Ratings from the 80's

[JAS0N47]

Posting here since all the preemptions from 1979 to 1989 are posted here. 

Here is the preemptions list for 1978 (as complete as can be, with 2 full weeks, and 5 "fast weekly" weeks not available):

1978 PREEMPTIONS LIST:

Note # 1: Partial preemptions unavailable for the weeks of 4/10/78 & 4/17/78.
Note # 2: Full & partial preemptions unavailable for the "fast weekly" weeks: 3/20/78, 4/24/78, 6/26/78, 8/28/78, 12/25/78. TV listings were checked to confirm any possible regularly scheduled specials preempting the soaps and those are listed in the lists below, but any full preemptions for breaking news will be unknown for these weeks.

DAYS FULL:
1/2/78 Tournament of Roses Parade (1130AM-2PM) & For Richer, For Poorer (2-230PM)
11/23/78 NFL Football Game (1230-330PM)

DAYS PARTIAL:
8/9/78 1:51PM (39 minutes)
9/5/78 130-133 & 145-230PM (48 minutes)
10/16/78 (12 minutes)

AMC FULL:
8/9/78 Pope Paul VI Report
11/24/78 NCAA Football

AMC PARTIAL:
9/5/78 1-127 & 141-2PM (46 minutes)
10/16/78 1-119 & 124-143PM (37 minutes)
11/9/78 Special airing: 1:32-2:30PM (58 minutes)

AW FULL:
1/16/78 Hubert Humphrey Funeral
11/23/78 Thursday- NFL Football Game
**12/25/78 (Local Fill: 3-330PM) & Fiesta Bowl (330-end) (per newspaper)

AW PARTIAL:
1/12/78 3:02PM (58 minutes)
1/30/78 3:05PM (55 minutes)
2/17/78    (30 minutes)
3/9/78 3:38PM (22 minutes)
**4/25/78 (Newspaper listing has Carter Press Conference listed at 3PM)
6/14/78 3:35PM (25 minutes)

ATWT FULL:
12/26/77 NFL Playoff Game 1
1/2/78 Tournament of Roses Parade
4/10/78-4/14/78 or 4/17/78-4/21/78  1 full preemption during these two weeks
9/4/78 US Open Tennis
11/23/78 Family Sports Special
**12/25/78 Peach Bowl (per newspaper)

ATWT PARTIAL
8/9/78 1:53PM (37 minutes)
9/5/78 1:42PM (48 minutes)
10/16/78 (12 minutes)
11/9/78 1:31PM (59 minutes)

DOC FULL:
1/12/78 Carter Press Conference
1/30/78 Carter News Conference
11/23/78 NFL Football Game

DOC PARTIAL:
1/16/78 (29 minutes)
10/16/78 2:37PM (23 minutes)

EDGE FULL:
1/2/78 Sugar Bowl
1/16/78 Hubert Humphrey Funeral
1/30/78 Carter News Conference
2/17/78    General Hospital
3/9/78 General Hospital
6/7/78 Daytime Emmy Awards
6/14/78 General Hospital
**6/26/78 (Newspaper listing has Carter Press Conference listed at 4PM, this could be a full preemption)
8/17/78 Carter Press Conference
9/28/78 Carter Press Conference
10/4/78 ALCS Game 2
10/5/78 NLCS Game 2
10/6/78 ALCS Game 3
10/10/78 Carter Press Conference
11/9/78 General Hospital
11/24/78 NCAA Football
11/30/78 Carter Press Conference

EDGE PARTIAL:
9/5/78 405PM (25 minutes)
10/2/78    Special airing: 2-230PM

FOR RICHER FULL:
1/10/78 Local Fill (network preemption)
2/7/78 Local Fill (network preemption)
2/13/78 Local Fill (network preemption)
3/7/78 Local Fill (network preemption)
4/4/78 Local Fill (network preemption
8/9/78 Pope Paul VI Report
8/17/78 Local Fill (network preemption)

FOR RICHER PARTIAL:
1/2/78 Special airing: 2-230PM
1/16/78 (rated as breakout)
9/28/78 (rated as breakout)

GH FULL:
1/2/78 Sugar Bowl
1/16/78 Hubert Humphrey Funeral
6/7/78 Daytime Emmy Awards
10/2/78 AL Tiebreaker Playoff
11/24/78 NCAA Football

GH PARTIAL:
1/30/78 Special airing: 330PM
2/17/78    Special airing: (3-330 & 403-430) (57 minutes)
3/9/78 Special airing: 3:39PM (51 minutes)
**4/25/78 (Newspaper listing has Carter Press Conference listed at 3PM)
6/14/78 Special airing: 3:36PM (54 minutes)
9/5/78 (48 minutes)
11/9/78 Special airing: 3:30-4:30PM

GL FULL:
12/26/77 NFL Playoff Game 1
1/2/78 Cotton Bowl Game
1/16/78 All in the Family & CBS Special Report
9/4/78 US Open Tennis
11/23/78 Family Sports Special & NFL Football Pregame
**12/25/78 Peach Bowl (per newspaper)

GL PARTIAL:
1/12/78 Special airing: 3:03PM (57 minutes)
1/30/78 Special airing: 3:05PM (55 minutes)
3/9/78 Special airing: (230-3 & 339-4PM, 51 minutes)
**4/25/78 (Newspaper listing has Carter Press Conference listed at 3PM)
6/14/78 Special airing: 230-3 & 336-4PM (54 minutes)
10/16/78 2:36PM (54 minutes)

LOVE FULL:
1/2/78 Tournament of Roses Parade
10/4/78 Pope John Paul I Funeral
11/23/78 Thanksgiving Day Parade

LOVE PARTIAL:
12/30/77 Special airing: 11AM
12/12/78 11:32AM (22 minutes)

OLTL FULL:
1/2/78 Sugar Bowl
10/2/78 Edge of Night & AL Tiebreaker Playoff 
10/5/78 NLCS Game 2
11/24/78 NCAA Football

OLTL PARTIAL:
1/12/78 3:02PM (13 minutes)
1/30/78 Special airing: 2-230 & 305-330 (55 minutes)
10/16/78 2:39PM (21 minutes)
11/9/78 Special airing: 2:30-3:30PM
9/4/78 (rated as breakout)

RYAN FULL:
10/4/78 Pope John Paul I Funeral

RYAN PARTIAL:
3/6/78 12:40PM (20 minutes)
8/9/78 (25 minutes)
9/4/78 (rated as breakout)

SEARCH FULL:
1/2/78 Tournament of Roses Parade
3/2/78 Carter Press Conference/analysis
10/4/78 Pope John Paul I Funeral
11/23/78 Famous Classic Tales

SEARCH PARTIAL:
3/6/78 12:39PM (21 minutes)

YR FULL:
1/2/78 Tournament of Roses Parade
3/2/78 Carter Press Conference
10/4/78 Pope John Paul I Funeral
11/23/78 Famous Classic Tales

YR PARTIAL:
12/30/77 12:06PM (24 minutes)
9/4/78 (rated as breakout)

Edited November 10, 2023 by JAS0N47

[MichaelGL]

For all Longs faults, she stabilized GL’s ratings. Who knows what the likes of Sheri Anderson or Joseph Manetta might have done 

[Contessa Donatella]

And she created Alexandra Spaulding for Beverlee McKinsey. Knowing the actress & knowing the family I have a distinct appreciation for how well that was done. 

[Khan]

I agree with you, @MichaelGL, and with @beebs, too.  GL didn't gain any new viewers under Pam Long's second go-round, but it didn't lose any either, and I think that was a major reason why P&G didn't feel the need to can her.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Khan

[kalbir]

Also probably why GL avoided cancel territory despite ending the 1980s as CBS's lowest rated soap.

Edited November 10, 2023 by kalbir

[kalbir]

The impact of Iran-Contra pre-emptions, Nielsen people meters, writer's strike over the previous two years.

Y&R became a killer show destroying everything in its path and B&B started showing growth. 

I haven't dived into 1990s ratings yet to see if Days got any boost with the spring 1990 returns of Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso, and summer 1991 return of Deidre Hall. With writing being an issue resulting in the 1988/89 ratings drop, I'd say James Reilly cannot get there fast enough.

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 9/18/89-9/22/89 & 9/25/89-9/29/89:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 10/2/89-10/6/89 & 10/9/89-10/13/89:

[Gray Bunny]

The return of Queen Dee put DAYS back at No. 2 for multiple weeks

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[JoeCool]

GH and OLTL starting to slip. AMC holding steady and in the Number 3 slot. AW in the 3-4 range..ouch! Also, Days slipping below 5! That HW at Days is awful!

[JAS0N47]

 

UPDATE TO WEEK OF 10/19/87:

I just received the two scans of ratings today from the fan who had them from soap magazines. The 12/14/87 ratings match exactly what VR posted in 2019. However, there is one difference in the Daytime TV ratings listed for 10/19/87. VR posted OLTL got a 7.4, but Daytime TV has OLTL at 7.5, so I am updating the OLTL rating to 7.5 for that week. As we discussed previously, VR's ratings may have been preliminary, which account for the slight differences, while the incoming information from Daytime TV would be a more final list of ratings.

 

This also explains why the newspaper article that I found (which mentions a tie lower in the chart), does not mention that OLTL and YR are tied at 7.4, since OLTL was 7.5 and YR was 7.4.

 

This new chart is posted in place of the old one:

 

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Edited November 10, 2023 by JAS0N47

[kalbir]

I'm sure you've seen the SOD write up for One Life to Life as Most Disappointing Show in 1989.

We know Andrea Evans departs in early 1990 due to unfortunate real-life circumstances. I haven't dived into 1990 ratings yet to see the impact of her departure.

[JoeCool]

Oh yes, SOD was on point with its analysis of OLTL in 1989. 1990 is not good for OLTL as it slips down to Number 5, Number 6, Number 7 and even Number 8 during some weeks.  Andrea Evans' departure caused a nose dive for OLTL. I loved watching Tina...Andrea Evans was awesome..RIP. Overall, the writing went down for OLTL in the early 1990s.

Edited November 10, 2023 by JoeCool

[Contessa Donatella]

Just sayin' THANK YOU, Jason, again!! 

[kalbir]

Guiding Light this week Beth Chamberlin debut.

B&B this week start of Queen Mary fashion show.

Edited November 11, 2023 by kalbir

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 10/16/89-10/20/89 & 10/23/89-10/27/89:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 10/30/89-11/3/89 & 11/6/89-11/10/89: