November 6-10, 2006

[Bree]

Matthew Ashford left in the 90s and the show went on.

Kristian Alfonso left in the late 80s and the show went on.

Peter Reckell left, was replaced by RKK, and the show went on. Fans even accepted Bo when paired up with Billie at the time.

Deidre Hall left and the show went on.

Louise Sorel left and the show went on.

Wayne Northrup left and the show went on.

So Evan and anyone else trying to say one actor or a few causing the ratings to fall is bogus---unless Alison Sweeney decides to leave or is let go. Then DAYS could be in real trouble. Until that happens, I wouldn't be counting out Hogan and his team just yet.

[Mitchapalooza]

Evan all your laughing and b*tching in the world will STILL not change the fact that DAYS was repeated on Thursday to almost every single market in the US as a result of the interruptions on Wednesday...seriously there is NO WAY you can deny that this had an affect on the ratings.

Also J&J never did any good for the ratings when they were ON the show...DAYS hit all-time lows of 2.3 when THEY were on the show...not saying it was because of them and in fact they are one of my all-time favorite couples, but simply throwing this ratings drop on the fact that J&J fanbase is now gone is laughable at best!!

[Evan]

I recall Jack/Jen rating better than 2.3s, even during JER's previous tenure as headwriter(on the rare occasions Matt Ashford wasn't sidelined or written off the show).

To claim that Jack/Jen weren't a popular couple is erroneous!

What's DAYS rating now, 2.4? Obviously Bo/Hope and John/Marlena are bringing in the viewers, much better than J&J ever did.

[Mitchapalooza]

Seriously now, did you even READ my post? NO where did I say that Jack and Jennifer were not a popular couple, and don't get me wrong outside of the J&J diehards on this board you will not meet a BIGGER J&J fan in myself.

That being said, J&J (M&M) were ON the show when DAYS was hitting 2.4's and even 2.3's (lower than DAYS current rating), sure for the most parts ratings were higher than 2.4 or 2.3 when they were on the show, but they certainly were not brining in the big numbers for the show and DAYS was getting 2.5/2.6 range when they were on the show, the same rating points they have been getting lately without them.

I just don't think it is fair to blame these drops on the fact that J&J fanbase is no longer watching when in fact DAYS has been at the same rating and even lower WHEN J&J were on the show...so again your gonna have to come up with a better reason than that!

[Soapsuds]

How sad are the ratings. Four soaps tied for the fifth spot at a 2.4. It sure looks like Laura's return was a bust. They may be in 3rd but a 2.6 is not even close to being where the numbers should have been. I have a feeling the wedding won't do much better. And OLTL's Antonio and Jessica wedding did zero for the ratings ...same goes with AMC's JR going through a window.

Evan, you have to let it go. Move on.

[RogerNewcomb]

It's not about one couple or character on any show. It's about consistently good storytelling which does NOT exist on any of the nine soaps. DAYS couples could be reunited and on the front burner but if they are in stupid stories or boring stories, the average person is not going to watch five hours a week of it, not matter how much or how long they have loved Bo/Hope, John/Marlena, etc. Consistent excellence is the only thing that will sustain a ratings surge. Will we ever see that again? Everything else is just a .1 up this week and a .1 down the next with the downs slowly outnumbering the ups over the last several years.

[SteveFrame]

RogerNewcomb ITA with your post. It is so sad that we are not getting that anymore.

As to JR's jumping out the window, it was evidently exciting enough to pull them up some. Since the preemption is being blamed for shows dropping and I am sure it was, I just wonder what AMC's rating would have been if they hadn't shown the same show on Wednesday and Thursday in some parts of the country. Here we saw the first part of the show on Wednesday but some parts saw the whole thing on Wednesday and Thursday too. And they were able to maintain their 2.3 from Wednesday.

It is just sad that maintaining a 2.3 has become acceptable.

As Roger said we need that consistent storytelling and none of them are giving us that - not even my fave ATWT does that anymore, and Y&R doesnt' even fire on all cylinders anymore with that like they once did.

Sadly we can put any spin we want to on them as fans just like the networks do - but the truth is these ratings stink esp. for sweeps.

[WTGH]

I'm surprised ATWT held it's own.

It's been one of the most boring November Sweeps on record.

[SteveFrame]

It doesn't surprise me anymore about sweeps for ATWT. It has been so long since they have really done anything for sweeps - as long as I can remember anyway. They seem to concentrate on the other months, but I agree with you that alot of this month has been more boring than usual - and I usually don't find the show boring. The biggest thing keeping me has been Craig. He even makes Dusty/Lucy and Craig/Meg more interesting for me.

[Chris B]

ATWT is putting me to sleep this month, lol. I really don't understand why they don't do their big events in sweeps. I'm really annoyed with just about every story on the show.

Glad to see the ratings for Y&R were good, but I wish they could stay in the 4.5-4.6+ range everyday. Looks like Who Killed Carmen was the low point for the week.

As for DAYS and couples or whatever, I still say the ratings won't pick up until Hogan does a big sweeps event that can be promoted. Millions of viewers don't know or care that Hogan is at the show. In order for them to tune in and see the changes there has to be an event to get them there. Until then, nothing will change.

[cal3]

I don't think there is any character or couple on OLTL that alone will impact the ratings in a positive matter . . . and that includes Todd. That said, if there was any couple that could be counted on to not impact the ratings in a positive way it has to be Jessica and Antonio. They have been dubbed the worst couple in the history of the show for years. People have been begging for years for them to be over and what do we get , they get the wedding that happens. RME.

OLTL is in as much trouble as AMC, if not more. At this time the pieces to Humpty Dumpty may be too small for all the king's horses and all the king's men to put back together again.

[King]

I hate to agree with you. But I do.

Well, kind of. A combination of the pre-emption and the show just not being amazing yet.

[Ridge]

LOL, well it's not Bush it is that the show wasn't on to be watched so how can the ratings be counted? LOL.

In any case, I *do* agree with you! Not so much about the fanbase (they always seem to be attributed to when ratings go down, but never when ratings are stagnant), because not all of a fanbase will turn in when soemthing big is happening. Look at Steve and Kayla and what not.

But, Hogan is not really writing anything watch worthy, or must see. Maybe that is his technique to ease in slowly. I do agree that it is good soap, for the most part, but there needs to be more interest.

[edgeofnik]

I'm sure Y&R and B&B would have been higher for week were it not for pre-emption. In Chi-town, we lost half of Y&R and they only showed last five mintues of B&B. Keep in mind, that it's THE NETWORKS, STUPID who are pre-empting. Not the President. ABC, CBS and NBC don't have to cover every speech. Hell, this one could've been over in 15 minutes, but they had to carry Q&A. Let's not forget, the real enemy here. There's a reason why press conferences aren't held on Saturdays and Sunday because the networks would never preempt sports because they "contractly obligated" to cover them or so they say. LOL. I'll just settle for good storylines and character-driven plots.

[David V]

With pre-empting and its effect on ratings, it's interesting people point to the pre-empting of soaps for the OJ trial as the starting point for a ratings decline, yet soaps still get pre-empted when the occasion arises and they'd been periodically pre-empted for years BEFORE OJ (case in point: the 1988 Iran-Contra hearings). Hence I tend to think pre-empting soaps is used by soap PTBs as a pathetic cop-out for falling quality and the corresponding fall in ratings.