October 20-24, 2008

[MichaelGL]

It's ratings like these that make me smile!....and we haven't had ratings like these in quite some time!

With a headline "GH second last in Total Viewers" I had to see the thread for myself!

Seems like the stunt worked for AMC. I'm still don't believe the tornado was all that amazing (dialogue in particular)...but it was entertaining.

OLTL stayed steady. Hopefully the viewership will continue to build as RC builds up for Nov. Sweeps.

Even GL rose! Gah, I've never been more happy to see that show gain in viewers at a time when I could care less for what's gong on storywise, but it was quite depressing to see it lose viewers week by week.

Funny how RC is the only head scribe for a ABC soap that hasnt worked on GH.

[P.J.]

LOL...I always think big Carjack weeks translate into the ratings. Funny enough, this latest push has more people swearing off the show for that HUHA than I've ever seen around the 'net.

[bandbfan]

Even though we're on the Brooke/Ridge/Taylor triangle for the 1209823th time, it's been gone for so long and involves so much history that I think it really helps the show. I also think the familiarity helps when we have new people like Steffy and Marcus. I don't think Pam and Donna brings much in (I could be totally wrong), unless Betty White pops up.

[Soapsuds]

I checked and the whole week was full of CarJack.

[Ann_SS]

This constant attempt to link the ratings to content has no basis in reality. The ratings are trending downwards, period. The fact is that fewer and fewer people are watching. Celebrating the occasional week rating increase is like cheering because the Titanic has slowed a few times while it is sinking and you are about to freeze to death in the ice cold water. Guess, it is something for some soap fans to hold onto.

[P.J.]

Why the constant need to snatch away any little bit of cheer we manage to muster? Yeah, I already KNOW your theory that the day-to-day ratings are completely random. I hardly think my tiny effort to "link" the ratings to Carjack necessitated a piss-in-the-cornflakes approach.

LIKE I SAID, I think it's ironic, since some people (correction: Carjack fans) I know have sworn to not watch until this HUHA story swings back in a better (aka "Carjack") direction. Yes, I know...we're pathetic fanbitches.*

*just so you don't have to post another lecture.

[Soapsuds]

I thought fans tuned in to ATWT for Luke and Kevin(Levin) fanbase?

[MarkH]

Well, Ann_SS, I mostly agree with you. To be specific: (a) soaps are in decline due to a variety of demographic, timeslot, technology and market factors, and ( weekly variations in ratings are random, and mostly DO NOT reflect meaningful variations...or even what happened on screen on a particular day.

The EXCEPTION to that is when an episode has had massive promotion. AMC's Tornado is a good recent example. And, with that, comes my one caveat to the "soaps are doomed" story. Good production, HEAVY and consistent promotion, and possibly timeslot shifting (which we've seen via Soapnet and internet, but not on the networks themselves) could all reverse the trend. I realize some of this is probably fantasy, but I want to be clear that _some_ of the decline could be reversed with investment.

I wish that "support of Carjack" could influence daily ratings (or regular ratings) in any meaningful way. I simply do not believe it.

[P.J.]

The thing is, while I used to claim it outright, and still see a correlation....I wasn't doing it now. Next time, I'll remember to italicize words like always when used for sarcastic commentary, or just add the appropriate emoticon.

[VictorJrAngelBoy]

I don't think you're "pissing in cornflakes". I think you're just saying the truth and being unbiased. Ratings are not indicative at all of what was on the show the week before. It's sorta pointless to try and make relationships between this couple or that couple and how the ratings turned out. And ultimately it's kinda unfair to just selectively choose week to week why you think the rating suck or are good.

ATWT had a good week because it had a good week and that's that. There's no secret formula or guide that will reveal why more people just happened to tune in this week as opposed to the previous week.