Ratings from the 70's

[Paul Raven]

1975

1. ATWT 9.5

2, Y&R 8.3

3, AW 8.3

4. SFT 8.2

5.DOOL 8,0

6. GL 7.9

7. AMC 7.2

8. LOL 7.1

9. GH 7.0

10 DRS 6.9

[edgeofnight]

I know what was happening on Edge...The first week of December 1971...the culmination of the 18 month long Keith Whitney/Jonah Lockwood storyline. I remember it as if it were yesterday! Nothing will ever top that, in my opinion.

[EricMontreal22]

I knew OLTL never really hit big highs till the end of the 70s, but am kinda surprised not to see it in some of those top 10s.

[Paul Raven]

These ratings are for 1972 for the two weeks ended 2/20/72

#1 - As the World Turns (12.0/38%)

#2 - General Hospital (11.3/35%)

#3 - Days of our Lives (10.2/32%)

#4 - The Edge of Night (9.8/31%)

#5 - Another World (9.7/31%)

#6 - Search for Tomorrow (9.5/33%)

#7 - The Doctors (9.4/31%)

#8 - The Guiding Light (9.3/31%)

#9 - Love is a Many Splendored Thing (8.7/28%)

#10 - One Life to Live (7.9/24%)

[saynotoursoap]

Here is one with the gameshows added for the week ending October 27, 1974:

1. MATCH GAME '74 (11.3)

2. AS THE WORLD TURNS (11.0)

3. ALL MY CHILDREN (9.5)

4. DAYS OF OUR LIVES (9.5)

5. THE DOCTORS (9.4)

6. THE PRICE IS RIGHT (8.9)

7. THE GUIDING LIGHT (8.8)

8. ANOTHER WORLD (8.7)

9. HOLLYWOOD SQUARES (8.5)

10. SEARCH FOR TOMORROW (8.4)

11. GENERAL HOSPITAL (8.1)

12. LET'S MAKE A DEAL (7.9)

13. YOUNG & RESTLESS (7.8)

14. ONE LIFE TO LIVE (7.6)

15. CELEBRITY SWEEPSTAKES (7.3)

[Paul Raven]

WLS has just posted more 70's ratings

2 weeks ending August 26th 73. Some shows interrupted by Watergate hearings.

1. AMC 9.0 30 share

2. DOOL 8.6 30

3. GH 8.6 30

4. AW 8.5 30

5. DRS 8.3 30

6. ATWT 8.2 28

7. SFT 8.2 30

8. OLTL 7.6 27

9. GL 7.5 26

10. EON 6.9 25

[DRW50]

Thanks - surprised to see AMC at the top so early on.

[Paul Raven]

I think Watergate might have shaken things up.

Week ending Sept 1st 74

1. ATWT 10.2 34

2. AMC 10.0 35

3. SFT 8.9 33

4. GH 8.8 29

5. DOOL 8.7 29

6. Y&R 8.5 31

7. AW 8.4 28

8. GL 8.2 28

9. DRS 8.0 28

10. OLTL 7.6 25

Game Shows

1. Match Game 11.9 39

2. LMAD 9.2 31

3. TPIR 9.1 30

4. Newlywed Game 8.5 29

5. Hollywood Squares 7.8 31

Looking at those iconic shows,the demise of game shows is just as sad as soaps.

Edited August 17, 2011 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

True. I can't see any game show today getting anywhere near that.

I'm trying to remember what AMC was doing at this time. Was this when Phil "died"?

Thanks for sharing these with us!

[Paul Raven]

Week ending Aug 31st 75

1. AW 9.7 33

2. Y&R 9.4 36

3. AMC 9.4 34

4. ATWT 9.3 33

5. DOOL 8.8 32

6. SFT 8.3 31

7. DRS 8.1 30

8. GH 7.9 27

9. GL 7.7 28

10. LOL 7.6 32

Gameshows

1. Rhyme and Reason 8.1 31

2 Match Game 7.9 28

3. Tattletales 7.7 26

4. $10,000 Pyramid 7.5 27

5.H Squares 6.8 29

[DRW50]

Thanks again. It seems like The Doctors held around this same level for a few years. When did the steeper dropoffs begin?

[saynotoursoap]

Close, Carl. This was the period in which Phil returned from the dead and found true love Tara married to best friend Chuck. Phil was devastated and went to bed with Erica. Around the time of the above ratings, late summer/early fall 1974, Erica discovered that Phil had made her pregnant. He was desperate to reunite with Tara, but would not because she and Chuck had a child together. Of course, the kid was actually Phil's too, fathered the night before he left for Vietnam. Phil agreed to marry Erica, and Ruth, who knew the truth about Tara and Phil's child, admitted this to Tara and begged her to reveal the paternity before Phil married Erica, as he would not marry her with the knowledge that he already had a kid with the woman he really loved. This played out over weeks, with the audience on pins and needles as to whether or not Phil, Tara, and their baby would be reunited.

[DRW50]

Thanks! I really appreciate your details. I can see why this got a lot of excitement.

What did you think of Nick Benedict as Phil? Seeing him on Another Life, it's tough to imagine him as a hero, troubled or not.

[saynotoursoap]

I probably should not answer as I am prejudiced. You see, One Life to Live and All My Children were my soaps. They debuted when I was 12 and 14, so they were the first real, long-running soaps that I watched from the very beginning. Phil and Tara were the "money couple" on AMC. To me, Richard Hatch and Karen Gorney were the only Phil and Tara.

Nick Benedict was an ok actor. I did not loathe him or anything, but he was not Phil. Richard Hatch, despite his age, had such an innocence and sweetness about him. That part of Phil was eradicated when the character returned. However, I should point out that Phil seemed like a totally different character then, and I believe it had less to do with the actor and more with the writers. I did not like what was done with the character later. Things such as making Phil a cop and getting Erica pregnant did not seem right to me. Perhaps Nixon, et al wanted to emphasize how an experience like war changes soldiers, but the hardness and cynicism of the later Phil turned me off. For me, the magic of the two young star-crossed lovers was definitely gone.

[edgeofnik]

In Sept. 1972, EON moved from it's late afternoon slot (4:30 p.m.) to (2:30 p.m.) so that P&G could group it's soaps together. For the previous seasons, EON was #2 (69-70), #2 (70-71), #4 (71-72) and, then after move #10 (72-73). It was a stupid move since 50% of audience was male + big with after school bunch. Also, there was between 17-19 soaps during that period. (Half-hours) Finally, the ratings were far smaller as the US population was 200 MM in 1970 and 308 MM in 2010. (Although there were significantly more women at home and with far fewer choices, it would be interesting to know how many people were really watching.)