November 10-14, 2008

[DaytimeFan]

[!@#$%^&*] the fanbases, Y&R is the bomb right now. I couldn't care less about the ratings anymore...the show is FABULOUS and MAB, SH, HS and PR deserve a pat on the back, as does the cast. I am now 'over' ratings...they are trending downward, it's inevitable, the ratings will all bottom out at some point. I am just going to enjoy my shows for as long as they're around. I am thrilled that Y&R has reclaimed its dignity! Wonderful! Terrific! Tremendous!

[SteveFrame]

Wow great news for OLTL and Y&R - but esp. OLTL since it has not been doing as well as Y&R.

I totally agree.

Great post.

[Dale]

Yes, OLTL and Y&R have managed to re-employ the "classic" soap staples of character driven, emotionally involving drama as opposed to the "tragedy du jour" to increase ratings. Hmmmmm. Just like the old days. OLTL, in particular, has been effective in slowly building the drama for MONTHS, leading us into this explosive sweeps period. All of this did not come out of nowhere. It's clear that the show has taken much care in the plotting and timing of these stories. They were not thrown together at the last minute because its Sweeps. The way that the Todd/Marty plot collided with the Tess/Jess/Bess story is a great example of how to integrate many characters into one big story, thus compelling the viewer to keep watching - if you don't like Marty, you better keep watching because you love Jessica. Know what I mean? Personally, I think OLTL is brilliant right now and earned it's place as the most watched ABC soap last week.

[Becki]

I co-sign this wonderful post. I am thrilled for the show as a whole since it is back to being a show that I rarely fast forward and can't wait to see the following day. I didn't expect a bump last week since the show did nothing to promote it's sweeps, so I'm happy with the increase regardless of when it occurred. Y&R is the best quality show on daytime right now. Thanks goodness it has indeed reclaimed it's dignity.

[rangethatrover]

Y&R deserves a 4+ rating.

Also interesting to note about OLTL's ratings, OLTL held a 2.2 rating pretty much the whole week- Monday was a 2.4...

People actually stuck around for a whole week!

AMC's ratings unfortunately dropped immediately after the tornado.

What would be more amazing is if OLTL could maintain a 2.1 or 2.2 rating....

Doubtful, but any sustained growth these days would be a shocker.

[shadow]

I said I'd like it if she raised the ratings up significantly, since so many on here are saying she is doing a wonderful job and bringing back Y&R to the way it used to be.

Maintaining is better than tanking the ratings, which the numbers say she is doing IMO!

Just cause the ratings were so low that Y&R didnt have the $$$ to promote the Sweeps like last year is pretty TELLING!

All I know is I have heard in the past, ad nauseum, how LML ruined the show, and the numbers were their to back it up!

Now I have also heard how MAB is gonna bring in viewers by bringing Y&R back to the days of classic, writing all the wrongs LML has done, and now we have these low numbers and peeps are supposed to be happy

I could guarantee that if LML was still running the show and brought in these numbers at this juncture, she wouldve been raked over the coals and the cries for her firing wouldve been all up and through the MBs!!!

[marla0518]

Becki did you steal some of SC drugs she took while filming in Paris???? the ratings are nothing to be happy about .... the only good thing about the show in the last two weeks has been the Katherine storyline and the return of past characters for all of what, a few minutes on each day...

as much as the MB's have been all aglitter over the last 3 months about Paris and how just EB, ED, JM and SC were going and how THIS was going to turn everything around...the numbers show that Paris was a big FLOP!!!! a waste of time and $$$

hope some actors and PTB have updated their resumes...I am sure Deidre and Drake did not see it coming...the Y & R people can see it coming a mile away!!!

[MarkH]

Steve is aboslutely right. But as the cancellation of many good shows over the years has shown, the qualitative improvement in Y&R means nothing for ratings. I mean...PBS gets crappy ratings .

So, let's really talk about this from a non-fan-base perspective. (Biases: I like Sharon Case, Michelle Stafford, and Joshua Morrow. Both Shick and Phick make sense to me. So I have no fish to fry on this score).

LML was NOT ratings poison. She wasn't even creative poison until she got rid of her legacy teammates. However, her stunts were effective in staving off major viewer attrition. Ratings DID trend down for the whole industry in 2007, and Y&R was not exempt from that.

So, let me say that I LOVE Y&R again since, maybe, July 2008. I was also surprisingly comforted by the return of some classical stylings in early 2008. But the blame for that 0.5 decline in Spring 2008 falls SQUARELY on MAB/JG. No ifs, ands, or buts. The show had no clear focus or identity or agenda, and it showed.

AT THE SAME TIME, folks really-really-really have to stop pointing to individual creative types and blaming them for general decline. I won't put up graphs again, but for any given show, the declines have TWO components:

[a] INDUSTRY-GENERAL DECLINE. That is why all the shows are going down. Some of it is TV-general decline. Some of it is daytime-general decline. So, EVEN IF MONKEYS WERE WRITING THE SHOW, Y&R would probably be at a 3.8 or 3.7...even if Bill Bell were still alive. That is because larger demographic, market, cultural, technological and generational forces are at work.

SHOW SPECIFIC TRAJECTORIES. So, the thing to REALLY look at is how a show compares to other shows. This is where the proportional decline (or even raw decline) numbers come in. What you have to do is see when shows have STEEPER or SHALLOWER decline slopes than others.

In that vein, Y&R is not the interesting show right now. AMC/OLTL (which, in 2008, declined at a slower rate than the other shows) and GL/ATWT (which, in 2008, declined at a faster rate than other shows) are the ones to REALLY watch. It is here where you focus on creative, network and production factors.

In Spring 2008, MAB/JG experienced faster decline than the rest of the industry. THAT is what deserves "blame".

MAB is NOT going to bring up ratings. If she is lucky, she'll stay at 3.5 or 3.6 for the next six months...and I doubt it. The general trend is downward, and this is UNAVOIDABLE.

Why? Because the core audience for these shows is aging, and they are dying. Second, because (esp. for Y&R) there is viewer shift (among the younger viewers) to Soapnet and online. Y&R will ABSOLUTELY fall and fall and fall and fall. NOTHING AND NOONE, NOWHERE, NOHOW is going to reverse this general trend. It is industry-general, it is unavoidable, it is unstoppable.

Therefore, as long as MAB/HS/etc show declines at a rate equal to or less than the rest of the industry, she is a keeper.

For GL, I think there has been a shift in thinking. I think the creative/production team DOES see the writing on the wall. I think they realize they pared the cast down too much. This explains some of the recently announced high profile re-hires.

But [a] this probably won't improve the show if there is not a creative investment in better storytelling, and NOTHING AND NOONE, NOWHERE, NOHOW is going to reverse the general decline trend.

What that means is that GL is going to fall below 1.4 no matter what. Nancy Curlee could come back, be given an unlimited budget...and she is still going to fall to 1.3 then 1.2 then 1.1. CBS could promote this show every fifteen minutes. They could spend $1 Billion promoting it. And it will still fall to 1.3 then 1.2 then 1.1. Nothing can stop this. Nothing. It is industry general, it is irreversible.

In biological systems, we call this the "death trajectory". On network broadcasts, death is close.

I have only slightly better hopes only for the multi-platform shows (those on soapnet and internet)...but not really.

[VictorJrAngelBoy]

Y&R at a 3.6 isn't great but it's better than what Y&R has been getting.

As a Phick fan and a member of their "fanbase" I hate it when the "general fans" feel the need to attack one fanbase or another or just blame them for the downfall of the ratings.

There are so many reasons why soaps as a whole are falling in terms of ratings.

And the Paris stuff was great IMO but it obviously didn't bring in a whole lot of viewers so in that respect it wasn't all that.

And even as a Phick fan I'm loving Y&R now and I hope they keep up with the high quality of episodes.

[Supersage]

I can't believe I'm going to say this (and mean it) but Ellen Wheeler has been trying her damnedest to keep GL on the air. And, for the most part, GL's sad decline in both creativity and ratings isn't all her fault. That isn't to say she hasn't made some royal f*** ups. GL was given a number of months to increase their viewer ratings. They were given a slightly broader range to get some viewer favorites back. And, from what I'm hearing, a single head writer could be named soon. Will it be enough? Personally, I hope so, but I doubt it. That shows that I have zero faith in this show, but when you have a show that keeps kicking you in the teeth, you're going to run away at some point never to return. As someone stated, the production model is a colossal failure, but something that had to be done to keep GL on the air. I'm not sure the best writers in the world could make the show "look" like a soap again. And let's face facts: If you are a diehard soap viewer, you want to watch a soap... right?

I still can't believe that GL dipped to 1.4 last week... I shouldn't be surprised, but I am.

[dm.]

I actually don't care about the ratings. I am sad to see what is going on with it, but it would be much different if they counted DVRs, SoapNet and other stuff. Much MUCH different.

The only thing I care about is the quality. I just adore the show right now. Quality and good ratings are two totally different things. They rarely match up.

[marceline]

So are you saying that we can't expect the ratings to rise?

_{Sorry. I had to.}

[TMOTVSoaps]

Soaps Ratings Analysis
November 10-14, 2008
OLTL is ABC's #1 Soap for the first time in Years

My ratings column is back for a huge week for soaps so I definitely wanted to go over the industry's performance inside of a very important sweeps week.

Well OLTL's Ron Carlivati is daytime's best soap writer. You can't deny that at all. This guy has come in and made serious changes to the red-headed stepchild of ABC's Daytime lineup. Frank has done a great job fixing the show with some backstage changes to the show and its paid off b/c its been ABC's best performing soap ratings wise most of the year especially during sweep periods. That 1.5 in the demo is amazing.

Speaking of demos, this is the best demo week for soaps in a long time. So soaps right now are proving that they're still pretty healthy especially during the most important time of the year during the November Sweeps period.

For CBS, Y&R's numbers were up, but disappointing too b/c it was supposed to be a little higher than that and it didn't help out the rest of the lineup like it should during a sweeps period.

To me CBS has to do some major work like ABC has the last two months, rebuilding their fading identity as ABC and NBC are huffing and puffing on their backs.

DAYS is absolutely edgy and exciting right now to watch with that Nick/Melanie/Bo/Hope s/l and it seems to be doing amazing right now stabilizing every week.

Almost every soap is stabilizing or growing year to year so soaps haven't lost that much of a beat to the prior year.

Right now only the two P&G sibling soaps on CBS are struggling, but ATWT is still solid, its just GL that's a disaster. I'll go into detail about both shows in the individual series by series analysis. GL's ratings are embarrassing and that show has to change back to the previous format and maybe even making the switch to HD. GL has disrespected many viewers with that change and its not good.

Without further or do let me analysis each soap during this important soap ratings week with the other one being next week.


All My Children
What a turn around with this show. The tornado stunt definitely worked as it seems to have gotten AMC closer to 3 million viewers for the first time in back to back weeks in quite a while. Charles Pratt has done a nice job writing for this show and if it keeps it up in the consistency department, it should have no problem holding onto its current crop of viewers and even increasing a little bit down the line. If AMC fails creatively just once then all the recent gains will go to nothing. They're the only soap right now that has improved or gain year to year in the important ratings categories like viewers, HHs, and key women demos. The 1.9 on Friday of last week hurt them a bit, but that's b/c the soaps continue to not promote the big cliffhangers on Fridays. The consistency of the 2.1 in the ratings for AMC is amazing. The 2.2 and 3 million viewers for Thursday's episode was really good. If you're a AMC fan you should be happy right now.

As the World Turns
For me personally, I'm enjoying the show b/c I like Janet/Carly/Jack/Parker/Liberty/Brad/Kate. They don't seem to attract viewers though so it doesn't work out for me. ATWT ratings are stabilizing, but its got to get out of that 1.9 hole its in right now and get back over 2.0 like it did at one point late in the summer. ATWT is having its worst November sweeps period of all-time, but is this the show's fault or the current TV climate's fault. Not sure at all, but the numbers have barely dropped year to year. ATWT is actually on par with the other soaps right now so that's the good news, but the bad news is the numbers aren't looking good for a sweeps period. The Tuesday rating was very high at almost close to 3 million viewers. Overall for ATWT, the show's got to find some type of draw b/c since Martha's left it has no real drawers.

The Bold and the Beautiful
This show has become unwatchable as of late as I'm not liking the lackluster storylines that I'm seeing right now. The numbers seem to reflect that B&B didn't go all out this sweeps period. With there not being one day of a rating over 2.6. The ratings for B&B are positive compared to some of their worse weeks in the past this year. The consistency of the ratings right now are pretty positive that its stabilizing out of a lackluster Y&R ratings performance. At the end of the day B&B still has the ratings that most of the soaps want. Its been a little better this week so hopefully it jumps up a little bit next week. I would really like to see Phoebe get back in the picture and have some scuffles with her sister Steffy.

Days of Our Lives
Awesome soap right now that's getting back to its pre-2007 days. The Nick storyline with Melanie is exciting to watch just like Ford and Chelsea last year. Kate's cancer storyline is only going to grow and grow. John and his is interesting too. The Nicole storyline with EJ is stupid and I find that the fast forwarding part of the show. DOOL is stabilizing every week since the Olympics bump back in August at 2.0. These ratings are really positive for DOOL's renewal chances b/c it doesn't drop anymore like it use to. NBC cares about demos and they're getting a huge 1.3 from DAYS right now and viewership in the mid 2s including a good breakout day last week on Veteran's Day with that 2.1 and 2.9 million viewers. DOOL is doing better than Passions back in 2004-06 so this is pretty healthy. Big week for DAYS next week as I saw plenty of promos in prime time for the series. If it can get a 2.1 overall rating and a 2.2 or 2.3 on one of those days then were in for a treat with the ratings next week.

General Hospital
The mob war isn't getting it done with a ton of viewers, but ratings are still healthy. There's too many people mad with GH right now for the show to ever get back to 2.5+ in HHs. GH getting over 3 million viewers on Monday and Tuesday were really impressive. The trouble for GH right now is the year to year losses, but its doing one hell of a job in the demo with a 1.5 rating. GH is doing what its supposed to do for ABC, but its also having its worst November Sweeps. Quality wise the show is entertaining and they just need to get some of their fans back permanently or find new viewers.

Guiding Light
This is the most disappointing soap on TV right now. Its so depressing to see how far GL has fallen. There's no loyalty from its viewers and its the show's own fault. The executives decision to go to that format was going to hurt them in the long run and the long run is now. While it remains to be cheaper for the show its embarassing seeing these ratings. GL has too much good acting to be failing like this. Its time for CBS or P&G to step up and say hey we've got to get GL back to the old format and cut back on the roster a bit. They can still use their studio, all they need to do is upgrade to HD and get rid of the bad background music. Hopefully some changes come for this show b/c I love GL, but I'm not watching it right now. 1.3s twice in one week, OUCH!

One Life to Live
I knew Starr's pregnancy would remain a draw, Todd's continuous rampages, and Natalie getting free from Tess. These things have all boiled up the past two months and finally blowing up right now and its giving OLTL its best ratings performance in a long time. Ron has got this show being ABC's most watched soap right now. That 2.4 rating on Monday was super huge. When was the last time OLTL got 3.2 million viewers? Everyday was over 2.1 and close to 3 million viewers during the whole week. Very healthy viewership days there. As they say, as long as the writing is consistent, the viewers will find a way to watch. To me OLTL is having the best impact on the November Sweeps this year b/c its ratings far and beyond way UP. OLTL is also up year to year and having its best demo performance at 1.5 since 2006 for a whole week. It is the #3 soap tied with GH right now. I never saw these ratings go so far up like they have. If OLTL can sustain these ratings next week. OMG! OLTL this is the soap of the year!

Young and the Restless
The Show that's improved so much is Y&R over the recent months. Hogan is a positive for the show, but the problem is finding a way to get back those viewers they lost since the winter time. Sudden Impact's stunt didn't last that long and right now the way the show is setup it can still grow. To me Y&R needs to use December and January to improve. Y&R tends to be very lazy in their quality in those months and they need to stay in that 3.6 range or improve upon it. The Kay s/l is still lasting through this week so they might even see a bigger uptick next week. Thursday seems to be its best day during that week with that huge 3.6/5,040,000 viewers performance. I still feel Y&R can get to 4.0 or over, its just going to take some major amounts of time to get there though.

Overall really good week for all soaps not named GL and maybe even ATWT. The year to year growths for AMC and OLTL were amazing. The soaps have proven to still be valuable for the networks as they still make money for advertisers as 6 of the 8 soaps got either a 1.2 or over in the main demo.

November 17-21, 2008 is another huge week and I expect to see some dropoffs from some soaps, but there will be some like DAYS going up.

[SteveFrame]

I didn't see any general fan attacking any one fan base here and saying they were the reason.

All that any general fans were and are saying is that even with AMC it is only the fan bases who are complaining - not all of the members of the fan bases - but many of them are the only ones that are not happy right now.

[Faulkner]

I wonder if the decline of THE PRICE IS RIGHT is having an ill effect on Y&R's ratings. It could even be the primary reason for Y&R's drop.