Ratings from the 80's

[Khan]

For people like my mom, "Oprah" was the perfect way to end the afternoon after watching LOVING, AMC/Y&R, CAPITOL/RH, OLTL and GL. 

[Paul Raven]

Will add more if you like from what I can locate

This is Nov 85.

The four numbers represent 1.Show 2. rating 3. share 4.coverage 5.number of markets

So as you can see, something like Fight Back, a consumer rights show, ranks 9th but is only shown in 27 markets. 

This is before the boom in talk shows.I'll try and find something from later in the decade when Oprah, Sally, Geraldo etc take hold.

1.Wheel of Fortune 18.5 32 99.1 192

2. Jeopardy 11.2 24 94.5 169

3. M'A'S'H . . 9.2 20 91.6 165

4. New Newlywed Game 8.9 19 90.7 156

5. PM Magazine 8.8 15 56.0 53

6. Southwest Conference Football 8.7 28 7.5 20

7. Three's Company 8.6 19 85.9 154

8. Entertainment Tonight 8.4 17 89.9 141

9. Fight Back 8.0 17 34.3 27

10. People's Court 7.8 20 94.1 162

11. Price is Right 7.8 15 67.0 112

12. Honeymooners Season 7.5 14 25.2 36

13. Small Wonder 7.4 15 67.6 60

14. Diff'rent Strokes 7.3 16 84.0 126

15. Hee Haw 7.2 18 79.8 170

16. Barbara Mandrell 7.1 19 1.4 6

17. Benson 7.0 15 71.6 108

18. Serendipity Singers 7.0 27 1.4 5

19. Too Close for Comfort 6.9 14 74.0 85

20. Country Comes Alive 6.8 12 2.0 5

21. Gimme a Break 6.6 13 48.4 55

22. Jeffersons 6.5 15 76.1 118

23. Fame 6.3 13 89.7 141

24. ACC Football 6.2 24 10.3 17

25. Phil Donahue Show 6.2 28 97.5 178

26. Sale of the Century 6.2 16 20.9 13

27. $100,000 Pyramid 6.2 11 34.5 42

28. Forrest Gregg 6.0 18 2.0 6

29. Archie Bunkers Place 5.7 11 19.9 13

30. What's Happening 5.6 13 44.1 37

31. WKRP in Cincinnati 5.6 14 66.2 119

32. Barney Miller 5.4 14 66.8 99

33. Big Ten Football 5.2 18 18.1 25

34. Smurf-Magic Flute 5.2 8 5.3 6

35. Taxi 5.2 12 56.8 83

36. What's Happening Now 5.1 11 74.1 82

37. Agronski and Company 5.0 14 6.6 6

38. Dance Fever 5.0 12 79.7 104

39. Hour Magazine 4.9 21 78.4 114

40. SFM Holiday Entertainment 4.9 13 17.9 28

41. Star Search 4.9 12 90.7 159

42. Happy Days 4.8 14 51.4 94

Lower in the rankings 

Hour Magazine 4.9 21 74 110

Comedy Break with Mack and Jamie 1.7 6 48.1 40

Comedy Tonight 1.0 6 59.7 71

Dick Clark Nitetime 2.3 10 72.8 83

Dallas 3.4 10 51.7 92

Dynasty 3.4 10 48.7 47 

Knots Landing 3.3 10 12.5 20 

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[Paul Raven]

 Show/Number of markets/rating/share/ coverage as %

November 86

1. Wheel of Fortune 199 19.3 33 99.6

2. Jeopardy 189 12.3 26 98.4

3. PM Magazine 45 9.7 18 36.6

4. New Newlywed Game 181 8.9 17 96.5

5. M`A`S`H 159 8.7 19 90.6 #1 in late night in 65 markets

6. People's Court 181 8.2 21 95.3

7. Three's Company 143 7.9 18 84.7

8. Oprah Winfrey Show 131 7.7 31 89.3 #1 daytime talk show

9. Southwest Conference Football ... . 19 7.7 25 7.4

10. Phil Donahue Show 181 7.6 29 97.9

11. National Geographic 47 7.6 15 27.4

12. Entertainment Tonight 140 7.5 15 87.6

13. Best of National Geographic 59 7.5 14 44.7

14. Hollywood Squares 134 7.2 17 86.1

15. ACC Football 18 7.1 24 10.0

16. Hee Haw 165 7.1 18 77.8

17. Big Spin 9 6.9 12 10.7

18. Card Sharks 35 6.6 16 35.0

19. Facts of Life 104 6.5 13 76.4 #1 off network sitcom new to syndication

20. Magnum PI 116 6.4 16 77.5 #1 off network drama

21. Gimme a Break 103 6.2 13 81.0

22. Small Wonder 111 6.2 13 82.7 #1 first run sitcom

23. Benson 108 6.0 13 71.0

24. Diff'rent Strokes 127 6.0 14 83.2

25. Divorce Court 137 5.9 18 85.7

26. Jeffersons 96 5.6 13 63.7

27. God's Good News 5 5.4 17 2.2

28. Silver Spoons 29 5.4 11 29.4

29. Ellery Queen 6 5.3 14 9.1

30. $100,000 Pyramid 40 5.2 11 40.4

31. Too Close for Comfort 84 5.2 11 55.5

32. Fight Back 27 5.1 13 38.6

33. Dating Game 142 5.1 15 84.1

34. 9 to 5 63 5.0 10 60.9

35. Hour Magazine 126 4.8 18 82.1

36. WKRP in Cincinnati 102 4.8 12 63.2

37. Barney Miller 92 4.7 14 56.4

38. Mama's Family 138 4.6 10 85.2

39. Superior Court 109 4.6 15 73

40. Throb 133 4.6 9 88.4

And...

Superior Court  109 markets 4.6/15 

The Judge 67 markets 3.9/15

Siskel and Ebert 138 markets 2.6/10

At the Movies 88 markets 2.0/7

Cross Wits 29 markets 2.1/9

Strike It Rich 57 markets 1.8/8

Nightlife w/ David Brenner 96 markets 1.9/11

First run sitcoms 

What's Happening Now 85 markets 4.2/10

Ted Knight Show 98 markets 4.1/9

It's a Living 138 markets 3.9/9

What A Country 85 markets 3.8/8

That's My Mama 12 markets 3.6/8

One Big Family 135 markets 3.4/7

Gidget 113 markets 2.6/7

Check It Out 86 markets 1.7/6

New to syndication 60 min

Fall Guy 67 markets 3.1/8

Falcon Crest 110 markets 1.1/5

[beebs]

Fascinating to me that the Tom Kennedy Price Is Right was deemed a flop, but had excellent ratings considering only having 67% coverage. I feel like, with a good push to individual markets, it really could have taken off as a strong competitor to the WOF/J! juggernaut.

[tybuki]

Problem for nighttime TPIR was that most affiliates aired it against Wheel or J!, expecting it to vie for the top of the rankings and knock Wheel and/or J! off its perch, which it didn't come close. Subsequently, most affiliates banished it after the new year.

[kalbir]

In the daytime, The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune were time slot rivals and I'm pretty sure The Price is Right was killing Wheel of Fortune.

[beebs]

Yeah, and again, a 7.8 with only 67% coverage is EXCELLENT numbers. Tom Kennedy did a great job hosting this version and giving it something of a unique energy vs. Barker's show, and I think if there had been more of a push with individual affiliates to air this version against WOF/J!, or possibly expand it to an hour to combat the pair, it might have lasted longer, so I don't know why affiliates would be dropping it if it was doing this well.

I suppose we'd have to take a look at the numbers a little earlier into 1986 to see how well it was holding up as the months wore on, but these numbers did genuinely surprise me, considering how the 1985-86 Syndicated PIR is generally viewed as a flop by all accounts.

 

Edited January 1, 2024 by beebs

[tybuki]

Not really. Wheel often beat the first half-hour of Price. Go look at some of the whole ratings that @JAS0N47 posted earlier in this thread. BTW, what happened to the sweeps posts? I've seen 2.

[JAS0N47]

Me getting busy is what happened!  I do those when I have time, which I have not had in the past month or so.

[Khan]

And I certainly appreciate it when you do have the time, @JAS0N47.  Truly, the work you do - both on here, and on your own website - is never short of incredible.  Thank you so much!!

[tybuki]

No worries sir. Appreciate what you do!

[Paul Raven]

May 87 Syndicated Ratings Rating/share/number of markets/percentage of the country

1. Wheel of Fortune 18.9 34 199 99.6

2. Jeopardy 11.3 27 187 98.1

3. Oprah Winfrey Show 9.3 34 154 93.6

4. PM Magazine 8.5 17 39 31.1

5. M *A *S *H 7.7 19 164 91.8

6. Peoples Court 7.1 21 185 96.7

7. Phil Donahue Show 6.9 28 182 97.5

8. New Newlywed Game 6.6 15 178 97.2

9. Ent. Tonight 6.5 15 142 87.8

9. Three's Company 6.5 16 146 87.1

11. Big Spin 6.4 14 10 10.8

11. Hollywood Squares 6.4 16 142 85.6

13. Card Sharks 6.1 15 29 21.3

14. Facts of Life 5.4 13 109 79.4

15. Magnum, P.I. 5.3 15 119 77.6

16. Benson 4.9 13 102 60.6

16. Diff'rent Strokes 4.9 13 123 77.2

16. Jeffersons 4.9 13 102 66.1

19. Hee Haw 4.8 16 172 82.8

20. Divorce Court 4.7 16 138 85.8

20. Fight Back 4.7 15 29 36.5

20. Gimme a Break 4.7 11 97 75.9

23. Barney Miller 4.5 13 89 56.3

23. Judge 4.5 17 73 63.2

23. Superior Court 4.5 16 107 71.9

23. Too Close- Comfort 4.5 10 80 66.6

[kalbir]

 

Whoa, Oprah moved up w/ the quickness in the first 8 months the show was national. She changed the daytime syndication game.

[Khan]

Black women in particular loved Oprah from the start, because she was like their best girlfriend, showing up every afternoon with some "real talk" about themselves and their men.  Not that they didn't love Phil Donahue, but Oprah just felt more "real" to them, for lack of a better word.  She seemed to be going through the same [!@#$%^&*] they were going through themselves, right down to the issues with weight.