Ratings from the 80's

[kalbir]

Y&R Nikki learns her illness is in remission, but upon seeing Victor and Ashley together at the ranch, Nikki decides to keep the truth about her condition hidden from Victor.

Lily's parentage reveal episode was one of the early 2000s holiday classics.

GL shows a drop in the annual ratings until 1991/92. It's disappointing to me that GL ratings dropped during the Robert Calhoun years. 

Remember too that B&B did not have full clearance in its early years, plus it's head-to-head w/ second half of supercouple Days and second half of All My Children.

I would think As the World Turns would have improved by not being head-to-head w/ second half of supercouple Days and second half of All My Children. Perhaps being fully head-to-head w/ One Life to Live was giving it tougher competition.

I remember reading that somewhere many years ago, that Bill Bell allegedly demanded CBS give B&B the Y&R lead out otherwise he'd take both shows to another network. Same stunt that Mark Goodson allegedly pulled off a year earlier w/ The Price is Right and Card Sharks.

Edited October 12, 2023 by kalbir

[Franko]

I imagine that if Bell took Y&R and B&B to NBC, than AW would have been cancelled and Days would have moved to 2, followed by Santa Barbara.  (And 12 years ahead of reality, NBC would have had an all West Coast-produced soap lineup.)

As long as I'm speculating, suppose that AW became the third soap (not only that, but the third P&G soap) to switch networks. Imagine, if you will ...

CBS -- Capitol at 12:30, AW at 1, ATWT at 2 (fulfilling Irna's dream of a World-verse 23 years later) and GL at 3.

ABC -- RH at 12, LOV at 12:30, AMC at 1, OLTL at 2 and GH at 3.

NBC -- Y&R at 12:30, B&B at 1:30, DOOL at 2 and SB at 3.

And, what the hell, as long as I'm fan-fictioning, Capitol eventually gets succeeded by Doug Marland's The Soul Survivors.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Franko

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 6/8/87-6/12/87 & 6/15/87-6/19/87:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS (FAST NATIONALS): WEEK OF 6/22/87-6/26/87:

[Soapsuds]

ATWT

Lily finds out Iva is her birth mother and that Josh is her father and was conceived by rape.

Craig and Betsy are involved in a plane crash.

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Edited October 12, 2023 by Soapsuds

[kalbir]

Y&R June 25, 1987 Jess Walton takes over as Jill. The first of Y&R's big three late 1980s recasts.

So far summer 1987 Y&R #1 three consecutive weeks.

Also Y&R summer 1987 Phillip III gets drunk and becomes involved with Nina who is in pursuit of him, resulting in Nina becoming pregnant with Chance. Another main storyline Traci off to Stanford and Brad becomes involved with Lauren.

More Iran Contra pre-emptions are coming up and that's going to impact the ratings. 

Edited October 14, 2023 by kalbir

[Gray Bunny]

... and exactly 10 years later, DAYS would again achieve a 6.9 (the week of Kristen's comeuppance) but this time it put them in 2nd place, inching very close to Y&R's 7.2. 

[kalbir]

June 23-27, 1997.

 

[JoeCool]

What is interesting is that General Hospital begins it descent in the summer of 1987 and slips to No. 2 in the late 80s/early 90s then falls to No. 3 and one season No. 4. GH becomes ABC's No. 2 soap and never recovers. The storytelling on GH just cannot match Restless, AMC and ATWT and to a certain extent Days during this time. GH also had weaker competition than Restless did. Restless begins to triumph in the summer of 1987.

[kalbir]

1988 Y&R ties General Hospital for #1 and 1989 Y&R finally beats General Hospital for #1.

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]

I agree with the reasoning but Bill Bell was the master. His writing was awesome. I started to watch Restless in 86 and taped AMC. AMC was always my favorite. I always wondered how GH would have fared if it aired directly or 1/2 of it against Restless.

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 6/29/87-7/3/87 & 7/6/87-7/10/87:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 7/13/87-7/17/87 & 7/20/87-7/24/87:

[Soapsuds]

ATWT hits #2

Dusty finds Lily.

Margo, Hal and Betsy search for a missing Craig.

Margo and Hal sleep together leading to a pregnant (Adam)

Margo down the line.

Craig is seen barely alive.

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[Gray Bunny]

The NBC lineup certainly benefitted from these preemptions. 

[JoeCool]

Preemptions wreak havoc on the ratings. AMC tied for Number 1 with GH one week. Restless one week Number 1 then Restless No. 6 next week the following week back to Number 1.  ATWT Number 3 one week then Number 6. Very competitive time.

Edited October 13, 2023 by JoeCool

[Soapsuds]

GL and BB numbers horrific. GL falling behind BB with almost 4's and BB falling below AW.