Mark, I never fail to be simultaneously awed and terrified by your geekitude.

Mark, I never fail to be simultaneously awed and terrified by your geekitude.

er--thanks?

er--thanks?

Yes that was a compliment. My brain doesn't handle data like this very well so watching you do this is kind of like watching someone eat fire. I'm constantly quoting The Gospel of MarkH on other boards. "The week to week numbers don't matter. Look at the numbers over a quarter or more."

Yes that was a compliment. My brain doesn't handle data like this very well so watching you do this is kind of like watching someone eat fire. I'm constantly quoting The Gospel of MarkH on other boards. "The week to week numbers don't matter. Look at the numbers over a quarter or more."

The problem is...I really do believe what you quote...but it is so distressing it makes me pee my pants.

25% of the audience IN A YEAR.

If you shed 15-25% of your audience year by year (even if it represents a smaller and smaller absolute # of people each year)...well...the implications are obvious.

What a cold, awful, stark picture of 2008 it offers.

And then when you see the apocalyptic stories coming out of NBC today---ICONS fired---well...it all seems so obvious where this is headed.

I try hard to be optimistic..."8-10 million Y&R viewers a day" I crowed last week...but it is so hard with these stark trends.

The problem is...I really do believe what you quote...but it is so distressing it makes me pee my pants.

25% of the audience IN A YEAR.

If you shed 15-25% of your audience year by year (even if it represents a smaller and smaller absolute # of people each year)...well...the implications are obvious.

What a cold, awful, stark picture of 2008 it offers.

And then when you see the apocalyptic stories coming out of NBC today---ICONS fired---well...it all seems so obvious where this is headed.

I try hard to be optimistic..."8-10 million Y&R viewers a day" I crowed last week...but it is so hard with these stark trends.

You really do love this genre don't you? Not just certain shows, characters or actors but the whole genre.

You really do love this genre don't you? Not just certain shows, characters or actors but the whole genre.

Sigh. Yeah.

But I suspect that is true for many of us here. A dwindling few....

Translation: Even though the current Y&R is good, MAB and team _did_ seriously damage the show in 2008. I'm glad the show is holding now, but MAB cannot ever get credit as the "savior"...even if she holds at this level and quality for a while...because of the serious damage that was done earlier in the year. I realize some of that was during-strike and post-strike chaos, plus being saddled with LML's whole team...but nonetheless, the show was tanking creatively and in ratings during that time.

Problem is, viewers tuned in for LML's mess but weren't patient enough to wait for MAB to finish cleaning it up. *sigh*

Ratings wise, she wasn't the savior, but quality wise, she was. Unfortunately it seems the majority of viewers nowadays prefer shocking, big budget ratings stunts every week (see: Home and Away) to a classy, intelligent show.

I expect this week's ratings to be higher. November sweeps has been pretty darn good so far, although it will never live up to the awesomeness that was last year's sweeps, with Victoria's coma, et al.

True, MAB cannot be deemed the savior, has her numbers have dwindled down to record lows for the show. LML held her numbers all through her tenure, basically the same numbers that were their before she took over. I think the quality and writing has improved, but the storylines are not bringing in new viewers clearly!

True, MAB cannot be deemed the savior, has her numbers have dwindled down to record lows for the show. LML held her numbers all through her tenure, basically the same numbers that were their before she took over. I think the quality and writing has improved, but the storylines are not bringing in new viewers clearly!