Daytime Ratings: December 1999 Vs Now

[R!ck]

5 Week Average December 1999 (compared to December averages for 2006)

1. Y&R 6.1

2. B&B 4.4

3. DAYS 4.3

4. GH 4.2

5. ATWT 4.0

6. AMC 3.9

7. GL 3.6

8. OLTL 3.5

9. PC 2.1 (NA)

10. PSNS 2.0

11. SUBE 1.5 (NA)

December 2006 Averages

1. Y&R 4.2 (-1.9)

2. B&B 3.1 (-1.3)

3. GH 2.7 (-1.8)

4. DAYS 2.5 (-1.5)

5. OLTL 2.4 (-1.1)

5. ATWT 2.4 (-1.6)

5. AMC 2.4 (-1.5)

8. GL 2.2 (-1.4)

9. PSNS 1.6 (-0.4)

[danthig]

It looks like Y&R had a bigger drop in audience than DAYS and Passion has lost the least amount of ratings.What a difference.

[R!ck]

Yep! Y&R has dropped the most, but hey are up vs last year so maybe it's back on the upswing.

[billyjill]

Loss by percentage ((1999 - 2006)/1999):

Y&R - 31.15%

B&B - 29.55%

DAYS - 41.86%

GH - 35.71%

ATWT - 40%

AMC - 38.46%

GL - 38.89%

OLTL - 31.43%

PSNS - 20%

Top to bottom:

DAYS - 41.86%

ATWT - 40%

GL - 38.89%

AMC - 38.46%

GH - 35.71%

OLTL - 31.43%

Y&R - 31.15%

B&B - 29.55%

PSNS - 20%

[KLN]

God, Days AVERAGE was a 4.3

[Cheap21]

that must have been the stuff with Princess Gina bc I knew that was the first time I started taping Days. I was hooked towards the end of 1999

[KLN]

I hated that garbage, LoL

Actually, I really hated the show in 1999. The fact that it was still performing so well surprises me.

[winterguy125]

I think all it would take is some good quality writing and the ratings for soaps would start going up again, I don't think they will ever get where they once were, but I think they could stand to improve. ATWT was on the rise for most of the year until the writing started to suck and the ratings reflect that, I really think if ATWT would have kept up with its good storytelling earlier in the year that by know we would be back at a 3.0 because at one point it was 2.7 and climbing, but then the show started sucking and we are now back to a 2.4- 2.5 everyweek.

GH is proof that the ratings can go back up, there writing has gotten better(I don't watch, but from what I have read) and hence the ratings show this improvement.

[mateo22]

Great post, and I couldn't agree more! Writing and the lack of 'true' creative control is one of the biggest problems, IMO, with all soaps, across the board. People still watch daytime tv, and there are still a plethora of uber passionate fans out there, most of them are just burned out on the same old stuff. Why watch when most have 300+ channels to watch?

The scariest part is that a good chunk of the behind the scenes people just don't seem to care anymore, and it's frustrating! There is still hope, IMO, but it's gonna take someone or a group of someone(s), with the balls of the late Gloria Monty, to regenerate the genre. It can be done, but TPTB need to seriously get their heads outta their behinds and listen to not only the fans but the cast and crew as well. Soap actors are not happy either, and we see that time and time again in interviews and at fan events.

[jfung79]

Better writing is needed, but I don't think it would reverse the overall downward trend that much. Many people just aren't around in the daytime to watch soaps anymore, and also there is a lot more forms of entertainment than just TV.

I think and hope that what we're seeing now is that soaps have hit their rock bottom core audiences though. I don't think the ratings are going to fall too much more overall. People may shift from one show to another, but I don't think we're going to see a precipitous decline below 2.0 or something like that.

[DH23]

I am truly surprised they haven't fallen farther. The shows are a mess. GL is the only show, in my opinion, that churns out a consitently decent performance. The others have been up and down and all over the place.