Ratings from the 70's

[Contessa Donatella]

That has always been my impression. That & the fact that Lin Bolen was so intent on it. It seems to me that she pretty much insisted that this soap get made. But, also she seemed to be the only person who thought it worthwhile.

[Khan]

I think it was @vetsoapfan who said HTSAM was too didactic in the beginning; that HW Anne Howard Bailey was more concerned with making social statements than she was with actual storytelling; and that it got better once Rick Edelstein took over, but by that point, it was too late.

It's always incredible to me how NBCD arguably posed a real threat to CBSD's dominance in the early '70's; and yet, they blew it completely with some very stupid programming moves.

Edited December 31, 2024 by Khan

[vetsoapfan]

Yep, that was me. Under Bailey, HTSAM was cold, stiff and quite unappealing. Then, when Edelstein assumed the reigns, the quality of the scripts surged. It was amazing, IMHO.

Very few shows have rebounded so instantly and left my jaw agape: GH when Doug Marland came aboard, Somerset when Roy Winsor took over, and Love of Life under Claire Labine were the most memorable examples to me.

 

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 2/11/74-2/15/74 & 2/18/74-2/22/74:

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Edited January 1 by JAS0N47

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 2/25/74-3/1/74 & 3/4/74-3/8/74:

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[Khan]

It's weird seeing Y&R near the bottom of the rankings, considering that it has been the #1 show for most of my life, lol.

[kalbir]

Same here. 

[JoeCool]

It will get to the top soon enough. 

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[EONGLOLTL]

Interesting to see Days and The Doctors both ahead of Another World.  It's hard to believe how things would change in a few short years.   Both ABC and NBC are doing very well right now!  A shame they didn't expand The Doctors to an hour.  I think things may have been very different for NBC daytime if they had.  

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Surely you knew it didn't start at the top?!!

And, don't you remember when CBS forced the show to go to an hour that Bill Bell revealed that the show lost 4 full rating points & it took 3 years just to regain what was lost.

[JoeCool]

And to think Bill Bell approached CBS in late 1974 to cancel Restless as it was langushing at the bottom. It would soon hit number 1 in the weekly ratings in 1975 and win its first Emmy..

[Contessa Donatella]

Joecool, I never knew about that. In a way it was probably good for him to have to struggle. But, I bet at that moment he was terrified. 

Edited January 2 by Contessa Donatella
info

[JoeCool]

Yes it was in his biography and he mentioned it in interviews.  Bill was disappointed that Restless not bounce higher sooner but it did bounce in 1975. CBS refused to cancel the show when Bill requested it in late 1974. CBS was pleased with Restless in late 1974.

Edited January 3 by JoeCool

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, of course, as we know from this side of the show's now long history that day Bill Bell was wrong with a capital W & CBS happened to be totally 100% correct, with a capital C. 

My favorite book about Bill Bell is the one Lee had Michael J. Maloney write. Although I also gleaned a tremendous amount of information about him (and so many others, too) in Maureen Russell's DAYS book. 

Edited January 3 by Contessa Donatella
From the Poster's Bible, Chapter 7, Page 214, "Typos will always be with us."

[Paul Raven]

Sorry, but I take that story with a grain of salt.

Perhaps Bill in a moment of pique announced that the show should be cancelled, but I doubt there was ever any serious consideration.

This was his baby, the first chance he had to create and nurture a show. He was in it for the long term.

Bill had been through this before with ATWT which had a slow start in 56 and 57 before finally taking off and with Days which was low rated when he took over and took years to really become a ratings hit.

It's one of those showbiz stories like:

'we didn't intend to even record that song and then it went to #1'

From June 74 in an article about daytime ratings

At noon, NBC has established itself with a relatively new game show called Jackpot, which is getting an 8.1 rating and 31 share. ABC's long- running Password game continues fairly steadily with a 6.7 rating and 25 share, and although CBS is running third in the time period with its contemporary drama, The Young and the Restless (a 6.2 rating and 24 share), Mr. Grant says it does better than its competitors in that most desirable of demographic categories, women 18 to 49. The reason for the show's low total -audience rating, he continues, is that only about 186 or so affiliates carry it (compared to the 200 or so that pick up most of CBS's daytime schedule), for a humble clearance rate of 90 %.

So CBS saw the potential as younger demos were what they were after and slowly more affiliates took notice  began clearing the show which saw the ratings begin to rise.