings that week were: Y&R, GH, GL, AMC, ATWT, OLTL, CAP, DAYS, AW, LOV, RH, SFT, SB, EON

Partial ratings week ending 11/18/84: GH 8.9, Y&R 8.0, AMC 7.5, ATWT 7.4, GL 7.3, DAYS 7.2, OLTL 6.8

I’m going to suspend posting the Daytime TV magazine ratings because I have a better source and have found weekly ratings pretty much from 1985 on, with a few missing weeks. But in the meantime, to confuse everyone even more, I have found that the ratings posted in Daytime TV’s March 1987 issue were the actual ratings for week of August 25-29, 1986 and the April, 1987 issue showed the ratings from October 6-10, 1986. So the magazine was several months behind - even moreso than I thought. It will be much more clearer going forward for me to post clearly defined ratings -ratings for a specific week, instead of these were in Daytime TV but I don’t know which week they represent. Look forward to sharing this stuff that was in my basement. 

I’ve started to dig up more detailed ratings info from 1984. For the week of July 30 to August 3, 1984 the rankings were as follows: AMC, GH, OLTL, Y&R, GL, ATWT, Days, Capitol, AW, SB and finally SFT. I don’t have the ratings numbers, just the ranking.
Loving, Ryan’s Hope and Edge were preempted because of the olympics and ABC aired 40 minute episodes of AMC, OLTL and GH from 1-3 pm. 

14 hours ago, pdm1974 said:

I wonder what was the closest SB ever got to AW....Someone posted earlier what would have happened to Santa Barbara's ratings if it had been switched in timeslots with Another World.

You’ll see - in 1988 how close SB got to AW.

Just to repeat, these ratings are for the issue date of Daytime TV Magazine. Search For Tomorrow was still listed in their ratings in the April, 1987 issue even though they left the air at the end of December 1986. 

1 hour ago, StepBack said:

This Theo stuff is AWFUL and UNNECESSARY.  And OMG what the hell are they writing for Phyllis? Phyllis on Adam couch begging to be accepted, and then ripping up the cheque? So much awfulness and Stafford once again did not deliver. I wonder if she regrets coming back, because it looks like the cast has moved on from MS Phyllis, even from the scene interactions.

Agreed. I can’t stand Theo. Y&R is so blah lately. Is this November sweeps or sleeps? 

6 minutes ago, watson71 said:

CHiPS aired in the 3:00 PM timeslot from April-September 1982.  Fantasy- a combination American game show and human-interest show co-hosted by Peter Marshall and Leslie Uggams aired in the timeslot from September 1982 to October 1983.  It was replaced by The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour from October 1983 to July 1984 when Santa Barbara debuted.

Great info. Thanks! 

8 minutes ago, slick jones said:

I think we're all tiptoe-ing around on that so far.

 

It has been a GREAT few days. Fingers crossed. 

Kinda something fun I came across from Feb 1989. I have no idea what time frame this captured but the source was Nielsen. 

I won’t bore you with the article but first week ratings for some of the soaps that debuted in the 80’s: Loving 4.9/18 (previously discussed here), Santa Barbara 3.2/12 for its first week, Bold & Beautiful 5.6/20 and Generations 3.1/11. Generations ranked 19 out of 23 daytime shows, and last of the soaps during its first week. 

Ah, Nia Long. Just a nice, nice person. Love her! 

Warning!! I might bombard this thread in the coming weeks. Found this clipping which apparently lists the daytime ratings for the full month of May, 1982. 

Found the ratings for the last quarter of 1981, which included the infamous Luke & Laura wedding on GH. 

On 10/26/2019 at 5:59 PM, ironlion said:

Wow! Strasser called her out by name! If JFP is clearly an issue, why does she keep getting hired

Phelps and Strasser clearly did not get along. But I very much remember that Strasser lied to the press about Phelps and publicly apologized to Phelps on her infamous hotline. Strasser claimed that Phelps made her come in on her vacation to shoot scenes, which was apparently a lie and Strasser then owned up to the lie and apologized on her hotline. I believe that there are 2 sides to the Strasser/Phelps story. 

I found a gem that I forgotten I had. It pretty much confirms my belief that it was a myth that GL hit #1 in 1984. Yes, GL beat GH for 3 weeks, but GL was not the number 1 soap. 

5 hours ago, EONGLOLTL said:

I had forgotten that Days was doing so well in 1986!  Thanks so much Vanessa Reardon for posting these!  

Thanks - there’s so much more coming in the future months. I have tons of stuff in my basement that will flesh out the ratings. I hope to sort through that info during the winter and post it. I have many weeks of ratings from the mid 80’s onward that will fill in the gaps between the Daytime TV monthly ratings. 

2 hours ago, slick jones said:

@Paul Raven is meticulous in his research unlike some NUTJOBS that post willy-nilly on the board.

I believe that the question asked was whether or not AW reached higher than 8th  during the rest of its run, from the mid 80’s onward, which Paul answered. The nutjob had to interject and post info from the 60’s and 70’s. Totally off topic and irrelevant to the question. Plus, the info she posted is readily available right here at SON. She didn’t have to look far. Ugh.

7 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Thanks  @VanessaReardon for this wonderful resource and your knowledge! 

 

ATWT appeared to have been such a strong contender 1983-84, what caused them to go into freefall to middle of the pack by the end of 1985? Lindsay Frost as Betsy? 

You’re very welcome! I really can’t answer why ATWT lost its way but I think we all know that the hiring of Doug Marland in 1985 really started to turn the show around and 1986 was a great year for the show creatively. 

Posting 60’s and 70’s ratings in a VERY clearly marked 80’s thread shows how sick this woman is. 

On 10/24/2019 at 9:39 AM, Donna B said:

repetition of 7th

1966-67 AW 7th

1967-68 AW 2nd

1968-69 AW 3rd

1969-70 AW Bay City 5th/AW Somerset 15th

1970-71 AW Bay City 4th/AW Somerset 13th

1971-72 AW 6th

1972-73 AW 3rd

1974-75 AW 2nd

1975-76 AW 2nd

1976-77 AW 2nd

1977-78 AW 2nd

1978-79 AW 8th

repetition of 8th, etc.

 

Well thank you genius for continually posting OFF topic. Ugh!!!! Stop it!! Please. You ruin every thread. 

Different day, same old stuff. I swear she does it on purpose.

Mike, we should talk! Mel is a TOTAL diva. Not a nice person. Trillions of stories about her. Eric is great as long as you just come prepared, know your lines. He doesn’t put up with unpreparedness. 

The nutjob is truly mentally ill. She highjacks every single thread to get attention. She’s a sick person. 

In the meantime: 

7 hours ago, Albert said:

Was 02/84 on of those rare to find magazines?

Oh wow Albert. I never even noticed that. I don’t have the 02/84 ratings. Good catch. 

24 minutes ago, Khan said:

Bull.  [!@#$%^&*].

 

You DO do it on purpose, Donna.  You ALWAYS do it on purpose.  Every. Single. Time.  Only THIS time, you have the audacity to hide behind Parkinson's Disease, of all things.

 

Your obnoxious behavior is what got you banned once upon a time from the GLBuzz board; and if there's still a God in Message Board Heaven, it'll get you banned from here, too.

She does it for attention and yes, I am giving the mentally ill nutjob the attention she craves but it is just to call her out as a mentally ill person. She needs help. 

27 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

I agree: I think that story is a myth. 

 

 

I am curious: what did you appreciate about the Long/Kobe tenure? Had you watched TGL before they arrived?

 

 

 

 

This may sound cynical, but I've always felt that GH was so weak in 1984 that some viewers switched over to TGL by default, LOL.

Oh yes, I watched GL before Kobe/Long. I think Kit Vested was the first story I remember. Kobe/Long to me revitalized the show. The 4 muskateers, Alexandra, Billy/Vanessa, Reva. I just loved it during their regime.