Jump to content

Ratings from the 70's


Recommended Posts

  • Members

Thank you so much for these continuing posts!  
 

@Broderick@vetsoapfan is it confirmed that the term “breakout” refers to an episode that is repeated? I’m referring to Y&R and OLTL that don’t have Monday 9/4/78 as “preempted” but basically said that episode didn’t reflect the ratings, unless some affiliates got an episode that day and some didn’t? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 736
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

As far as I know, all breakout means is the network tells Nielsen it does not want that episode counted as part of the weekly/yearly averages, since those breakout episodes (airing on much smaller amount of affiliates) would bring down the overall weekly/yearly averages.  It does not mean it is a repeat. What I had said earlier about the YR 9/4/78 is that I could not confirm whether it was a new episode or a repeat just on the basis of it being a breakout.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Looking through the ratings reports from @Errol "breakout" typically means it was a repeat or the majority of the episode was interrupted by news, therefore it's a special that doesn't count in the ratings. It would be interesting to know if there's some kind of criteria the network needs to meet, or else they could just call their lower rated episodes "breakouts." 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It would be helpful if Days could have a "breakout" in the 1978-1980 ratings, since I can confirm Days never aired a repeat during that time frame.

In these cases in 1978, there were not news interruptions, just a much smaller amount of affiliates airing the shows that day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 9/18/78-9/22/78 & 9/25/78-9/29/78:
 

Please register in order to view this content

 
FROM THE VAULT: 1977-1978 TV SEASON DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS:
 
 
Due to Nielsen's error, I used the most recent season averages (ending 9/15/78) for the 5 CBS soaps, but they do not include the final two weeks of the season (9/18/78-9/29/78).
Edited by JAS0N47
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

In regards to the 1977-1978 TV season ratings, since I see they differ from the ones posted at Wiki, what accounts for the difference? 

Are the ones at Wiki only for September-April/May and not counting the summer months?

If so, what week in 1978 should I post the "season" averages for. Something around late April/early May?

UPDATE: Okay, I just read the Wiki page again and it states it is only the September-April ratings. Unfortunately, that is the one issue (late April 1978) that I do not have, so we won't be able to compare the ratings for the 1977-1978 season to see how they do.

But at least now we know that there will be "full season" (October-September) ratings for 1978, 1979 and 1980 available for the first time online. Hopefully Nielsen doesn't make that same mistake in September 1979 with the CBS soaps.

 

Edited by JAS0N47
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

My understanding is there's a limit on the number of "breakouts" (or uncounted episodes) they can air in a single season.

If they know in advance the rest of the  line-up is going to be preempted, such as for the U.S. Open back in the day, they might have one new episode of one series that aired in select time zones and was preempted in other time zones due to the Open coverage.  Or maybe that episode would air in all of the time zones, but would play to a limited audience due to the rest of the line-up being preempted.  That would be an example of one they would ask Nielsen NOT to count.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks for that explanation!

Please register in order to view this content

 

so is it possible that maybe some affiliates did get new episodes of Y&R that day and others didn’t? Would they just show the same episode on Tuesday if that was the case so the other affiliates could catch up?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yes, if there was some special event (such as the U.S. Open coverage around Labor Day), sometimes Eastern Time and Central Time would get an episode that couldn't be shown on the West Coast.  Maybe the West Coast got it later in the day, or maybe it was just skipped entirely. 

That would sometimes happen if the US Open Coverage started at 1:00 Eastern and ran until 5:30 Eastern.  Such a schedule wouldn't preempt Y&R and Search for Tomorrow on the East Coast and Central Time, but would obviously preclude the shows from being seen in Mountain & Pacific Time.      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

10/2: Wow! Guiding Light and As the World Turns battling it out for Number 1. Y&R Number 3. AMC No 4.

10/9: All My Children Number 1 and GH a close Number 2 with a lower share.  What caused DAYS drop? Y and R still strong. AW tying OLTL??!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy