November 29 - December 3, 2010

[Toups]

5.5 million on Monday for Y&R. Wow! Y&R's potential viewers is just amazing.

[TeamEric]

I'm concerned for OLTL's demos as they are perilously close to last December's all time lows.

OLTL 2009 Monthly averages:

Jan 2009 2,453,947 808,600

Feb 2009 2,513,750 769,500

Mar 2009 2,691,950 820,000

Apr 2009 2,446,917 748,600

May 2009 2,353,900 780,600

Jun 2009 2,531,864 766,500

Jul 2009 2,515,571 745,800

Aug 2009 2,365,400 745,800

Sep 2009 2,477,000 740,400

Oct 2009 2,430,400 741,800

Nov 2009 2,532,750 736,500

Dec 2009 2,430,400 648,400

OLTL 2010 Monthly averages:

Jan 2010 2,489,000 708,000 --- 2nd

Feb 2010 2,599,750 772,000 --- 1st

Mar 2010 2,395,266 716,400

Apr 2010 2,326,818 662,800

May 2010 2,375,000 725,250

Jun 2010 2,300,467 665,600

Jul 2010 2,358,524 653,400

Aug 2010 2,273,000 657,250

Sep 2010 2,344,750 675,250

Oct 2010 2,427,250 663,500 --3rd

Nov 2010 2,380,600 643,250

Dec 2010 2,259,000 610,000 --12th

*Thru 12/03

Over the last 5 weeks GH is up +218,000 viewers. These increases have cut the gap and GH is closing in on it's pre-Brenda July averages.

Trends watching

July's pre-Brenda averages:

Jul 2010 2,538,600 806,400

Dec 2010 with Brenda:

Dec 2010 2,425,250 776,000

2010 Monthly averages:

Jan 2010 2,707,250 880,750

Feb 2010 2,864,500 1,000,000 --> #1

Mar 2010 2,575,250 887,250

Apr 2010 2,666,200 878,600

May 2010 2,560,750 854,250

Jun 2010 2,397,750 789,250 ----> GH's worst month

Jul 2010 2,538,600 806,400

Aug 2010 2,562,000 829,250

Sep 2010 2,573,400 851,000

Oct 2010 2,439,250 772,000

Nov 2010 2,425,250 776,000

Dec 2010 2,500,000 769,000 ----> 9th

[bellcurve]

[DRW50]

Yet Y&R squanders it over and over with constant garbage. No wonder they usually just stay at their 2008 level. I guess even that is an accomplishment, but considering this show is endlessly whoring itself out for any shred of attention, I'm always surprised it doesn't do better.

[DRW50]

I think some of the show is good but the stories not so much -- and some are so rushed while others that no one seems to care about, other than being repulsed (Langston/Ford), never end.

If blacks and gays were tossed out around this time last year for low ratings, then when will whimpering putty faces get the boot for this year's low ratings?

[JNewt]

Let’s start with AMC b/c this is the soap that just can’t get out of its own way. AMC is suffering right now from an identity crisis much like OLTL experienced back in 2007. It might be time for ABC to take down the ship and revive the show. It’s going to take some leadership like OLTL has in order to do that. OLTL has great people running that show and that’s why since 2008 the show has been as superb as it is. I feel like unless AMC does well that’s the only way OLTL will guild their audience but unfortunately AMC is at a super low point right now.

I’m not going to panic b/c like I said before I’ve seen soaps turn around before and luckily AMC is on ABC which is saving their soaps so AMC has time to get it together. I wouldn’t be surprised if by this time two years from now if everybody will be bragging about how good AMC is like their doing with OLTL right now.

GH is one of those weird soaps where it can be very bad for a period of time then be very good for a period of time. Right now its very good so no surprise the ratings went up.

As much as I love OLTL right now I think I’m loving DAYS much better b/c of the Hope in jail storyline is starting to reach its climax. DAYS is another one of those soaps where it excels in the wintertime. I think for the first time in many years NBC promoted it during Prime Time. I saw a commercial last night during The Sing-Off and Law & Order. No wonder DAYS got a huge renewal.

CBS’ soaps are the class of the soaps right now they are just so powerful and no one can get in front of them and now after the renewal they’ve got nothing but time.

[JNewt]

Look at how good Monday was for the soaps guys:

AMC

Monday: 1.9/2,509,000

B&B

Monday: 2.3/3,173,000

DAYS

Monday: 2.0/2,745,000

GH

Monday: 2.0/2,712,000

OLTL

Monday: 2.0/2,627,000

Y&R

Monday: 3.9/5,534,000

Y&R 3.9!!!!!

If there's one thing that I can say about the soaps is this, their Mondays are super strong almost every week and its probably due to the end of the week cliffhangers. This was the first Monday in a while where all the soaps did better than their average at the same time on the same day. B&B is the only exception as they had a stronger day during the rest of the week.

[Saving ATWT]

Days, once again, continues to crawl back up and, within a few weeks, should overtake GH--I hope!! I don't get why OLTL can't make bigger gains because the show is doing everything (close) to right.

Y&R is amazing from a ratings standpoint and I've never believed this has anything to do with timeslot. If being the 'Lunch Break' soap were such an issue, AMC and DOOL would have shifted back into the period years ago. It is as if Y&R almost isn't thought of as a soap but, instead, some other genre of daytime entertainment. Y&R is still using all the same 1980's themes: Jack and Victor; Victor and Nikki; Victor and his children; Vets always working themselves into the majority of scenes. Maybe staying semi-consistant is the key to Y&R's winning streak. Currently, the show sucks, but is still light years ahead of GH, AMC and (sadly) Days.

[Saving ATWT]

B&B is slipping and slipping fast. They current rate the same as ATWT did in 2008 so, while the soap is doing okay, it isn't exactly in a class all it's own. Regardless of stunt, Brad Bell, Kay Adlen and Jack Smith have been unable to lift ratings and, almost every quarter, the show slips just a little bit more. Not even the Oliver/Brooke mistaken ID story was enough to bring back ex fans. I'm starting to think any show with Y&R as a lead could garner these sort of ratings. If not for timeslot, B&B would be in the trash heap just like ATWT.

[DRW50]

Victor and Jack don't really have any relationship at this point. Honestly Victor has no relationships with anyone. He just pops up to remind everyone of how superior he is. Every relationship he has on the show is not even one-dimensional.

The non-Victor vets are barely used at all, and when they are it's in degrading, small roles.

Y&R is only consistent these days in making stories up as they go along and jumping up and down furiously to hide how rotgut everything is. Credit to them for stopping the decay, but when they barely manage to hold on to numbers that were considered horrible in 2008, it's not much of a celebration IMO.

[EricMontreal22]

I actually think AMC is decent right now--but NOTHING seems to improve its ratings...

[Ann_SS]

Considering the overall state of all the soaps' 18 to 49 women demos, Y&R being able to stop the erosion of this demo is quite amazing despite all the criticisms of its storytelling.

[Steve]

I'm with Eric. AMC is really good, especially compared to the train wreck it had been since McTavish's last stint, which it only recovered from when Lorraine Broderick took over at the beginning of the year. Imo, it is focused on the right families and finally getting back to friendships, but the main problem is the couples. Nobody but Frons was waiting for Ryan & Greenlee to reunite and constantly sticking Erica into Caleb's orbit when she and Jack just started getting airtime again was a huge mistake. AMC has so much potential with Angie & Jesse, Brot & Natalia, JR & Annie and the new Jake/Amanda/Cara story that's just starting. They need to give these characters more airtime.

As far as OLTL, as a long-time lapsed viewer, I can't get into it anymore due to the 30-second scenes and the focus on so many younger characters (Starr's friends, Destiny, the Fords). Also, Clint as the new Asa just doesn't work for me at all.

[DRW50]

I don't think we disagree -- it's certainly a credit to them that they are still at their 2008 level. I just don't really see it as being as fantastic as it could be, since these are close to the ratings they had when Rauch and Sheffer were brought in. Since then they've proceeded to go far beyond bad storytelling and have basically, along with the previous work from LML, gutted the show from the inside out, and all for these same ratings. I guess they are doing their jobs, and more power to them for treading water in a soap climate where many soaps are going under. I just think Y&R still has some advantages in areas like timeslot which probably help it.

[JaneAusten]

Do folks really think the quality of a show dictates the uptic or downturn in ratings? Don't promotion, stunts, or even perhaps other external events such as snowstorms have more to do with bringing viewers in than anything?

I keep reading how great OLTL is and why viewers are not gravitating to it because the show is so great while Y&R which seems to be at a creative low continues to do fairly well, relatively speaking. I just don't think quality storytelling necessarily attracts viewers, it might keep viewers more engaged but even with that, viewers today seem to be more attracted to shock value and stunts than wanting to sit each day and watch something 5 days a week 52 weeks a year. Who has the time anymore. Plus add the internet, youtube, etc. Viewers can quickly catch up on what interests them on venues like this also.