Ratings from the 70's

[Mitch]

I would really be interested in seeing how ATWT dropped so suddenly. It was the number 1 show in 77 and dropped to 7th place in 79, correct?

[will81]

Hmmm there are only 9 soaps listed instead of 10, I get the feeling Days may have placed 4th, as it did two weeks earlier. There is a big dip between ATWT and GL in ratings, I would guess Days was there and for whatever reason they were left off.

[DRW50]

October 1976 Daytime TV. The ratings for the week ended June 20, 1976.

9.7 ATWT - 35%

9.2 Y&R - 37%

9.1 GL - 34%

8.9 AW - 30%

8.4 Search - 33%

7.7 AMC - 29%

7.7 DAYS - 28%

6.7 Edge 23%

6.6 LOL 28%

6.6 The Doctors 24%

Game shows

10.0 Match Game 33%

7.1 Price is Right 38%

6.8 Break the Bank 25%

6.4 Rhyme & Reason 24%

[DRW50]

Per Daytime TV, ratings for the week ending July 15, 1973.

9.9 GH - 34%

8.7 AMC - 31%

8.7 DAYS - 30%

8.6 ATWT - 32%

8.3 AW - 32%

8.3 Doctors - 29%

7.6 OLTL - 28%

7.2 GL - 29%

7.1 Search - 26%

6.8 Edge - 28%

[Paul Raven]

Those 1973 figures explain why Irna was fired around that time.

[DRW50]

I wasn't sure if any of this was affected by Watergate hearings.

[soapfave06]

Was anything big going on for GH around that time? I am surprised to see them leading in the ratings. I thought the only time they reached number 1 then was when Audrey stood trial for murder?

[saynotoursoap]

GH did go to number one during Audrey's trial, and the series managed to maintain the momentum for several years during the early 70s. Around 1972/73, All My Children began its ascendency in the Nielsens, too, allowing third-rated ABC a genuine shot at luring audiences away from CBS and NBC. The televised Watergate hearings did affect the ratings, as pointed out by Carl. In the summer of 1973, GH's writers amped up the plots in order to keep the audience hooked through weeks of preemptions.

July 1973 in the as-yet-unamed Port Charles:

Dr. Phil Brewer learned that Diana Taylor was pregnant. Months earlier, Phil had raped Diana. Diana lied about the date of her conception to keep her husband Peter and Phil in the dark about the child's paternity.

Nurse Sharon Pinkham went into labor and gave birth to Henry's daughter.

Dr. Tom Baldwin was reported killed in Mexico. Audrey recovered from the shock with the help of Steve Hardy, who wanted a reconciliation with her, but he was forced to vie for Audery's affection by Dr. Jim Hobart, who saved Audrey's son Tommy's life with delicate heart surgery.

Augusta McLeod, Tommy Baldwin's private nurse, became upset when she learned that Dr. Lesley Williams was practicing at General Hospital. Augusta had previously been involved with Lesley's husband. Lesley confided to Jim Hobart that her late husband Brian, a diabetic, died from an insulin overdose shortly after their baby died. His death was ruled accidental, but Lesley speculated that it was suicide.

Jessie's persistent cough grew worse, and she finally sought medical attention. An x-ray revealed a shadow on her lung.

Attorney Lee Baldwin's wife Meg irrationally believed that Lee and Lesley were having an illicit affair. Her suspicions bordered on paranoia, and she became convinced that Lesley was poisoning her blood pressure medication. Meg secretly went off the medication, and while arguing violently with Lee about his "indiscretions", Meg suffered a massive cereberal hemorrhage. Despite the best efforts of the hospital staff, Meg died.

[soapfave06]

Thank you so much for sharing that saynotoursoap. July 1973 was truly an action-packed month. I would rather see reruns of the classics than new episodes at this point.

[Eric83]

But wasn't all of NBC tanking during this time (1980-1981)?

[Susan Hunter]

If I remember correctly, NBC was definitely in a transitional phase.

'The Doctors' had earlier switched time slots to make room for the 90 minute 'AW', and if I'm not mistaken it went up against YR, Ryan's Hope, and/or local news and some affiliates time-shifted it to late morning.

'Days' was in that period where they were switching headwriters every year. I believe this was the infamous Nina Laemle season.

'AW' was post-Lemay and I believe doing that whole Harry Must Die and St. Croix story, which was entirely different from what the show had been for the previous 8 years. Also, something else a lot of people forget is that 'AW' was NBC's 3:00 est show. It was going up against an increasingly popular 'GH', transitioning out of the 90 minute format and introducing the 'Texas' characters, and it lost Beverlee McKinsey. I also think I read that Wyndham, Watson and McKinsey had some kind of a wonky work schedule during the 90 minute season where they weren't always on together or at different times or something, which may have affected ratings.

[DRW50]

There was definitely a lot of time when Rachel/Mac/Iris were all separated at that time. Now I wonder if that's why the show split Mac/Rachel up again.

From what I've seen of AW at that time it seems like the Janice story was the only thing they really had going for them.

[Gray Bunny]

Interesting how the ratings fluctuated so during the good ol' days of soaps. ATWT is 1.3 below the top-rated soap, yet it's No. 1 overall for the year.

[DRW50]

From the May 1972 Daytime TV.

Ratings for the week ending January 21, 1972.

11.2 GH - 34%

11.1 ATWT - 36%

10.0 DAYS - 32%

9.4 Edge - 29%

9.4 Doctors - 30%

9.3 AW - 29%

9.1 Search - 31%

8.9 GL - 29%

8.2 Splendored Thing - 26%

7.7 LOL - 28%

[DRW50]

Daytime TV gives the ratings for the week ending April 22, 1973.

9.9 AW - 35%

9.8 DAYS - 34%

9.7 ATWT - 33%

8.7 Doctors - 32%

8.4 GH - 29%

7.9 Search - 30%

7.9 GL - 28%

7.7 Edge - 29%

7.6 Return to Peyton Place - 27%

7.5 OLTL - 26%