Looking back...Primetime Ratings from the 80's

[vetsoapfan]

 

https://www.macleans.ca/uncategorized/the-20th-anniversary-of-the-most-awesomest-tv-contract-dispute-ever/

[Paul Raven]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

Valerie Harper returned to CBS with 'City' but it flopped.

 

Full House was low rated and most of the shows with similar ratings  were dropped. ABC stuck with it and it went Top 10 several seasons later.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Paul Raven

[Gray Bunny]

 

Yes indeed, fun memories of the late 80's/early 90's when NBC Saturday nights (which of course are female-oriented shows) were my favorite. Golden Girls, Empty Nest, and Sisters. There was one year in particular (1991-1992; Golden Girls' final season) when they had Golden Girls, Empty Nest, and Nurses. Nurses also lived in the same fictional universe as the other two, and they would crossover on each other's shows. 

 

Edited October 5, 2018 by Gray Bunny

[vetsoapfan]

While there were some great series broadcast during the 1980s, I must say that Saturday nights on CBS in the early 1970s remain the gold standard of high-quality, extremely-satisfying programming for me. On that one evening we were treated to All in the Family,  MASH, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show. 

 

I waited all week for Saturday nights, and not because I could go out and party, but because I could stay in and curl up on the couch with Mary and Rhoda and all my other "friends"!

 

https://www.womansworld.com/posts/cbs-schedule-all-in-the-family-141332

[Paul Raven]

Wk 3 of the 87/88 Season.

NBC had baseball from Tues thru Sunday which meant their blockbuster Th and Sat shows didn't air (except for Cosby)

A few shows saw a bump in their ratings as those viewers not into baseball sampled something different.

The first cancellation : Once a Hero on ABC Sat replaced by a Carol Burnett rpt special.

 

1 Cosby Show NBC 28.2/45

2 Murder, She Wrote CBS 23.3/36

3 Growing Pains ABC 23.1/37

4 Who the Boss? ABC 21.9/36

5 Moonlighting ABC 21.8/34

6 Dallas CBS 20.2/35

7 Newhart CBS 19.5/30

8 CBS Sunday Movie CBS 19.2/30

9 Head of the Class ABC 18.7/29

10 A.L. Championship, game 2 NBC 18.7/32

11 Designing Women CBS 18.6/29

12 Magnum, P.I. CBS 18.6/28

13 60 Minutes CBS 18.5/32

14 ALF NBC 18.5/30

15 Valerie's Family NBC 17.6/27

16 A.L. Championship, game 1 NBC 17.2/28

17 Perfect Strangers ABC 17.0/28

18 Hooperman ABC 16.8/26

19 A.L. Championship, game 4 NBC 16.8/28

20 Monday Night at the Movies NBC 16.7/27

21 Knots Landing CBS 16.5/28

22 Falcon Crest CBS 16.4/31

23 Thirtysomething ABC 15.8/28

24 Cagney & Lacey CBS 15.7/27

25 N.L. Championship, game 1 NBC 15.5/26

26 Dynasty ABC 15.4/26

27 Dolly ABC 15.1/23

28 Kate & Allie CBS 15.1/23

29 Slap Maxwell Story ABC 14.9/23

30 Jake and the Fatman CBS 14.8/23

31 N.L. Championship, game 3 NBC 14.6/27

32 N.L. Championship, game 4 NBC 14.5/27

33 Equalizer CBS 14.2/24

34 Monday Night Football ABC 13.8/25

35 Wiseguy CBS 13.8/22

36 Franks Place CBS 13.7/22

37 Law and Harry McGraw CBS 13.6/24

38 Charmings ABC 13.2/21

39 Beauty and the Beast CBS 13.0/23

40 Houston Knights CBS 12.7/20

41 A.L. Champ., pre -game 1 NBC 12.3/22

42 MacGyver ABC 12.2/20

43  Oldest Rookie CBS 12.2/19

44 Spenser: For Hire ABC 12.1/19

45 Tour of Duty CBS 12.0/19

46 Hotel ABC 11.9/24

47 A.L. Champ., pregame 4 NBC 11.9/20

48 Married Dora ABC 11.6/20

49  Full House ABC 11.4/21

50 Disney Sunday Movie ABC 11.3/19

51 NBC Nightly News (Sun.) NBC 11.2/20

52 Buck Names ABC 10.9/18

53 20/20 ABC 10.8/20

54 N.L. Champ., pregame 1 NBC 10.7/19

55 ABC Thursday Night Movie ABC 10.6/17

56  O'Hara ABC 10.5/19

57 My Sister Sam CBS 10.1/19

58 . N.L. Champ., pregame 3 NBC 10.1/20

59 . Everything's Relative CBS 10.0/18

60 . N.L. Champ., pregame 4 NBC 9.6/19

61. Sledge Hammer! ABC 9.3/15

62. Leg Work CBS 8.6/16

63. Carol Burnett Special ABC 7.8/14

64. Wést 57th CBS 7.6/15

65. Max Headroom ABC 7.1/12

Edited October 7, 2018 by Paul Raven

[Paul Raven]

And the changes began...

 

ABC replaced Once A Hero with another superhero Sable (not a Colby's spin off!) at 8pm Saturday.After 2 airings they swapped it with O'Hara and aired at 9pm and then cancelled it.

Max Headroom replaced by Mr Belvedere and The Pursuit of Happiness.

 

CBS,coming third announced a raft of changes

Mon

Frank's Place and Kate & Allie swapped timeslots.

Wiseguy moved from Thurs to Monday @ 10 replacing Cagney & Lacey

 

Tues

48 Hours @ 8 replacing Houston Knights

Cagney & Lacey @ 10 replacing Law & Harry McGraw 

 

Wed

Law & Harry McGraw @ 8 replacing Oldest Rookie (on hiatus)

 

Thur

Simon & Simon @  9 ( replacing Wiseguy)

 

Sat

High Mountain Rangers @8  Houston Knights @9 replacing My Sister sam (on hiatus) Everything's Relative and Leg work (cancelled)

Edited October 8, 2018 by Paul Raven

[Paul Raven]

Wk 7

NBC won the week making it 7 for 7.

CBS pre-empted all Monday shows for Echoes in The darkness pt 2

NBC premiered Beverly Hills Buntz following Cheers/pre-empting Night Court .BHB was planned to be showed occasionally before getting a regular run

ABC pre-empted The Charmings for an 8.30 start for A View To A Kill. Premiere of Sable Sat @ 8

Last showings for Everything's Relative, My Sister Sam and Leg Work.

1. 31.4/48 Cosby Show

2. 29.7/45 Different World

3. 26.4/41 Cheers.

4. 24.0/38 60 Minutes

5. 23.3/35 Growing Pains

6. 23.1/41 Golden Girls

7. 22.3/34 Murder, She Wrote

8. 22.1/34Who's The Boss

9. 22.0/33 CBS Special Movie – Mon Echoes in The Darkness Pt 2.

10. 20.7/34 NBC Sunday Night Movie

11. 20.4/34 Beverly Hills Buntz

12. 19.9/31 Moonlighting

13. 19.1/35 Amen

14. 18.7/32 L.A. Law

15. 18.2/27 ALF

16. 18.1/27 My Two Dads

17. 17.7/27 Family Ties

18. 17.5/30 Monday Night Football

19. 17.5/31 227

20. 17.3/29 Dallas

21. 17.3/34 Hunter

22. 17.1/27 Head of the Class

23. 16.8/24 Valerie's Family

24. 16.5/27 Perfect Strangers

25. 16.5/27 CBS Sunday Movie Echoes in The Darkness Pt 1

26. 16.5/25 Matlock

27. 15.9/25 Hooperman

28. 15.2/26 Knots Landing

29. 15.0/28 Facts of Life

30. 14.9/26 Dynasty

31. 14.6/27 Falcon Crest

32. 13.6/22 Magnum, P.I.

33. 13.4/22 Slap Maxwell Story

34. 13.1/23 Equalizer

35. 13.1/21 Highway to Heaven

36. 13.0/24 Thirtysomething

37. 13.0/23 St. Elsewhere

38. 12.1/22 Crime Story

39. 12.1/19 Our House

40. 12.0/18 Dolly

41. 12.0/21 Beauty and the Beast

42. 11.6/18 J.J. Starbuck

43. 11.4/21 20/20

44. 11.4/18 Year in the Life

45. 11.3/18 Jake and the Fatman

46. 11.2/17 MacGyver

47. 11.2/19 Married Dora

48. 11.2/17 NBC Monday Night Movie Oh God You Devil

49. 11.1/19 Miami Vice

50. 10.9/19 Full House

51. 11.0/17 Wiseguy

52. 10.2/16 Tour of Duty

53. 10.1/16 Disney Sunday Movie

54. 10.0/17 Mr. Belvedere

55. 10.0/16 Oldest Rookie

56. 9.9/18 Sable

57. 9.7/18 Private Eye

58. 9.6/18 Law and Harry McGraw

59. 9.5/15 ABC Thursday Night Movie A View To A Kill

60. 9.4/16 Buck James

61. 9.2/16 Ohara

62. 9.0/16 Rags to Riches

63. .8.6/17 A Hotel

64. 8.2/12 Spenser: For Hire

65. 8.2/13 C Houston Knights

66. 7.7/12 Sledge Hammer!

67. 7.6/13 Pursuit of Happiness

68. 7.6/15 West 57th 57.

69. 6.9/13 My Sister Sam

70. 5.6/10 Everything's Relative

71. 5.3/9 Leg Work .

[YRBB]

It's really bizarre to me to see FALCON CREST not only so close to KNOTS LANDING, but sometimes doing better too! I guess that post-DALLAS slot really was a great thing for them!

[I Am A Swede]

 

Why is that? I think Falcon Crest was a very enjoyable show. This season (1987/88) was perhaps when the decline began in earnest though. It was the first season post-Chase and wasn't it also Melissa's last season?

[YRBB]

 

Oh, I agree! I've seen the first 3 seasons and an episode here and there from others, and always found it enjoyable, so I wasn't really putting the show down. It's just that Season 7 of FC doesn't have a particularly good reputation and I was always under the impression KL was second after DALLAS/DYNASTY in terms of ratings and FC was third. Perhaps that was true of earlier seasons. 

[dragonflies]

Great to see Family Ties still having done well given how they were on their second to last season

[Soapsuds]

 

Thanks for posting these. Dallas was still doing well at the beginning of 87-88 season with a 20.2/35 rating and ranking #6. The cliffhanger for the 86-87 season had a rating of 23.1 rating and ranked #3 for the week(although this was the first time a Dallas cliffhanger did not rank #1 for week).  I think Morgan Brittany's brief return and what was going to happen to Pam helped out.  Once Pam's story ended after episode 5 the ratings started to erode to #20 in the ratings.

 

Surprising at how bad Dynasty dropped from the beginning of 87-88 season. 

 

I am curious as to what everyone thinks on why Dallas was the only soap to maintain its top 10 ranking in the ratings compared to Dynasty, Knots and FC which all dropped off outside the top 20.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Soapsuds

[Paul Raven]

1. 30.0/47 N Cosby Show

2. 27.9/43 N Different World

3. 23.5/37 C 60 Minutes

4. 23.1/36 N Cheers

5. 22.6/35 N Night Court

6. 21.9/35 A Barbara Walters Special Tues @9 (pre-empting Moonlighting)

7. 21.9/32 C Murder, She Wrote

8. 21.1/32 A Growing Pains

9. 21.0/37 N Golden Girls

10. 20.3/32 A Who's the Boss?

11. 19.3/30 C CBS Sunday Movie - Foxfire

12. 18.9/34 N L.A. Law

13. 17.9/31 C Grinch Stole Christmas Fri @8.30 (pre-empting Beauty & The Beast)

14. 17.5/27 N Matlock

15. 17.3/31 A Monday Night Football

16. 17.3/32 N Hunter

17. 17.3/26 N Family Ties 8-9 (pre-empting My Two Dads)

18. 17.2/26 N ALF

19. 16.9/30 C Charlie Brown Christmas Fri @ 8 (pre-empting Beauty & The Beast)

20. 16.8/26 C Night Before Christmas Wed @8 (pre-empting Oldest Rookie)

21. 16.7/30 N Amen

22. 16.7/26 N NBC Sunday Movie – The Father Clements story

23. 16.6/29 C Knots Landing

24. 16.2/26 C Frosty the Snowman Wed @8 (pre-empting Oldest Rookie)

25. 16.0/25 A Hooperman

26. 15.9/24 C Kate and Allie

27. 15.9/27 C Dallas

28. 15.8/24 C Newhart

29. 15.7/28 A Dynasty

30. 15.7/28 N 227

31. 15.6/24 C Designing Women

32. 14.6/23 N Hunter Special Tues @9 (pre-empting JJ Starbuck)

33. 14.3/26 C Falcon Crest

34. 14.3/22 N NBC Monday Movie - Eye on the Sparrow

35. 14.1/23 A Slap Maxwell Story

36. 14.1/26 N Facts of Life

37. 14.0/22 N Miami Vice

38. 14.0/22 N Highway to Heaven

39. 13.6/25 A 20/20

40. 13.6/21 C Frank's Place

41. 13.5/21 A Head of the Class

42. 13.5/23 C Cagney & Lacey

43. 13.2/21 A Perfect Strangers

44. 13.2/21 N St. Elsewhere

45. 13.1/20 C Simon and Simon

46. 12.9/25 A Thirtysomething

47. 12.9/23 N Bronx Zoo (pre-empting St Elsewhere)

48. 12.6/23 N Crime Story

49. 12.0/18 A Dolly

50. 11.6/18 A MacGyver

51. 11.2/18 N Mouse, Mystery and Me Sun@7 (pre-empting Our House)

52. 10.8/20 N Private Eye

53. 10.6/17 C Tour of Duty

54. 10.5/18 A Mr. Belvedere

55. 10.3/16 C Jake and the Fatman

56. 10.2/19 C Law and Harry McGraw

57. 10.1/16 A Disney Sunday Movie -The Christmas Star 7-9 (pre-empting Spenser For Hire)

58. 9.5/17 A Full House

59. 9.5/16 C Grammy Lifetime Awards Wed 9-11 (pre-empting Equalizer /wiseguy)

60. 9.5/16 N Season to Be Smurfy sun @ 7.30 (pre-empting Our House)

61. 9.2/16 A I Married Dora

62. 8.9/16 A Ohara

63. 8.8/16 A Hotel

64. 8.6/14 A Buck James

65. 8.5/15 A Pursuit of Happiness

66. 8.3/13 C Houston Knights

67. 8.2/14 A Sable

68. 7.8/14 N Rags to Riches

69. 7.1/12 A ABC Thursday Movie (Stranger on My Land)

70. 6.9/12 C CBS Saturday Movie (Mrs Delafield Wants To Marry)

71. 6.8/13 C West 57th

72. 6.3/10 A SledgeHammer!

 

Week 12

CBS got some rating gains from their Xmas specials.

Otherwise nothing of particular interest.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Paul Raven

[Soapsuds]

 

I missed this...thanks!  So Dallas actually premiered low but increased as the weeks went by back to almost the cliffhanger numbers. It must have been MB return that got the bump for the show. 

[Paul Raven]

By Week 20 of the 87/88 season ABC had moved into second place and with the Winter Olympics coming up on ABC, CBS faced the prospect of finishing 3rd for the season for the first time ever.

 

Dolly was shunted off to Saturday night , pretty much signalling that it would be cancelled by the end of the season. ABC had agreed to a 2 season committment so it cost them a lot to drop it after just one season.

 

Most mid season shows were being held to March after the Winter Olympics.

 

Knots Landing continued to do well considering weak lead-ins and strong competition from LA Law. It ranked 22nd, and its lead in Simon and Simon was 55th.

 

1. 32.3/47 N Cosby Stow

2. 27.8/41 N Different World

3. 24.9/37 N Cheers

4. 24.6/39 N Golden Girls

5. 23.9/35 A ABC Sunday Movie 'Elvis and Me' Pt1

6. 22.5/33 A Growing Pains

7. 22.3/32 A Who's the Boss?

8. 21.5/31 C Murder, She Wrote

9. 21.4/32 A Moonlighting

10. 21.3/33 C 60 Minutes

11. 21.3/37 N Bloopers 8 Practical Jokes Sat 2 10 (pre-empting JJ Starbuck)

12. 20.7/34 N Amen

13. 19.3/31 N David Letterman Special Thurs 9.30 – 11 (pre-empting Night Court & LA Law)

14. 19.0/28 C CBS Sunday Movie 'Windmill of the Gods' Pt 1

15. 18.6/30 C Dallas

16. 18.4/27 N Matlock

17. 18.0/26 N ALF

18. 17.5/28 A Head 01 the Class

19. 17.3/28 N227 .

20. 17.1/27 A Perfect Strangers

21. 16.6/24 N Family Ties

22. 16.5/27 C Knots Landing

23. 16.5/27 N Facts of Life

24. 16.423 A Hooperman

25. 16.325 C Designing Women

26. 16./24 N Valeries Family

27. 15.6/23 C Newhart

28. 15.5/24 N Highway to Heaven

29. 15.5/23 N NBC Sunday Movie 'Rambo First Blood'

30. 15.3/26 A Thirtysomething

31. 15.2/25 N WWF Special' Main Event Fri @ 8 (Slot filler till Highwayman premieres)

32. 15./22 N Hunter

33. 14.9/24 A ABC Monday Movie 'Weekend War'

34. 14.9/24 A Dynasty

35. 14.8/26 N Unsolved Mysteries Fri @10 (slot filler till Sonny spoon premieres)

36. 14 7/25 C Falcon Crest

37. 14.7/21 N My Two Dads

38. 14.6/24 C Smothers Brothers 20^th Anni Wed @10 (pre-empying Equalizer)

39. 14.1/23 N Miami Vice

40. 13.9/23 C Beauty and the Beast

41. 13821 A Slap Maxwell Story

42. 13.7/20 C Kale and Allie

43. 13.7/23 N Crime Story

44. 13.6/20 A Disney Sunday Movie 7-9 'RocknRoll Mom'

45. 13.6/23 C Cagney and Lacey

46. 13.5/22 N NBC Monday Move 'Flashdance'

47. 13.4/22 N St. Elsewhere

48. 12.9/20 A MacGyver

49. 12.9/20 ABC Thursday Movie 'Firefox' 8-11

50. 12.7/20 Kate and Allie Wed @ 9 (pre-empting Magnum PI)

51. 12.6/20 A Mr. Belvedere

52. 12.5/21 A Full House

53. 12.3/19 N Year in the Life

54. 12.2/19 C Frank's Place Wed @ 9.30 (pre-empting Magnum PI)

55. 11.9/18 C Simon and Simon

56. 11.8/18 C Jake and the Fatman

57. 11.7/19 C High Mountain Rangers

58. 11.5/19 A Dolly

59. 11.4/20 A 2020

60. 11.4/17 C Frank's Place (Mon )

61. 11.2/20 A Spenser. For Hire

62. 11.1/19 C Wseguy

63. 11./17 N Our House

64. 10./16 C Houston Knights

65. 8.9/13 C 48 Hours

66. 8.8/14 A Ohara

67. 8.6/14 A Thorns

68. 8.4/13 C Law and Harry McGraw

69. 8.3/13 A Sledge Hammer!

70. 7.7/11 C Bugs Bunny's Valentine Thurs @ 8.30 (pre-empting Tour Of Duty)

71. 71. 7.6/13 C West 57th

72. 72. 4.9/7 C Lyndon LaRouche Special Thurs @8 (pre-empting Tour of Duty)