Ratings from the 80's

[You're Soaking in it]

Everything Paul has said on this this thread has been verified.

Edited October 25, 2019 by YurSoakinginit

[slick jones]

@Paul Raven is meticulous in his research unlike some NUTJOBS that post willy-nilly on the board.

[soapfan770]

Thanks  @VanessaReardon for this wonderful resource and your knowledge! 

 

ATWT appeared to have been such a strong contender 1983-84, what caused them to go into freefall to middle of the pack by the end of 1985? Lindsay Frost as Betsy? 

[VanessaReardon]

I believe that the question asked was whether or not AW reached higher than 8th  during the rest of its run, from the mid 80’s onward, which Paul answered. The nutjob had to interject and post info from the 60’s and 70’s. Totally off topic and irrelevant to the question. Plus, the info she posted is readily available right here at SON. She didn’t have to look far. Ugh.

You’re very welcome! I really can’t answer why ATWT lost its way but I think we all know that the hiring of Doug Marland in 1985 really started to turn the show around and 1986 was a great year for the show creatively. 

[Franko]

My big takeaway from these recent posts is that a rising tide doesn't lift all ships. CAP really isn't doing as well as you'd expect between ATWT and GL. DOOL's success isn't doing much for SFT, AW or SB. It's like people who watched AMC, OLTL or GH didn't bother to tune in for RH or LOV.

[~bl~]

I wonder how much flow changed on television in the 80s from previous years, due to more people having VHS in their homes, cable tv, and better remote controls. The whole you watch a certain channel all day became less of a thing when one had more options for programming. 

 

With the ABC shows, I wish I knew how many areas didn't air RH or LOV, due to time slot, opting for local news.  Or if they showed either overnight, I do recall that Philadelphia (not sure when this started) aired Santa Barbara in the mornings, and they were behind the rest of the country, so Days being successful probably wouldn't have helped SB in that viewing area.

[Titus Andronicus]

My area did not get ABC until 1982. About 12 years later, the station went dark. I don't know if basic cable carried another ABC affiliate. Satellite dish people could get ABC, but only if they asked for a waiver, which gave them a New York affiliate.

 

 

NBC was that station here. It was the only one that provided local news coverage. I think that does have something to do with NBC soaps' popularity in the area. I only knew of one person who watched Y&R. Everybody watched Days of Our Lives. I was told a story that local teachers were sneaking in at recess to watch Days on a classroom TV during the Salem Strangler storyline.

[Franko]

Good point about preemptions and out of pattern timeslots. I stand by my call that CAP is an obvious weak link circa '85-'86, but it does seem like the affiliates played a pretty big role for the shows at the bottom of the heap.

[kalbir]

 

I would think pre-emptions were due to affiliates airing 1 hour noon newscasts or syndicated talk shows in the morning and late afternoon. I don't find it a coincidence that CBS gave up the 4 pm ET slot the same year Oprah went national, yet they stubbornly held on to the 10 am ET slot until 1993 despite the rise of talk shows in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

[chrisml]

I just find it all depressing--the number of soaps on the air and how the ratings were compared to the crumbs they get today. I'm in such a nostalgic mood for the soaps lately. 

[beebs]

I think that's twofold. Partly the lousy quality of the shows post-OJ/JER, and part the fact there's no actually DECENT way to aggregate how many people are watching now on all media. Do I think soaps are being widely viewed today? Not for a minute, but I suspect things are somewhat less dire than we are led to believe, there's just no way to measure it.

[VanessaReardon]

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[EONGLOLTL]

I had forgotten that Days was doing so well in 1986!  Thanks so much Vanessa Reardon for posting these!  

[Paul Raven]

Hitting #3 was quite an achievement for Days as it didn't get any help from surrounding shows. AW never really got any bump when Days's ratings went up.

I wonder if SB had followed Days it would have done better. It seemed more compatible in style.

And AW @3 would be returning it to it's traditional timeslot.

NBC should really have tried this.

[VanessaReardon]

I found a gem that I forgotten I had. It pretty much confirms my belief that it was a myth that GL hit #1 in 1984. Yes, GL beat GH for 3 weeks, but GL was not the number 1 soap. 

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Thanks - there’s so much more coming in the future months. I have tons of stuff in my basement that will flesh out the ratings. I hope to sort through that info during the winter and post it. I have many weeks of ratings from the mid 80’s onward that will fill in the gaps between the Daytime TV monthly ratings.