June 18-22, 2007

[Soapsuds]

I'd like to thank you Lskreet for the ratings. You do a great job every week posting them and I appreciate it.

[Lskreet]

You're welcome. I wish I could figure out what's going on. The only time they should be delayed is on a holiday unless I missed something.

[brimike]

Well, there you have it. Play Belle/Shawn, Nick/Chelsea, Kate/Billie? Days loses. Play the DiMera/Bradys? Days loses.

[electrorat]

I blame the DiMeras lol.

[Dan]

So many people are thinking the worst for DAYS right now, but I disagree. One week does not make or break a show. Rome wasn't built (or destroyed in this case) in a day. Soaps have been radically inconsistent (and that's an optimistic analysis at best) for years now. It took years for soaps to get in the gutter. It's going to take just as long, perhaps even longer, for them to get out of it.

The ONLY way to raise the ratings is consistent, well written soap over a long period of time. Let's see if DAYS can maintain its creative renaissance. Perhaps at this rate six months from now DAYS will be in a much better position.

[ATWTCarOn4Ever]

IA. If I were a writer I'd come to the boards to look at what people were saying but I definitely wouldn't change everything based on a couple of boards. The reality I think is that the majority of soap fans are not online. Hence you can't say that people on this board or any board for that matter speak for the majority of viewers. In fact it might be the case that most people online are online to voice their displeasure with a show. Or to start some movement to get something changed.

Thanks...some of the problem does lie with the execs but I firmly believe that some viewers are also to blame for the issues as well.

I think ATWT should have gotten better ratings but then again the ratings were kinda the same as last week so I guess I should be happy its not at or below 2.0 since people seemed to freak out last time that happened...

[ATWTCarOn4Ever]

Days was pretty good last week. I've been watching it, ATWT, and Y&R consistently now for 4 weeks and I'm loving each and everyone of them in different ways. Loving the romance on Days and ATWT. Love the action on Y&R and the comedy as well. All three have excellent casts IMO and cool storylines going on right now that I can relate to so I'm willing to give up an hour to watch each of em.

I pray Days gets better over the months and more people come back to it.

[usetobeasoapfan]

I'm probably alone on this .. lol.. I was hoping for GH to drop steadily over the summer. I want a change at ABCD. If I have to throw by beloved GH under the bus to save daytime television so be it!

GH focus on certain characters the last few years has been a mistake. The writing is awful,,,,,, it's just sad the product that is being released by ABCD in general. I want a refund to all the years that I've invested into these characters. Character driven stories have vanished, as have the viewers.

DOOL has been good!

[Lskreet]

[Ann_SS]

I would argue that soap fans have put up with more crap over the years than any other television fans. We are either the stupidest or most blindly loyal fans base in television history to keep watching after the erratic quality of the writing on the soaps that we have been subjected to by the networks over the years. If some soap fans have finally had enough and are finding other shows to watch or other things to do, then the network through their carelessness have driven them to away. When I think of the dreck that I have watched over the years to find a gem or two on some of these soaps (Eternia, devil possession, Reva's clone, and vampires), I really must be dumb as a post.

[Alix]

Compared to 2006 :

1.(1) Y&R 4.0 (SAME/-.3)

2.(2) B&B 2.8 (-.1/-.4)

3.(3) GH 2.5 (SAME/-.1)

4.(4) OLTL 2.4 (+.1/-.1)

5.(4) AMC 2.3 (SAME/-.3)

6.(6) DOOL 2.1 (-.1/-.6)

6.(6) ATWT 2.1 (-.1/-.3)

8.(8) GL 1.9 (-.1/-.3)

9.(9) PSNS 1.4 (-.1/-1)

[PJA]

I was actually going to say that..about people coming to message boards to post their displeasure of a show. I don't care what show it is...Survivor, 24 or a soap opera, there will be a majority of posters who complain or find something wrong with the show. And there's nothing wrong with that, but message boards shouldn't be used as a measuring stick of how the viewers feel.

[Nikki22]

Excellent post Ann, and ICAM!! Blaming the fans for the pitiful decline of today's soaps is tantamount to blaming the rape victim for being raped.

When soaps were consistently good and stayed true to the history of the show AND the history of the characters, the fans were far more willing to remain loyal and continue watching thru good times and bad, but now that soaps show a total disregard for the history and integrity of the shows they write for and the characters that they write for, those same loyal fans are finally throwing up their hands in defeat and saying ENOUGH! I've been watching As the World Turns for almost 30 years and I have been loyal thru good times and bad, only tuning out once during 1996 when the writing team of Sterns and Black made the show too painfully bad for me. But after a year, I returned and have watched ever since. I have never been as disappointed in this once beloved show as I am now and have never been as close to tuning out as I am now.

No, it's not the fans who are responsible for the poor ratings, it is the people in charge of writing the show and the people above them who approve what they write.

[Alix]

compared to 1999 :

1.(1) Y&R 4.0 (SAME/-3.0)

2.(2) B&B 2.8 (-.1/-2.0)

3.(3) GH 2.5 (SAME/-1.8)

4.(4) OLTL 2.4 (+.1/-1)

5.(4) AMC 2.3 (SAME/-1.6)

6.(6) DOOL 2.1 (-.1/-2.5)

6.(6) ATWT 2.1 (-.1/-2.0)

8.(8) GL 1.9 (-.1/-2.1)

9.(9) PSNS 1.4 (-.1/NA)

[Ann_SS]

Alix, are you comparing the average of ratings for each soap for each of these years? Because the average for Y&R so far this year is 4.3 not 4.0.