Ratings from the 80's

[Manny]

This is so exciting!! Thank you, Jason!!

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 1/12/81-1/16/81 & 1/19/81-1/23/81:

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I just saw the 7/25/88 numbers. Nice to finally see "Days" at # 1 for once. Hooray!  Still hasn't happened since I started watching the show in 1990, but I finally got to see the full chart for the week. They just beat YR by 1/10th of a point. Phew!

[TEdgeofNight]

GL and the Jennifer Richards trial. A ratings hit. 

[kalbir]

Steve/Kayla wedding got Days to #1. I take it Days didn't reach #1 when Bo/Hope got married.

[j swift]

I have a question, but I don't know the dates.

Did any soap benefit from the Olympics disruptions in 1984 or 1988?  And did any of those gains last?

I ask because I know Santa Barbara on NBC premiered poorly against the Olympics on ABC in 1984.  But, I was wondering if fans used the opportunity to sample other soaps to a degree that there was actually an uptick in ratings?  I think the dates don't align, but I was pondering if Steve & Kayla's wedding, or other big soap events, were successfully used as counter programming?

Edited July 28, 2023 by j swift

[Contessa Donatella]

The 1984 Summer Olympics were held from July 28 to August 12, 1984 in Los Angeles, California, United States¹. 

The 1988 Summer Olympics were held from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea¹.

[AbcNbc247]

On Days in 1984, those were the weeks that Bo and Hope's New Orleans adventure started.

[kalbir]

1980s Olympics

Lake Placid winter: February 13-24, 1980 - From this thread, ABC pre-empted One Life to Live and General Hospital on February 13, 1980 for Olympics coverage.

Moscow summer: July 19-August 3, 1980 - NBC had the broadcasting rights but the coverage was reduced due to the US boycott. From this thread, NBC did not pre-empt any of their soaps for Olympics coverage.

Sarajevo winter: February 8-19, 1984 - ABC had the broadcasting rights. 

Los Angeles summer: July 28-August 12, 1984 - ABC had the broadcasting rights. 

Calgary winter: February 13-28, 1988 - ABC had the broadcasting rights. 

Seoul summer: September 17-October 2, 1988 - NBC had the broadcasting rights.

 

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 1/26/81-1/30/81 & 2/2/81-2/6/81:

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[JAS0N47]

 

1984 Winter Olympics had no preemptions. I only have the 1984 chart typed up, so you'll need to wait for the 1988 Olympics.

 

1984 SUMMER OLYMPICS WEEKS:

 

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[watson71]

Both DAYS and AW featured remotes the week SANTA BARBARA premiered.  Bo and Hope in New Orleans and AW featured a remote that was filmed at Coney Island where Cecile was kidnapped as she entered the tunnel of love.  This would be the end of Nancy Frangione’s contract appearances as Cecile.  She would return in late October 1984 to wrap up the storyline and would make several more guest appearances in 1986, 1989, 1993, and 1995-96.

[j swift]

The month before the Olympics DAYS had a 7.2

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And the week of the Olympics it had 7.4

Another World had a 5.4 in June

and a 5.8 during the Olympics

If we consider the variance, these gains don't exceed chance, so it looks like counter programming didn't help.

ABC soaps benefitted from the Olympics

And average 1.3 change in ratings slightly exceed chance, indicating a significant gain

CBS remained stable, with no changes that exceeded chance, even though it lost more viewers than NBC or ABC.  CBS's numbers vary the most from week to week in the 1984 data listed here, so the change is expected.

It was fun to break out the old ANOVA tables to figure out the stats, thanks @JAS0N47 @watson71 @kalbir & @AbcNbc247 for the additional information.

So, if we could travel back to 1984, our advice to NBC would be to follow whatever CBS did during the Olympics. Don't spend the money on the remotes, because they won't have a significant effect (and SOD reported that the rain in New York messed up the production schedule for AW) and, hold Santa Barbara's premiere (and their very expensive floors) until the fall.  Hindsight is 20/20.

Edited July 29, 2023 by j swift

[kalbir]

I wonder if Ryan's Hope being ahead of Search for Tomorrow was CBS's motivation for rearranging the soap schedule on June 8, 1981.

Ryan's Hope head-to-head w/ the first half of Y&R from June 8, 1981 to October 5, 1984. It will be interesting to see Y&R rise and Ryan's Hope fall during that period.

[watson71]

Hindsight is definitely 20/20.  NBC and the production companies were definitely spending money on their soaps. But the ratings were not helped by ABC airing the Olympics.  
 

On a side note, here is an interesting piece of trivia- on the premier episode of Santa Barbara at the 18:00 mark, the reporter is played by Margaret Impert.  She was the actress who played Rachel on AW briefly between Robin Strasser and Victoria Wyndham.

 

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[JAS0N47]

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what is an ANOVA table??