January 31 - February 4, 2011

[Bella1974]

The only problem is that advertisers are going to pay less to have their spots air during shows that cater to women in the older demographic. Older viewers watch more television, so advertisers can pick and choose which shows they want to buy time on, if that's the group that they want to reach, so the advertisers have more control than the networks.

[marceline]

So all it takes for soaps to be successful is for people to be trapped in their homes with no hope of escape. Looks like we need to bring back Luke, Laura and the weather machine.

I really hope it warms up soon.

[Soapsuds]

Where I live schools were shut down on Thursday and Friday. And those were the lowest for soaps...lol

Nice to see Y&R with a 4.0 rating even though the show sucks.

It seems not even bad weather can get AMC numbers up. It only averaged 2.5 mill viewers. That's low compared to the other 5 soaps. Let's see if Oprah's big AMC show gave it a boost this week.

[OLTL_fan]

There was an ice storm on Wednesday but schools were still open here. I had class but didnt go.

[MontyB]

I thought Y&R was pretty good for a few days last week. The was no Shadam, Nick or Phyllis. It was a great break from that. Agree that the 4.0 looks good.

[OLTL_fan]

OLTL really shot up in men. Maybe the Wednesday episode of all the guys stripping had gay men tuning in?

[DRW50]

So all it takes for a 4.0 is a graphic murder and a baby buggy being pushed into the street. That's a great precedent...

When was the last time all the soaps were 2.0 or higher?

OLTL is so erratic in ratings, it's crazy sometimes. I had forgotten they were at that level at this time last year. I guess that was right before the great cleansing.

[Soapsuds]

I don't watch Y&R anymore but I did tune in to see Chance's return. The show lacks any resemblance it had when it was #1 in the 80's.

[TeamEric]

What's up with B&B viewers? They keep bucking the trend for the overall week. Though the big storm did produce for them too as they scored 2.4 and 2.5 but I bet they rebound next week, they want to be contrarians.

Anyhoo, for those tracking the weather affects, it's no surprise these soaps spiked again for Tuesday and Wednesday LAST week, as it's very similar to the Jan blizzard 11-12 spikes - see comparison below.

AMC:

Feb 1-2

Tuesday: 2.2/2,894,000

Wednesday: 2.0/2,820,000

Jan 11-12

Tuesday: 2.1/2,855,000

Wednesday: 2.1/2,787,000

DAYS:

Feb 1-2

Tuesday: 2.1/3,071,000

Wednesday: 2.4/3,567,000 (wow, when was last time DAYS hit 3.5 million viewers??)

Jan 11-12

Tuesday: 2.2/3,083,000

Wednesday: 2.3/3,363,000

GH:

Feb 1-2

Tuesday: 2.2/3,147,000

Wednesday: 2.1/3,106,000

Jan 11-12

Tuesday: 2.1/3,001,000

Wednesday: 2.1/3,028,000

OLTL:

Feb 1-2

Tuesday: 2.1/3,010,000

Wednesday: 2.1/2,992,000

Jan 11-12

Tuesday: 2.1/2,856,000

Wednesday: 2.1/2,903,000

Y&R:

Feb 1-2

Tuesday: 3.8/5,318,000

Wednesday: 4.0/5,813,000 (wow!)

Jan 11-12

Tuesday: 3.8/5,223,000

Wednesday: 3.8/5,327,000

Feb 7-11 appears pretty quiet weather-wise so I predict soaps fall back down to earth no matter what hot sweeps stories they have going.

[TeamEric]

OLTL was at that level last year for same reason as this year, BAD WEATHER. We had big snowstorms last February sweeps, too. OLTL's ratings then FELL and that was BEFORE the cleansing came.

[DRW50]

Yes but I meant OLTL's ratings were about 340K lower at this time last year, according to the comparison thing.

[Soapsuds]

The soaps will be in the toilet come summer.

[TeamEric]

Nielsen compiles its sweeps reports using 4 week NOT one week for a reason. Comparing one week over prior sweeps or year can give false impression.

Last year the big snowstorm came in 2nd week of February not the first.

Same week LAST year

Feb 1-5th 2010 7. OLTL 2,468,000 (-38,000/-8,000)

Bad weather hit and OLTL also zoomed PAST its 2009 numbers:

Feb 8-12th 2010 6. OLTL 2,692,000 (+224,000/+267,000)

And the 2010 bad weather wasn't as bad as this year's so far.

That's why you really need to look at monthly or long-term averages:

Jan 2010 2,489,000 708,000

versus:

Jan 2011 2,565,000 621,333

The viewership averaged up but losing in its key demo. That's pretty much a wash.

[TeamEric]

Sadly yes. That's the pattern for years now. Though I remember Days bucking that trend recenty and spiking up instead.

[Saving ATWT]

I read recently that NBC was pushing the 25-54 demo for daytime. Cable news channels rely on this age bracket and it seems logical for entertainment, too. College kids are broke, parents often buy the car or other big ticket items. Also, people are waiting longer to breed so expanding the 'mommy demo' to 54 might be smart.

B&B isn't really gaining from the bad weather. It seems stalled. The new PSA as story move isn't working and Bell's move to mix cancer with teen sex and incest has failed. TPTB had better gain control or B&B will loose second place to Days.

Sort of shocked that GH hasn't made bigger gains, too. The bad weather has certainly aided the rest of the line up.