SoapNet hits ratings highs

[Toups]

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20081028soapnet01

OCTOBER QUALIFIES AS SOAPNET'S MOST-WATCHED MONTH IN 20 MONTHS IN TOTAL VIEWERS & THIRD-MOST-WATCHED MONTH IN NET'S HISTORY

Released by SOAPnet

[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

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Ratings Highlights for October 08 (Final National Ratings)

In Prime, October 08 Qualifies as SOAPnet's Most-Watched Month in 20 Months in Total Viewers & Third-Most-Watched Month in Net's History

In the Net's Sales Prime, October 08 is SOAPnet's Most-Watched Month Ever in Total Viewers, and Top Rated Month in One Year in Target Women 18-49

As of November 08, SOAPnet is Available in 71 Million U.S. Homes, Increasing its Household Presence by 3.9 Million in a Year's Span

Growing its Audience for the Fifth Straight Month, "The Young and the Restless'" Records its Most-Watched Month Ever on SOAPnet in Women 18-49 and Third-Most-Watched in Total Viewers

"All My Children" and "One Life to Live" Enjoy Their Most-Watched Month on Record in Total Viewers, and Hit October-Best Levels in Women 18-49

With "General Hospital" Hitting a Seven-Month High in Total Viewers, October 08 Stands as the Show's Most-Watched October of All Time

SOAPnet (October 2008)

Prime (M-Su, 8:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m.)

In Total Viewers (364,000), driven by all-time highs for "All My Children" and "One Life to Live," October 08 qualified as SOAPnet's most-watched month in almost two years, or 20 months (since February 07), and third-most-watched in the net's history. Additionally, SOAPnet recorded its largest October audience ever.

In Women 18-49 (120,000), October 08 wrapped as SOAPnet's most-watched month in Prime in more than a year (since September 07), ranking as the net's top rated October on record in the target demo.

Year to year, SOAPnet improved by 27% in Total Viewers (364,000 vs. 286,000) and by 4% in Women 18-49 (120,000 vs. 115,000).

Sales Prime (M-Su, 7:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.)

In October 08, SOAPnet delivered its largest audience in the net's history in Total Viewers (375,000 tied September 06), and qualified as the net's top rated month in a year in Women 18-49 (122,000 since October 07).

Universe Estimates (# of U.S. homes)

Available in 71.0 million U.S. homes as of November 08, SOAPnet increased its household presence by 3.9 million homes in a year's span (67.1 million)

"The Young and the Restless" (M-F, 7:00-8:00 p.m.)

Growing its audience for the fifth straight month, "The Young and the Restless" recorded its largest monthly audience ever on SOAPnet in Women 18-49 (204,000), and third-largest yet in Total Viewers (642,000).

Versus year-ago levels, "The Young and the Restless" climbed by an impressive 50% in Total Viewers (642,000 vs. 428,000) and by 27% in Women 18-49 (204,000 vs. 161,000).

"All My Children" (M-F, 8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Delivering its second straight month of growth, October 08 stood as "All My Children's" most-watched month on record on SOAPnet in Total Viewers (461,000), and hit October-best levels in Women 18-49 (150,000).

Versus year-ago levels, "All My Children" improved by 44% in Total Viewers (461,000 vs. 320,000) and by 11% in Women 18-49 (150,000 vs. 135,000).

"One Life to Live" (M-F, 9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Recording its second consecutive month of gains, "One Life to Live" delivered its largest audience ever on SOAPnet in Total Viewers (417,000 tied June 06), increasing over year-ago levels by a substantial 38% (303,000 October 07).

Enjoying its most-watched month in over one year in Women 18-49 (150,000 - since September 07), "One Life to Live" hit October highs in the core demo, up by a solid 34% year to year (112,000 October 07).

"General Hospital" (M-F, 10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In October 08, "General Hospital" generated its largest October audience of all time in Total Viewers (442,000), garnering the show's largest audience in seven months (since March 08).

Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Ratings, October 08: 9/29/08-10/26/08, Most Current).

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Pretty telling that they excluded DAYS, which used to be their highest rated soap when it first started on the channel.

[Chris B]

Yeah and no mention of Night Shift? Still I'm glad to see Y&R is doing so well.

[Toups]

SoapNet Total Viewers

Y&R: 642,000

AMC: 461,000

GH: 442,000

OLTL: 417,000

Using the Averages for the week October 6-10 and October 13-17:

Y&R: 4,784,000

GH: 2,764,000

OLTL: 2,570,000

AMC: 2,468,000

Now adding the daytime ratings with SoapNet's:

Y&R: 5,426,000

GH: 3,206,000

OLTL: 2,987,000

AMC: 2,929,000

No wonder daytime's ratings are shrinking.....they're watching on SoapNet (......and the internet).

[brimike]

I don't really understand what this press release says about anything, to be perfectly honest.

They're not really talking about orginal series, just the re-airings of ABC's soaps. NS was left off, and we know it didn't do very well. So it's not like this press release means they can green-light more projects, or give more money to their ABC shows (since the money goes to Soapnet, not ABCD. So what exactly does this gain them, other than slightly more money in advertising revenue?

[miajere]

Next they'll be spatting out Youtube hits.....

[YRBB]

Maybe this will convince them to actually, you know, show more soaps.

[baller]

or since AMC has the most SoapNet viewers I don't know--actually show a marathon!

[Toups]

Wasn't that because DAYS actually got a good timeslot? I think it was 7pm? Now it's on at 11pm.

[Rakesh]

It's at 3AM and all different times after 12AM too. LOL

[YRBB]

No, no more marathons! More like, ya know, primetime soaps???

[Y&RWorldTurner]

They don't even air DAYS when Night Shift or some special SoapNet programming is on. They've also shoved the DAYS marathon to the wee hours of the morning. They don't screw as much with the other soaps as they do with DAYS.

[Angela]

Maybe they'll bring the marathon back or maybe they'll just assume it's because Y&R is leading them off. Is Y&R that good, it seems the ABC soaps that follow it are benefiting from it's record numbers, or has SoapNet just been added to more cable systems?

[Kubla Khan]

Since SoapNet is gaining profit off of ABC Daytime products, you'd bet that ABCD would see a share of that money.

[SteveFrame]

Alvin/Toups,

Back when I was trying to get access to the Ratings for my site. I talked with a girl at Nielsen a lot. That was when they moved Days from 7:00 to late night - swapping with Y&R. And had just changed the marathon.

This is what she told me when I asked what she knew about that.

She said that in the 7:00 P.M. time slot Days was tanking. She said that the first week Y&R took over that they got double the ratings Days did in the same time slot. And that Days was getting half of what Y&R got in the timeslot following GH.

She said that the Sunday night stuff was getting higher ratings than Days could pull so they moved the marathon to late. She said that SoapNet was obligated to contract to air Days in a marathon. She felt that it was the only reason Days still had a marathon at all.

Now that was a year ago. I do know that I emailed her a few months back to ask a question, and she said that the movies on Sunday night were still doing better than anything they have ever aired on Sunday night but they were not doing that great.