Days: Ratings from 2000

[Ilovemydays]

IA Something happened but it wasn't 9/11

In 1999 Another World was canceled and Sunset Beach was canceled 12/31/99.

I think some people hung on to NBC but eventually switched networks for good.

[PhoenixRising05]

Steve a ratings decline is when a show drops for a long period of time and stays down at that point. You mention how Days saw it's lowest numbers ever from May to July 2001 but while they did drop to a 3.3 they quickly jumped back to a 3.4 the week after and then jumped back up to a 3.8. That was the week of the Salem Bombings. Days ratings had been at 3.4-3.6 for weeks after the Coronation Massacre so to call that a decline is wrong. Days was like a rollercoaster from March-August 2001. It was always in that range of primarily 3.4. 2001 was much like 2000. The early part of the yeat saw solid ratings because of alot going on and then things got inconsistent because there were long periods of nothing going on (March wasn't horrible but April was incredibly dull). I don't know what numbers you are looking at but after 9/11, the show did horrible. I got stuck in the lower 3.0's and stayed there until the Mother of the Year Party. Nothing happened that Fall until that party.

Here is the 2001 ratings for Jason47's site:

1/8/01.........3.........3.9.............13.........1/15/01.......4.........3.8............12

1/22/01.......3*........3.6.............12........1/29/01.......3.........3.8.............13

2/5/01.........3*........3.7.............13........2/12/01.......3.........4.0.............13

2/19/01.......3.........3.8..............12........2/26/01.......3.........3.7.............13

3/5/01.........4.........3.8..............12.......3/12/01.......3.........3.8..............13

3/19/01.......3.........3.7..............13........3/26/01.......3.........3.9.............13

4/2/01.........3.........3.7..............13........4/9/01.........3.........3.7.............13

4/16/01.......3*........3.7..............13........4/23/01.......4.........3.5..............13

4/30/01.......3.........3.5..............13.........5/7/01.........5*.......3.3..............12 5/14/01.......5.........3.4..............13........5/21/01.......3.........3.8..............14

5/28/01.......3.........3.7..............13........6/4/01.........3*.......3.7...............13

6/11/01.......3.........3.8...............13.......6/18/01.......4.........3.8...............12

6/25/01.......3.........3.9...............13.......7/2/01.........7*........3.3...............07

7/9/01.........3.........4.0...............13......7/16/01.......3.........3.9...............13

7/23/01.......3.........4.3...............14......7/30/01.......3.........3.9...............13

8/6/01.........3.........4.0...............13......8/13/01.......3*........3.9...............13

8/20/01.......4*........3.6...............12......8/27/01.......3.........3.7...............13

9/3/01.........4*.......3.5................12......9/10/01.......Preempted all week

9/17/01.......6.........3.4................11.....9/24/01.......4.........3.4................12

10/1/01.......3*........3.4................12.....10/8/01.......4*........3.4................12

10/15/01.....3*........3.5................12.....10/22/01.....3*........3.6................12

10/29/01.....5*........3.4................12.....11/5/01.......6*........3.3................12

11/12/01.....4*........3.5................12.....11/19/01.....4*........3.5................12

11/26/01.....7.........3.4................12.....12/3/01......4..........3.4................12

12/10/01.....3*........3.4................12.....12/17/01.....3..........3.6...............12

12/24/01.....3..........3.8...............11.....12/31/01.....3..........4.2...............12

Based on this, you can see the only time Days dipped below a 3.5 was those first two weeks of May 2001. The show was painfully boring, as opposed to the early parts of the year with the Coronation and aftermath so those final weeks in April and first two weeks of May, which were buildups to the bombings, saw lesser numbers because not much was going. The action amped up and the show recovered all the way to a 3.8 and then it never dropped below 3.5 again until after 9/11. That is when it dipped and, as this shows bascially stayed in the 3.3-3.4 range for pretty much all of the Fall with a few exceptions. Having said that, 2001 didn't really had any sharp decline despite the major balance issues. Yes, 2000 saw a slow decline but 2000 was also a boring year. The show lost so much steam after the first month of the year, tried to get it back in mid Feb-March, and then lost steam again. 2000 as a whole was one of the most boring years of Days ever. The balance was not horrible at all but the show had practically nothing going on. Langan was doing a whole lot of setup for much of what happened in 2001.

Even after working through these numbers, it can be said that we never saw a sharp decline like Days went through this year. Yes, Days had some .5 drops and other drops like that but they have had tons of those over the years. Every soap has. They usually come after a long period of gains and good ratings or after the summer or holidays are over. Citing drops like that has nothing to do with the topic at hand, which is have we ever seen a drop like Days has just experienced. The truth is we haven't, at least not in recent years (meaning the 90's and 00's). This wasn't just a sharp decline and then the show went back up or stabilized. This was going from a 2.6 at the end of Jan to a 2.1 a month later. There were no increases or instances where the show even stabilized during this time. It just a constant drop and it didn't stop until now.

I still maintain that while balance matters, if you have things going on the ratings will stay the same or see gains. We just went through a horribly slow period on Days, much like some of the periods we saw in 2000 and 2001 and even in 2003. Even during JER's reign when people were complaining about stories, Days still saw gains just as long as things were happening. They didn't even have to be big events, just movement and twists and turns. That is the point I was trying to make. We'll see though. As Kev said, we can go back and forth on this as we both have our own ideas as to why this happened. We'll just see how things go.

[Ridge]

I think the major drop to look at is the demos, that's what DAYS has always boasted about and prospered in. I don't know what those ratings were like during the horrid Langan era but they are pitiful now and THAT is what people are looking at when they are questioning whether they should take the show if NBC cancels it in 2009. That is where DAYS strength always lied. And it has once again this week hit ANOTHER low. Obviously whatever they are doing now is not working for that demo because they are featuring tweens and youngers and those are not the ones watching.

I think whatever the reasons are DAYS can come back if it does the right thing (And eventually that is when the arguments about why it happened can be put to rest). One storylines blossom with the right people and DAYS feels like DAYS again then the show will get the ratings it needs.

[Steveo4]

I'd like to see numbers from the other soaps' ratings for these same periods of time. Was DAYS the only soap to drop that much in that sae given period?? And also....when the soaps' were at 4.0-4.5, there was alot more room for them to drop I feel like. At 2.2, how much lower can you really go? These are BADLY low ratings right now, which to me makes the situation alot worse than it was in early 2000s. ITA that there is lack of balance and that is contributing to the decrease in ratings, but I dont think it's fair to make these comparisons about DAYS without also seeing what had happened with some of the other soaps during the same periods.

[psychofan]

I've always been the minority lol. I became a regular viewer in 2001