March 31 - April 4, 2008

[Noel]

Ouch! Especially Guiding Light! OUCH! Hot damn!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

[!@#$%^&*], a 2.1 for #3?

Soaps won't be around in 5 years time....

[dragonflies]

LOL ABC soaps especially won't be around as long as they continue to let Frons be in charge. It's clear that he's killing ABC Daytime

[Toups]

Remember, HH ratings are an illusion. For example, Y&R with a 3.8 HH rating this year could actually have MORE TOTAL VIEWERS than last year with a 4.0 HH rating.

[NYC123]

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Daytime Programming

Week of March 31-April 4, 2008

For the Fifth Straight Week, "General Hospital"

is Daytime's No. 1-Ranked Program in Women 18-34

ABC Owns 3 of the Week's Top 5 Programs

in Daytime in Women 18-49 and Women 18-34

"The View" Extends its Streak as One of Daytime's Top 5 Most-Watched Programs to More than Three Months in Total Viewers, and is Also a Top 5 Player in Women 18-34

"General Hospital" Sweeps CBS' "Guiding Light," Topping the Time Period Opponent by a Hefty 109% in Women 18-34, by 44% in Women 18-49 and by 24% in Total Viewers

ABC Daytime

* For the fifth straight week, "General Hospital" was Daytime's No. 1 program in Women 18-34 (1.0 rating - tie).

* ABC owned 3 of Daytime's Top 5 ranking programs for the week in Women 18-49: "General Hospital" (#2 - 1.5 rating/1.01 million), "One Life to Live" (#4T - 1.2 rating/816,000) and "All My Children" (#4T - 1.2 rating/763,000).

* ABC delivered 3 of the week's Top 5 ranking programs in Daytime in Women 18-34: "General Hospital" (#1T - 1.0 rating/331,000), "One Life to Live" (#3T - 0.8 rating/274,000) and "The View" (#3T - 0.8 rating/264,000).

* "The View" extended its streak as one of Daytime's Top 5 most-watched programs to more than three months in Total Viewers (3.0 million), and was also a Top 5 player in Women 18-34 (#3T - 0.8 rating/264,000).

* In head-to-head competition, "General Hospital" more than doubled CBS' "Guiding Light" (3:00 - 4:00 p.m.) in Women 18-34 (109% - 331,000 vs. 158,000), and topped the time period competitor by a considerable 44% in Women 18-49 (1.01 million vs. 703,000) and by 23% in Total Viewers (2.84 million vs. 2.31 million).

Following are the Daytime Lineup averages, plus Top 5 Programs Ranks - Week of Mar. 31-Apr. 4, 2008:

Daytime Rank: Total Viewers Women 18-49 (Rtg/000s)

No. 1 CBS 3.73 million No. 1 NBC 1.5/959,000

No. 2 NBC 2.82 million No. 2 CBS 1.3/838,000

No. 3 ABC 2.67 million No. 2 ABC 1.3/829,000

Top 5 Daytime Programs in Women 18-49 (rank based on rating)

Program Net Rtg/000s

The Young & the Restless CBS 1.7 /1.12 million

General Hospital ABC 1.5/1.01 million

Days of Our Lives NBC 1.5/959,000

Bold and the Beautiful CBS 1.3/834,000

One Life to Live ABC 1.2/816,000

The Price is Right 1/2 CBS 1.2/769,000

All My Children ABC 1.2/763,000

[KevC1980]

If people want their soaps to stay on the air, they should turn their tv's back on as opposed to bitching and complaining for a change that might not have the chance to come if soaps are cancelled..

[Toups]

We're not pods though. Can you blame people for bitching or quitting when things get bad?

[Wales2004]

It's possible that the people who are tuning out got to the point where they no longer care and have found some other substitute for soaps. We kind of get used to see people complain on the internet about soaps but it's more likely that the greatest number of viewers don't go online and don't really complain. They probably just turn off a show when they no longer find it entertaining and they don't give it much thought than that.

[Angela]

Word, it's not our responsibility to keep the soaps alive especially since most of us don't have Nielsen boxes. It's TPTB's responsibility, maybe if they actually really gave a f**k about what the audience wanted to see in a soap opera above what THEY wanted or what they THINK works (stunts, and s**t like that, whatever the MTV/JERk trend of the moment), the soaps would be in a better condition than they are. Some of these soaps are improving in quality, yes, but you can't kick the fans around for 1-2-3 years and expect the fans to come crawling back just like that. These aren't fans that were just kicked down once or twice while sticking with their shows, it's dozens of times.

[emilyq]

I agree with the comment above. Off liners are the majority of the viewers. Onliners less than 2% at best. Off liners just tune out when they don't like what they see period.

I am sorry I won't be a pod and tune back in just to keep soaps on the aire when I don't like what I am watching. I don't want to see shows gone but I won't support something I don't enjoy.

[emilyq]

I love the ABCD spin on their ratings. Always amuses me. They brag about beating GL the lowest rated show out there and by the way, where I live GL is on in the morning and does not compete head to head with GH. What a joke.

[dragonflies]

Excuse me but it's my right to tune out and bitch/complain as long as the show's continue to insult my intelligence and continue to forcefeed me crap writing.

I agree it's not our responsibility. TIIC are the ones who need to look long and hard as to what is wrong and try to fix these things instead of just putting a band-aid on the problem and hoping it will go away(yes AMC/GH/OLTL I'm talking about you)

[PhoenixRising05]

Kev...I agree with you but you and me will most likely be bashed for it so...but it's just our opinion I guess.

Yes, fans deserve better but I don't think any amount of changing is helping this genre. The viewers won't be coming back. OLTL is being praised left and right and look at it. Days gives fans back it's vets and look at it (after fanbases went on and on about how putting vets on would jumpstart ratings). I just think we should enjoy the soaps we love as long as we have them. That doesn't mean people HAVE to, it's just the way I feel about the situation. Yes, TPTB did this but I think the fan climate has changed too. Fans have been burned many times for sure but with more choices out there and people busier then ever people have no patience and loyalty is at an all time low. Now, you can just watch what you want to on youtube or something or look at spoilers to pick and choose what you want to watch. It's sad but I think this genre is done. I'm the most positive person in the world but the whole "bad ratings will get through to them" argument isn't going to work anymore. NBC wants out and before you know it CBS and ABC will start cutting shows until they we are left with GH, Y&R, and B&B. That's it and even GH is on thin ice. I've accepted it. People can bitch and complain. They have a right but I honestly think it won't matter anymore. Even if they are listening, it may be too late and they may no longer care. The networks may decide to just let the ratings bleed until they can justify getting rid of some of them. Again JMO.

On another brighter note, like Toups said, total viewers may present a slightly better picture so they will be interesting to see.

[skiman12082004]

I think there has to be more to it than viewers tuning out. People have more options as to how and when they want to watch their soaps. For example, during my lunch break I have been watching Y&R on my cell phone. CBS has made their shows available on VCast. Also, there is SoapNet and that has to be factored in as well. I think people are still watching the shows, maybe not in the mass quantities of years ago, but nonetheless I think more people are watching than are reflected in these ratings.

[electrorat]

Life's way too short to waste your time on something you've grown to hate. It's why I've pretty much stopped watching GH and it's why I don't watch Days whenever the blinking rapist is on.