As there is a thread for ratings from the 60's and 70's, I thought I'd get one going for the 80's.ABC pretty much dominated but hopefully we can post figures that give a clearer picture and show fluctuations and any inroads made by CBS and NBC.

From Variety Aug 13th 1982

For the two weeks previous AMC had outrated GH with a 9.9/32 share making it the #1 soap.

Other than Y & R CBS lineup not doing so hot

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

June 20, 1986 Y&R Brad/Traci wedding.

What was happening on Days to get to 3rd? Days hadn't been 3rd since Bo/Hope wedding I believe.

6/9/86-6/13/86: Frightened of Roman, who threw a temper tantrum, Carrie ran into the street and was struck down by a speeding car. Kimberly was relieved when Victor dropped his custody suit over Andrew. Bo and Hope moved into Victor's mansion and Bo allowed Victor to try to be a father to him in exchange for Victor's promise that he would stop harassing the Brady clan. Kimberly was surprised when Shane said he wants to marry her before she and Andrew move in with him. The mystery man kept tabs on Eugene, whose attempts to build a time machine have so far been a bomb. Robin and Mike shared kisses over a romantic dinner. Jennifer tried to help her friend Matt, who is hooked on drugs. Lars secretly contacted Britta. Liz dropped her lawsuit against Pete because she feels Savannah's to blame for Tod's death. Emma continued working on her baby adoption plot. Chris smooched with Savannah. Shawn is feuding with Bo.

6/16/86-6/20/86: Marlena fell off a ledge after saving Jennifer's drugged boyfriend Matt from committing suicide. Savannah began undermining Liz and Neil's marriage. Emma plotted the kidnap and sale of Kimberly's baby. Bo accepted a job as manager of one of Victor's companies. Victor ordered Patch to secretly keep an eye on Bo. Patch, who's smitten with Kayla, found it difficult to follow Emma's orders to terrorize Kayla. Roman worked hard to gain Carrie's confidence as she recovered after being hit by a car. Shawn and Caroline reconciled. Shane and Bo are pretending to be on the outs to get inside info on Victor. Hope is angry over Bo's sudden devotion to Victor. Lars and Melissa are developing a friendship. Mike was jealous of newcomer, Mitch, who's taken a shine to Robin.

 

6/23/86-6/27/86: Disguised as a nurse, Emma kidnapped Andrew from the hospital nursery. Neil operated on Marlena, who suffered from head injuries from her fall off the window ledge. Suspecting that she might be pregnant, Hope wouldn't agree to pose as Shane's childless wife as part of his scheme to see if a baby seller has Andrew. Roman rejoined the police force. Mike and Mitch, who has the approval of Robin's father, vied for Robin's attention. Shane reluctantly agreed to let Kimberly pose as his wife when he questions adoption agencies in hopes of finding Andrew. Hope was furious at Bo, who refused to help Shane look for Andrew because Bo suspects that Victor might be behind the kidnapping. Bo is sure that Victor can lead him to Andrew. Melissa is confused by her growing feelings for Lars. Savannah continued her plot to get revenge against Liz. Roman fretted that Marlena might die.

 

http://www.jason47.com/days/episodesummaries.html

8 minutes ago, JAS0N47 said:

6/9/86-6/13/86: Frightened of Roman, who threw a temper tantrum, Carrie ran into the street and was struck down by a speeding car. Kimberly was relieved when Victor dropped his custody suit over Andrew. Bo and Hope moved into Victor's mansion and Bo allowed Victor to try to be a father to him in exchange for Victor's promise that he would stop harassing the Brady clan. Kimberly was surprised when Shane said he wants to marry her before she and Andrew move in with him. The mystery man kept tabs on Eugene, whose attempts to build a time machine have so far been a bomb. Robin and Mike shared kisses over a romantic dinner. Jennifer tried to help her friend Matt, who is hooked on drugs. Lars secretly contacted Britta. Liz dropped her lawsuit against Pete because she feels Savannah's to blame for Tod's death. Emma continued working on her baby adoption plot. Chris smooched with Savannah. Shawn is feuding with Bo.

6/16/86-6/20/86: Marlena fell off a ledge after saving Jennifer's drugged boyfriend Matt from committing suicide. Savannah began undermining Liz and Neil's marriage. Emma plotted the kidnap and sale of Kimberly's baby. Bo accepted a job as manager of one of Victor's companies. Victor ordered Patch to secretly keep an eye on Bo. Patch, who's smitten with Kayla, found it difficult to follow Emma's orders to terrorize Kayla. Roman worked hard to gain Carrie's confidence as she recovered after being hit by a car. Shawn and Caroline reconciled. Shane and Bo are pretending to be on the outs to get inside info on Victor. Hope is angry over Bo's sudden devotion to Victor. Lars and Melissa are developing a friendship. Mike was jealous of newcomer, Mitch, who's taken a shine to Robin.

 

6/23/86-6/27/86: Disguised as a nurse, Emma kidnapped Andrew from the hospital nursery. Neil operated on Marlena, who suffered from head injuries from her fall off the window ledge. Suspecting that she might be pregnant, Hope wouldn't agree to pose as Shane's childless wife as part of his scheme to see if a baby seller has Andrew. Roman rejoined the police force. Mike and Mitch, who has the approval of Robin's father, vied for Robin's attention. Shane reluctantly agreed to let Kimberly pose as his wife when he questions adoption agencies in hopes of finding Andrew. Hope was furious at Bo, who refused to help Shane look for Andrew because Bo suspects that Victor might be behind the kidnapping. Bo is sure that Victor can lead him to Andrew. Melissa is confused by her growing feelings for Lars. Savannah continued her plot to get revenge against Liz. Roman fretted that Marlena might die.

 

http://www.jason47.com/days/episodesummaries.html

Ah there you go, much like in '78 when Don fell off a ledge trying to save Donna, the easiest way for this show to get a quick ratings boost is to throw someone off a tall building, apparently.

@JAS0N47 Thank you for the Days info.

1 hour ago, TVFAN1144 said:

Other than Y & R CBS lineup not doing so hot

As the World Turns has tough competition from Days, All My Children, One Life to Live.

Capitol is on the way out. Guiding Light is slipping.

I'm sure we all know this, but just in case, Oprah's syndicated debut was on Monday, Sept. 8. She premiered on 120 stations.

ETA: According to a pre-debut article (Kay Gardella, New York Daily News), at least 25% of those stations aired Oprah opposite Donahue. Also, according to Oprah herself, the show would be airing on 137 stations (maybe she picked up more in January?).

Edited September 29, 20232 yr by Franko

On 9/28/2023 at 7:48 PM, Franko said:

Oprah's syndicated debut was on Monday, Sept. 8.

We'll get to see if Oprah affected the clearances of the low tier soaps. We know she was pretty much responsible for the end of daytime network game shows not named The Price is Right.

On the syndicated talk show vein, Merv Griffin ended September 5, 1986 so Oprah's main competition initially was Phil Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, Gary Collins, then a year later Geraldo Rivera.

 

Edited October 8, 20232 yr by kalbir

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 6/30/86-7/4/86 & 7/7/86-7/11/86:

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 7/14/86-7/18/86 & 7/21/86-7/25/86:

50 minutes ago, JAS0N47 said:

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 7/14/86-7/18/86

Y&R #1 three weeks so far in Summer 1986. We saw July 18, 1986 during the classics, Victor proposal to Ashley.

2 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Y&R #1 three weeks so far in Summer 1986. We saw July 18, 1986 during the classics, Victor proposal to Ashley.

Restless was so so good Summer 1986....so good I watched restless and taped AMC.

2 hours ago, JAS0N47 said:

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 6/30/86-7/4/86 & 7/7/86-7/11/86:

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 7/14/86-7/18/86 & 7/21/86-7/25/86:

This is when ATWT starts flexing its muscles and starts mowing down the other soaps until it reaches #2 behind Y&R.

As great as the 86-87 season was....I believe the 85-86 season was even better. It took a while for the audience to realize it.

Edited September 29, 20232 yr by Soapsuds

2 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

This is when ATWT starts flexing its muscles and starts mowing down the other soaps until it reaches #2 behind Y&R.

As great as the 86-87 season was....I believe the 85-86 season was even better. It took a while for the audience to realize it.

As the World Turns really thrived 1986 and 1987. They also got a good Emmy haul in 1987, three acting Emmys and best show.

NIELSEN RATINGS UPDATE:

 

Good news for daytime ratings fans!  Confirmation has arrived for the final "missing" weeks. All of the remaining missing weeks still needed from 1987-1990 have been found except for two weeks in late 1987. So, as we start to finish up this project, the final stats are this:

 

From January 1979-May 1992, there will only be 3 weeks missing full data (1 from 1981 and 2 from 1987). At the moment, it looks like two weeks from 1991 are still missing, but those weeks are covered by the Soap Opera Weekly charts, so only two weeks from 1991 will be missing the additional data not covered in Soap Opera Weekly (affiliates, clearance, demos, preemptions).

57 minutes ago, JAS0N47 said:

NIELSEN RATINGS UPDATE:

 

Good news for daytime ratings fans!  Confirmation has arrived for the final "missing" weeks. All of the remaining missing weeks still needed from 1987-1990 have been found except for two weeks in late 1987. So, as we start to finish up this project, the final stats are this:

 

From January 1979-May 1992, there will only be 3 weeks missing full data (1 from 1981 and 2 from 1987). At the moment, it looks like two weeks from 1991 are still missing, but those weeks are covered by the Soap Opera Weekly charts, so only two weeks from 1991 will be missing the additional data not covered in Soap Opera Weekly (affiliates, clearance, demos, preemptions).

Thanks so much @JAS0N47

I appreciate all you do!

1 hour ago, JAS0N47 said:

NIELSEN RATINGS UPDATE:

 

Good news for daytime ratings fans!  Confirmation has arrived for the final "missing" weeks. All of the remaining missing weeks still needed from 1987-1990 have been found except for two weeks in late 1987. So, as we start to finish up this project, the final stats are this:

 

From January 1979-May 1992, there will only be 3 weeks missing full data (1 from 1981 and 2 from 1987). At the moment, it looks like two weeks from 1991 are still missing, but those weeks are covered by the Soap Opera Weekly charts, so only two weeks from 1991 will be missing the additional data not covered in Soap Opera Weekly (affiliates, clearance, demos, preemptions).

That's so amazing!!  It's so exciting that we are gonna be getting 90's data too! You are the best! 

I was wondering though, It's probably too early but do you have any info from January-February 1991? I'd love to see any of those weeks to see which days the soaps were affected or preempted for gulf war coverage? 

@JAS0N47 You are amazing and should be knighted

Thanks again for bringing all this soap history to us.

@YRfan23 We have a 1990s Ratings thread here

 

 

Edited September 30, 20232 yr by kalbir