Ratings from the 70's

[Manny]

Yay, these are so interesting to see!!

Wow, Somerset was doing terribly.

Thank you, as always, Jason!!

[BoldRestless]

Thanks Jason!!! LOL at me, looking for Y&R in January 1973 and realizing it hadn't debuted yet which is cool to think how far back we are into the classic soap era!

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[JAS0N47]

It looks like the ratings, as we know them, are only the same back to 1969. I looked at the January 1968 chart, and, as of that date, they are listing each 15-minute block based on the sponsor. They don't average out a half-hour show (unless it's the same sponsor for the whole half-hour), but list two separate ratings from 11-1115AM and 1115-1130AM for example. Of course, you can sort of get the average I guess if you add up both numbers and divide by two. But, at this point, looks like I will have to list both quarter-hour numbers for 1965-1968, since I don't feel like doing the averaging. I was hoping things would stay the same until at least Days had premiered in November 1965, but my guess is the change happens at the beginning of the season in September 1968.

 

 

[will81]

I think Guiding Light and Search were still 15min until September 1968. Not sure if any other shows were. I think they might have been the last on the schedule to expand to 30min

[JAS0N47]

NIELSEN RATINGS SPOT CHECK: JANUARY 1972:

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In January 1968, for CBS only, 9 half-hour shows have their ratings listed by the quarter hour, with no final average that I can find: Andy of Mayberry, Dick Van Dyke Show, Love of Life, As the World Turns, Love Is a Splendored Thing, House Party, To Tell the Truth, Edge of Night and Secret Storm. In fact, since there is a 5-minute news program on after Love of Life, they can't even fit the 1210-1225PM Love of Life ratings on the chart, they are on another page that I do not have yet, so for the moment, we won't know those. But at least for 1968, the ABC and NBC shows will still have the "normal" ratings we are used to. And yes, Search and GL are the only 15-minute shows on the networks in January 1968.

Edited November 13, 2024 by JAS0N47

[Paul Raven]

Xmas week 71 saw the kids take over the TV with sitcom reruns and game shows dominating.

I wonder if that was the norm in those years?

I know in summer sitcom reruns would do much better than when kids were back in school.

here's the schedule at that time

December 20, 1971

	NBC	CBS	ABC
10:00am	Dinah's Place	The Lucy Show (R)	LOCAL
10:30am	Concentration	My Three Sons (R)
11:00am	Sale of the Century	Family Affair (R)
11:30am	Hollywood Squares	Love of Life	That Girl (R)
12:00 Noon	Jeopardy!	Where the Heart Is	Bewitched (R)
12:25pm		CBS News
12:30pm	The Who, What or Where Game	Search for Tomorrow	Password
12:55pm	NBC News
1:00pm	LOCAL	LOCAL	All My Children
1:30pm	Three on a Match	As the World Turns	Let's Make a Deal
2:00pm	Days of our Lives	Love is a Many Splendored Thing	The Newlywed Game
2:30pm	The Doctors	The Guiding Light	The Dating Game
3:00pm	Another World	The Secret Storm	General Hospital
3:30pm	Bright Promise	The Edge of Night	One Life to Live
4:00pm	Somerset	Gomer Pyle, USMC (R)	Love, American Style (R)

[JAS0N47]

NIELSEN RATINGS SPOT CHECK: JANUARY 1971:

(Note: Most preemption program info is now no longer listed on the chart pages, so that info will be coming at a later date).

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Edited November 13, 2024 by JAS0N47

[JAS0N47]

I'm typing out the 1/5/70-1/9/70 week now, and just realized this was the debut of AMC.  Any guesses as to its first week rating/share?   Maybe it's already out there somewhere.

[Manny]

Lets guess.. 6.5

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[will81]

I'll guess AMC was 5.5 20% share. It had low clearance for several years and I believe was at the bottom of the ratings for a while. I assume it might have had a slightly stronger debut week though as many shows often do. 

Edited November 13, 2024 by will81

[JAS0N47]

I'll wait until tomorrow when I post the chart for the answer. So if you want to keep guessing, post your guesses here! Another guess if anyone wants to make: Out of the 34 series on that week, what placement was AMC out of the 34??

[Manny]

I will guess it was somewhere around the middle. So 20th?

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[Gray Bunny]

I'll go with a 5.2 for AMC's debut. 

[will81]

Maybe it was last? I'm wondering now. Maybe my guess was too high. 

Rank #34

Rating 4.5 / 16% share

[JAS0N47]

Things start getting "weird" as we head into the 1960's. The last week of 1969, "Who, What or Where Game" is unrated the entire week. Then, the next week, it gets a rating. The last week of 1968, the 90-minute "The Dick Cavett Show" is unrated the entire week. The first week of 1969, the 1030-1130AM portion of the show is unrated, but the 1130-Noon portion gets a rating. So, it seems back in the 1960's, networks would randomly say one week a show wouldn't get a rating, another week just 1/2 of a show would get a rating. At least everything is pretty normal from 1970-Present!