Ratings from the 80's

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 9/16/85-9/20/85 & 9/23/85-9/27/85:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 9/30/85-10/4/85 & 10/7/85-10/11/85:

Edited September 18, 2023 by JAS0N47

[beebs]

Okay, so Season + Summer numbers for 1984-85 (vs. previous year):

1. GH	9.0 (-0.9)
2. AMC	8.1 (-0.7)
3. Y&R	8.0 (-0.6)
4. OLTL	7.3 (-0.5)
5. GL	7.2 (-0.7)
6. DAYS	7.0 (-0.2)
7. ATWT	6.7 (-1.0)
8. CAP	5.6 (-0.7)
9. AW	5.4 (-0.2)
10. LOV	4.1 (+0.4)
11. SB	3.5 (+0.2)
12. RH	3.2 (-1.6)
12. SFT	3.2 (-0.1)
14. EON	2.6 (-0.6)

 

A truly rotten year for everyone except SB and LOV, though NBC generally came away relatively unscathed. In RH vs. LOV's case, I would expect that the numbers would be more or less reversed if they'd not moved timeslots, which would have made RH's drop seem far less jarring. ATWT definitely needed a new headwriter at this point, truly not surprised Marland was brought on shortly after this.

As I think I mentioned upthread, this is the first year that VCRs truly took off, so I imagine some of the drop off in viewership is down to that, plus the upturn in the economy meaning more folks are out of the house during the day.

[Soapsuds]

Well at least ATWT is at #6. I think Marland was already head writer. Lily meets Holden for the first time in a couple of weeks.

[AbcNbc247]

Days and AW both dropping. I take it Marlena’s new bf/resident drug dealer wasn’t very popular with the fans

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I wonder how AW fared during the Arizona adventure and the poison dust stuff 

Edited September 18, 2023 by AbcNbc247

[JoeCool]

All My Children begins its descent. After being in the top 3 since 77-78, AMC drops yet stays competitive. AMC forgot what it did best love stories and family relationships. Not until the fall of 1989 does AMC rise again.  Ryan's Hope is just horrible the quality of the show was awful and ABC affiliates were dumping it and should have been canceled..tying SFT for last.

Edited September 18, 2023 by JoeCool

[kalbir]

We're a year away from Oprah going national. It will be interesting to see clearances of the bottom tier soaps at that point.

[JoeCool]

Ryan's Hope will tank as well as Loving. I am interested to see the drop off as well. Also in a year September 1986, General Hospital starts to drop and Restless overtakes GH.

[kalbir]

@JoeCool From the annual ratings, Y&R moves past All My Children for 2nd in 1986, ties General Hospital for #1 in 1988, and becomes #1 overall in 1989.

I know there are some weeks in that time frame where Y&R is #1. Days got to #1 in July 1988 w/ Steve/Kayla wedding.

[JoeCool]

@kalbir Thanks I knew about AMC but I thought Restless made its move on GH earlier. I thought Restless was Number 1 against GH for a significant amount of time in 1988. It will interesting to see GH slip.

[kalbir]

@JoeCool Remember too that 1988 ratings are going to be affected by the Writer's Strike.

Y&R becoming #1 was a combination of owning their time slot, having strong lead ins, and holding on to their audience during the Writer's Strike.

[JoeCool]

@kalbir I forgot about the 1988 strike. It will be interesting to see. Thanks.

[watson71]

This is getting ready to air in November and December. Originally AW was to film scenes in Egypt and had to transfer to Arizona quickly after the the Achille Lauro ocean liner hijacking took place in early October when the ship was hijacked off the coast of Egypt by four men from the Palestine Liberation Front.   It was in the news at the time that the safety of the cast and crew did not warrant the trip to Egypt.  It was jarring onscreen that Carl Hutchins buried an Egyptian treasure in the Arizona desert.

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay I have this note:

The 1981 Writer's strike was only 3 months long. From Apr 11 to Jul 12, 1981 & during that time period GH lost 2 mil viewers.

Does anyone have such a note about '88? 

[JoeCool]

I remember those shows. I taped them...I was not a regular viewer of AW but I wanted to see those shows. 

[GLATWT88]

ABC and CBS saw significant drops this season. NBC was the most stable.

Not surprised Capitol saw a drop between ATWT and GL, which lost 1 point and .7 respectively. Even YR was down quite a bit. 

RH was completely killed off by its move, only to give Loving a slight boost which wouldn't mean much in the long run.