Ratings from the 70's

[Paul Raven]

Daytime TV had an article in 75 dealing with the fact that back in 71, for the first time since 1960 (according to them), ATWT was beaten in the weekly ratings. They published the ratings for that momentous week of Nov 12th and followed up with the same weeks rating for the next 4 years.

Thought posters might be interested.I wonder what show (s) beat ATWT in 1960? Does anyone know what was happening on DOOl and GH the weeks that they hit #1?

1971

1. DOOL 10.0

2.ATWT 9.8

3.TD 9.6

4. GH 9.5

5.AW 9.4

6.SFT 7.9

7.LOL 7.6

8.LIAMST 7.6

9.SS 7.1

10.OLTL 6.7

Interesting to see the dominance of NBC with 3 of the top 5 shows yet Bright Promise and Somerset failing to follow through, and GH doing so well as the lone hit ABC show.

It must have been hard for CBS to have ATWT dethroned and no other soap in the top 5.Also,shows traditionally perceived as weaker (LOL,SS etc outdoing GL and EON)

I'll post the next ratings later.

Edited July 24, 2011 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Was the GH story Audrey's trial for the death of that nanny or whoever?

DAYS - was this around the time Kitty Horton had been killed?

[Bright Eyes]

No. Kitty died, after an explosive argument with Bill, in 1969.

It probably had to do with the return of Addie / Doug and Julie's affair behind Scott's back.

[saynotoursoap]

It was interesting in those days because soaps could literally gain a couple of million viewers in a matter of weeks, unlike today where ratings stay more or less the same from week to week. Just a few weeks later ATWT was derailed again, this time by General Hospital:

Week ending December 5, 1971:

1. GENERAL HOSPITAL 10.5

2. THE EDGE OF NIGHT 10.0

3. DAYS OF OUR LIVES 9.7

4. AS THE WORLD TURNS 9.6

5. THE DOCTORS 9.2

6. ANOTHER WORLD 9.0

7. THE GUIDING LIGHT 8.3

8. SEARCH FOR TOMORROW 8.0

9. THE SECRET STORM 7.7

10. LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING 7.4

[DRW50]

What caused GL's ratings gain?

[Paul Raven]

When I saw those Dec ratings and EON at #2,I have to admit I am puzzled that a few weeks earlier it didn't even make the Top 10.

Here are the ratings for the same Nov week in 1972

1. GH 10.6

2. ATWT 10.2

3. DOOL 9.8

4. DRS 9.5

5. AW 9.1

6. OLTL 8.8

7.AMC 8.3

8.GL 8.0

9.SFT 8.0

10.EON 7.5

ABC was really making its presence felt and NBC was still strong. EON had suffered due to the timeslot change to 2.30

Edited July 25, 2011 by Paul Raven

[soapfan770]

That's really interesting that GL and EON are no shows in the first set of the top 10. Ratings must have been very volatile outside of the top 5.

[Paul Raven]

Re AW Robert Cenedella never seems to get credit for keeping the show up in the ratings for several years.Is that because towards the end of his run,the ratings were softening,thus causing Lemay to replace him?

Did Rauch and Lemay arrive at the same time?

If not,who was first at the show?

Here's the 73 ratings for that week in Nov

1.AW 10.1

2.AMC 9.8

3.ATWT 9.7

4. DOOL 9.4

5, GL 9.1

6.DRS 8.8

7.EON 8.7

8.GH 8.2

9.SFT 7.7

10.RTPP 7.1

EON and DRS were close ,both in the same timeslot. Reports of that time usually state that EON was hammered by the competition. GH had fallen dramatically and I didn't realize AMC was so high so early.

[DRW50]

I think Lemay arrived before Rauch, as he talks more about his own experience first, in his book, then later mentions Rauch's arrival.

http://www.igs.net/~awhp/credits.html#eps

It says Lemay started in August 1971, Rauch in December. The first was Lyle B. Hill.

[beebs]

AMC basically exploded from a bottom-rated soap to the middle of the pack in the seasonal ratings out of seemingly nowhere around '73, I think a lot of it would've been down to Erica's abortion and the fact it was essentially the only network programming on at 1:00pm at that point. By '73 they were competitive with the top-rated soaps. Interesting to see how EDGE was still able to pull out a big rating now and again, even though The Doctors' was in what would become their best-rated year. What were the stories that year that brought them those ratings, I'm curious?

The thing that stands out the most to me is just how volatile everything is. Even when EDGE was in the Top 5, some weeks it could fall below #10. Imagine the kind of panic the networks would have with things being like that now.

[DRW50]

If you go to the Doctors thread and search for 1973, saynotoursoap has some synopses for some of the stories which went on that year. It seems like there was a lot of big drama for Nick and Althea.

[Paul Raven]

1974

1.ATWT 10.9

2.DOOL 10.7

3.SFT 9.7

4.DRS 9.5

5.AW 9.5

6.Y&R 9.0

7.GL 8.3

8.AMC 7.9

9.GH 7.9

10.LOL 7.8

ATWT back on top thanks to the Soderbergs,I guess. Big jump for SFT and Y&R.

I remember seeing a total daytime ratings list from around that time with gameshows included and a few of them bumped soaps down the list.

[saynotoursoap]

I'm surprised at Edge, too, as the episodes from November 1971 began the Keith Whitney wrapup, which was brilliant. The story climaxed the week of December 5th, hence the huge jump from below #10 to #2.

[Gray Bunny]

What are "DRS" and "RTPP"?

[DRW50]

Doctors

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