'Restless' wins for 1,000th week

After 35 years, CBS soap still 'Young' and hot

There aren't many ratings streaks in the biz like that of "The Young and the Restless," the CBS daytime drama that has been on top since the final weeks of the Reagan administration.

The soaps genre as a whole has been hit by declining ratings over the years, but "Y&R" remains its bellwether program. Sony sudser, which celebrates its 35th year on the air later this month, just achieved a major milestone by winning the ratings race in households for an amazing 1,000th consecutive week.

Nielsen data for the week of Feb. 25-29 shows that "Young and the Restless" averaged a 4.2 household rating/18 share, translating to 5.79 million viewers -- a bigger aud in the frame than primetime shows including "According to Jim" and "Lipstick Jungle."

And for the season, the show's average aud of 5.78 million towers over the daytime drama pack. Its CBS skedmate "Bold and the Beautiful" runs second (3.98 million), followed by the Eye's "As the World Turns" (3.18 million) and ABC's "General Hospital" (3.16 million).

"Y&R" also leads all daytime dramas in the key demos of women 18-49 (1.9/12) and women 25-54 (2.6/15).

Set in the Midwestern town of Genoa City, Wis., "The Young and the Restless" preemed as a half-hour skein in 1973, but was extended to an hour in 1980. Show first hit No. 1 in the ratings in December 1988.

The late William J. Bell and his wife, Lee Phillip Bell, co-created the series. Josh Griffith is the current exec producer and head writer, and Steve Kent oversees production for Sony Pictures Television.

"Reaching the milestones of 1,000 weeks at No. 1 and 35 years on the air simultaneously is unheard of in this industry," Barbara Bloom, senior VP of daytime programs, CBS, said in a statement. "Our congratulations go out to the Bell family, to Sony and to the entire cast and crew on these remarkable achievements."

"Y&R" will celebrate its 35th anniversary on the air March 26. Michael Damian, who played Danny Romalotti from 1981-1990, 1993-1998 and 2002-04, returns for several episodes, and Eileen Davidson, whose character of Ashley Abbott moved from "Y&R" to "Bold and the Beautiful," will also be back.

From Variety: http://www.variety.com/article/VR111798197...yid=14&cs=1

What a phenomenal feat for Y&R to accomplish. I don't believe there is ANY show that has been ranked #1 as long as Y&R has. Shouldn't they be included in the Guinness Book of World Records?

Congrats to my favorite soap opera in reaching such a great milestone.

Congrats to my favorite soap opera in reaching such a great milestone.

You mean AMC is not your favorite soap opera?! Shame on you Ryan!

the CBS daytime drama that has been on top since the final weeks of the Reagan administration.>>>

What a great time to be number one...the final weeks of the worst president of the United States (at that time)

WOW! yay to Y&R.

also, i have a q. what shows have come close to beating it?

Well JP I can answer that somewhat for you. When Tad/Dixie reunited in 1993 (I believe it was), AMC beat out Y&R for the first half hour (In most markets, Y&R airs from 12:30 to 1:30 with AMC airing from 1-2) for maybe just that one week or for a day. I recall DAYS getting close to overtaking them in 1997 (they were only three tenths away)...but the next week, they took a nosedive

WOW! yay to Y&R.

also, i have a q. what shows have come close to beating it?

If the information on this page is accurate, then no show has come close since it took over the lead from GH in the '88-89 season:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_da...p_opera_ratings

There may have been some days or weeks when a show came close but not a complete season.

That is truly amazing. GO Y&R!

(Ironic how Bloom mentions the Bells. Ugh, you STRIPPED the show off the Bells or anyone affiliated to them! )

Edited March 7, 200817 yr by YRBB

Y&R was tied with GH for #1 in households for the 87-88 season, GH had a slight lead in total viewers. However, during the 88-89 season, Y&R took the lead outright dethroning GH and taking over the #1 spot in both total viewers and households, a feat it still holds to this day.

In the beginning, some soaps came close, but Y&R always had a consistent grip on the #1 spot. Other soaps like AMC, DAYS, and GH would come close but they could never keep consistent ratings and usually fell fast.

In December of this year, Y&R will tie ATWT for spending 20 years in the #1 position. In terms of total weeks spent at #1, Y&R already has that record. In 2009, Y&R will be the only soap to spend more than 20 years at #1 position.

And YRBB, I agree, Barbara Bloom pimped Latham so much, and just now she's thankful to the Bell's? Well, at least Latham is gone now and Bloom has finally seen the error of her ways.

This is an amzing accomplishment for Y&R and, on the whole, totally deserving of it. Lucky that LML and her cheerleaders at Sony didn't reverse that achievement, huh. Or maybe they should be thanking B&B... GH... ATWT for failing to make the grade!

Still. Outside of Days and B&B, this is the one show that cherishes and utilizes its vets. Yay for them! They deserve the top spot.

Congrats to Y&R. If I remember correctly, just before the streak began in Dec 88, AMC hit #1 one week in December with the Ross rape trial and the Erica/Goldie/Sliver climaxes. When AMC was burning up the ratings in the early 90s, there was talk about moving it to 12:30 to compete directly with the whole hour of Y&R. A lot of people were saying that with the extra TVs turned on during the lunch hour, AMC would surpass Y&R. The plan was also to move the always-struggling Loving to 1:30, to cradle it between AMC and OLTL. None of that ever came to pass, of course.

The 12:30 timeslot would've hurt AMC IMO. Ryan's Hope, Loving, The City, and Port Charles all failed there, it would've put a dent in AMC's ratings IMO. ABC has never been lucky with that timeslot. Even when AMC was the #2 soap for most of the early 90's, Y&R was still beating it by around 2.0 households for the most part.

I think it was felt during the early 90s that AMC was so popular that its ratings wouldn't have suffered with a move to 12:30, and that the only reason it wasn't number 1 was because of the fewer sets turned on from 1-2 as opposed to 12:30-1:30. Ryan's Hope had always done pretty well in that 12:30 slot, at least from 75 thru the early 80s, when the quality of show began to seriously erode and some viewers started defecting. RH was still doing okay until ABC decided to move it to 12 to make way for Loving, which was really struggling at 11am. I know that Agnes was behind this move. Of course, RH's numbers dropped by 50% with the time slot change thanks to decreased clearance, thus beginning its slide toward cancellation, while Loving never caught on in the 12:30 slot. Not to take anything away from Y&R, but if its timeslot was moved to 1-2, and didn't have the lunch crowd, I think we'd see somewhat of a drop in its numbers, possibly to the low to mid 3's, maybe even lower.

The "few sets" argument isn't totally true. GH had been #1 for 9 years prior to Y&R dethroning it in 88. GH has traditionally been shown at 3:00 PM across most markets. Also, even when Y&R usurped GH in 88, GH remained the #2 soap until 1992 when AMC claimed that spot outright. By 1996 DAYS would claimed the #2 spot from AMC, but the whole ABC lineup was in some sort of decline by the late 90's. Y&R still beat its competitors (AMC and DAYS) significantly in households from the 1:00-1:30 slot.

Also, it's important to note that 12:30-1:30 isn't Y&R's main timeslot across the US. In many Southern and Mid-Western markets, Y&R airs as late as 4:00 PM and is the lead-in to afternoon local news. The CBS soaps tend to do their best in the Southern and Mid-Western markets as well.

Well, at least Latham is gone now and Bloom has finally seen the error of her ways.

Which for me is not enough.