Jump to content

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


Paul Raven

Recommended Posts

  • Members

In March 86,Lorimar ran a full page ad in Variety touting Dallas' success in syndication, but my overall impression was that the soaps didn't do well overall. The fine print states that the figures were taking from various weeks of the season and obviously cherry picked to highlight the positive. I'm sure they could have listed a similar number of markets where the show tanked.

I guess one of the measures of syndication success is that the shows can be repeated over and over and maybe once viewers had watched Dallas reruns once, didn't really want to sit through it the following year.

In its first year in syndication DALLAS dominated!

Market Station Mon -Fri /Rating Share/ Rank In Time Period/ Rating Share W18 -49/ W25 -54

DALLAS WFAA 3:00 PM 11/35 #1 #1 #1 #1

ATLANTA WXIA 4:00 PM 9/31 #1 #1 #1 #1

DENVER KMGH 3:00 PM 5 22 #1 #1 #1 #1

PHOENIX KPNX 3:00 PM 6/26 #1 #1 #1 #2

MEMPHIS WHBQ 3:30 PM 8/26 #1 #1 #1 #1

SAN ANTONIO KENS 11:00 PM 6/27 #1 #1 #1 #1

NORFOLK WTKR 4:00 PM 9/26 #1 #1 #1 #1

TULSA KO1V 3:00 PM 9/36 #1 #1 #1 #1

RICHMOND WXEX 4:00 PM 7/24 #1 #1 #1 #1

WICHITA KAKE 3:30 PM 6/25 #1 #1 #1 #1

JACKSONVILLE WJXT 5:00 PM 16/38 #1 #1 #1 #1

JACKSON, MS WLBT 2:30 PM 10/34 #1 #1 #1 #1

COLUMBIA SC WIS 4:00 PM 11/29 #1 #1 #1 #1

BATON ROUGE WBRZ 9:00 AM 9/32 #1 #1 #1 #1

GREENVILLE WNCT 4:00 PM 11/31 #1 #1 #1 #1

AUGUSTA WJBF 4:00 PM 16/40 #1 #1 #1 #1

CHARLESTON, SC WCSC 4:00 PM 18/42 #1 #1 #1 #1

SAVANNAH WTOC 9:00 AM 14/49 #1 #1 #1 #1

COLUMBUS, GA WTVM 7:00 PM 19/30 #1 #1 #1 #1

McALLEN KRGV 3:00 PM 10/33 #1 #1 #1 #1

BEAUMONT KFDM 3:00 PM 14/46 #1 #1 #1 #1

WHEELING WTRF 4:00 PM 10/24 #1 #1 #1 #1

WICHITA FALLS KAUZ 3:00 PM 7/30 #1 #1 #1 #1

WAUSAU WSAW 10:30 PM 8/31 #1 #1 #1 #1

MACON WMAZ 4:00 PM 16/42 #1 #1 #1 #1

TOPEKA WIBW 3:30 PM 7/30 #1 #1 #1 #1

MISSOULA KECI 12:00 PM 6/35 #1 #1 #1 #1

TYLER KLTV 10:00 AM 9/45 #1 #1 #1 #1

MERIDIAN WTOK 3:30 PM 13/39 #1 #1 #1 #1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 996
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

  • Members

Found a report from Jan 86 which sums things up re primetime soaps off network

In off -network nighttime soap operas which some stations paid dearly for, high prime time ratings did not spell success it syndication. In it second season, Dallas, sold by Lorimar in 92 markets covering 51.7% of the country, and Dynasty, in its first season, sold by Metromedia Producers Corp. in 47 markets covering 48.7% of the country, came out tied with five other shows for 93d, with a 3.4/10. Lorimar's Knot's Landing, seen in 20 markets covering 12.5% of the country, had a 3.3/10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Look at Knots getting those Live+7 day ratings before that was a thing

Please register in order to view this content

 

Interestingly, I remember Melrose and BH getting quite of bit of play post run. I wonder what may have played into 90s soaps fairing better in syndication. I do feel that 90s soaps tend to have a faster pace and are a big more theatrical so can feel more exciting in isolation. You can get swept into the action without the context. Also, cable was notorious for marathons so being able to binge several episodes at once could have helped to engage viewers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I currently finished season 7 of Dallas and started season 8. Season 8 is when Dallas gets overtaken by Dynasty in the year end ratings due to its audience steadily growing with each season. I wonder how much this may have impacted the direction of Dallas. I noticed the fashion in season 7 of Dallas to have become a bit more dramatic for lack of a better word, and more so in season 8. Everyone is wearing a hat, shoulder pads on everything, turbans, etc. I wonder if this was just merely a reflection of the time or if Dallas was "inspired" by its competitor. Similarly, season 8 feels a bit different as far as pacing compared to previous seasons (at least so far) and season 7 did bring about this cattyness between Pam and Katharine and Pam and Jenna, that usually was written in a more subtle way. Giving Donna to step in for Bobby was a good way to give her this power woman feel, which she seemed to have at first but faded with more recent seasons. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Much was made of famed Hollywood designer Travilla being hired to glam up the costuming.

From Dallas Decoder

Season 8 brings us “Dallas’s” most famous costume designer: Travilla, who immediately cranks up the glam factor. His looks are often classy, such as the timeless white gown Priscilla Beaulieu Presley sports in “Deliverance” and “Swan Song.” Other Travilla creations are woefully wrong. Example: Linda Gray’s feathery “Deliverance” / “Swan Song” number. Yeah, it’s fun, but it’s also damn distracting. Instead of focusing on Sue Ellen’s meltdown, I keep wondering: How many pillows died to create this dress?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yeah I had alluded to this in my post, and you make a good point about the faster pace. What also helped for shows like Melrose, 90210, Party of Five, Sisters etc was also good mix of shorter story arcs and a lot of episodes contained at least one or two self contained episodic plots. Melrose and BH in particular had the benefit of getting picked up by cable early on at their height and then later streaming services. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Some further info on the week above- Week 28 of the season.

CBS 19.9 -it's sixth win in a row. ABC 17.4 NBC 14.4 -it's worst week of the season.

CBS took 5 nights with the others each winning a night.

Mon

CBS led by MASH #4 House Calls #8. ABC took the 8pm hour with That's Incredible #11 but the movie The Monkey Mission had only a 12.8/20

Tues

CBS win with GWTW part 2 #6. ABC usually the winner suffered with Happy days down to #19 and 3's Company #20 (probably repeats) NBC had Walking Tall @ 10pm with a 21 share

Wed

NBC 's winning night although Greatest American Hero #13 on ABC tied with Real People #14 @8

Facts of Life aired the spinoff pilot Brian & Sylvia which scored 18.6/30 and the a Hill St Blues special @10 with a 24 share.

CBS aired a 3 hr TV movie Berlin Tunnel 21 26 share.

Thurs

CBS win Magnum #9 and two Knots Landing eps ranked #17 and #18

NBC had a special Command Performance The Stars Salute The President  9-11  24 share

Fri

CBS Dallas #1 Dukes #3 

NBC Nero Wolfe #64 NBC Magazine #65

ABC Mr Majestyck movie 11.5/19 #62

Sat

ABC win Love Boat #7 Eight Is Enough debuting Sat won 8pm slot 15.9/28

NBC 2 hr Hill St Blues 11.8/21 #61

CBS Inside  Hollywood 90 minnews  special 11.2/19 #63

Sun

CBS win 60 Minutes #2 Jeffersons #5 hour long special launching Marla Gibbs spinoff Checking In  Alice #8 and Trapper John #15

ABC aired rpt movies Benji 21 share Live and Let Die 31 share

NBC Duchess and Dirtwater Fox rpt 14.3/23

Edited by Paul Raven
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

That week on Dallas, episode The Gathering Storm: Jock threatens to sell Ewing Oil if Miss Ellie divorces him; Lucy's career puts her marriage in jeopardy; Cliff learns of the Asian coup.

1980/81 Dallas was at its peak and it was a killer show. 18 out of 23 episodes finished #1 and the remaining 5 episodes finished 2nd.

Edited by kalbir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The following week 'Checking In' debuted Thurs @8 as CBS was looking for a replacement for The Waltons , which was finally coming to an end. On ABC Mork & Mindy was on its last legs and NBC was weak there also, so CBS thought sitcoms might work there.

Checking In debuted #18 and follow up 'Park Place #24 but they dropped in the following weeks. CBS had tried Magnum @8 the week before and that had done well, so the decision was made for the following season to move Magnum and Knots up an hour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

In the early 1980s CBS was successful in replacing their aging dramas and dramas with short runs that showed little to no growth with new dramas that would become hits. Thursday line up The Waltons, Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones gave way to the eventual new Thursday line up Magnum, P.I.; Simon & Simon, Knots Landing. The Incredible Hulk gave way to new Friday drama Falcon Crest. Lou Grant gave way to new Monday drama Cagney & Lacey.

 

Edited by kalbir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Former EastEnders star Michelle Ryan is reprising her role as Zoe Slater on the BBC soap following an absence of over 20 years.  It’s been reported that Zoe will return to Albert Square later this year and that she’ll take centre stage in a dramatic new storyline involving her family.  The news comes amidst news of other big returns, which include Max Branning (Jake Wood), Tanya Cross (Jo Joyner), Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) and Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden), who will also be back in Walford later in the year.
    • I actually love the new fashion.
    • Admittedly, I was a latecomer to ATWT (first becoming a regular viewer in 2000). But I really liked KMH's Emily. I thought she was a very specific kind of neurotic professional character, and I loved her prickly relationship with MM's Susan. I will say I don't think the show did her any favors after Hal died, stranding her in storylines with several of the show's dullest characters: nu-Paul, nu-Meg, and nu-Dusty. I actually quite liked one of her last major storylines, when she discovered she had a grown-up biological son with Larry named Hunter. But then Hunter just sort of disappeared, and the story fizzled out, which was pretty typical of the late Goutman years. 
    • I know the fashions have gotten mixed reviews but I actually like what the new costume designer is putting the cast in. It feels more modern and the more tacky pieces I feel make sense for rich people. They're buying for the brand and the price and we often see celebs in things like this. Especially for a character like Nikki, I feel the more over the top (and tacky), the more realistic it is.
    • Well, her staff pointing out the movie connection never seemed to stop Long from using those plots.  She was right about Vanessa--she needed a man who loved her, which she'd never really had up to then. But as others have pointed out, Long borrowed heavily from Taming of the Shrew to get it done. (which while I kinda disputed that, I get more now, having watched Kiss Me Kate a few times since.)
    • "Holly had her share of the blame..." NO, she did NOT. WOW. That's what you get for trying to be fair and giving these people the benefit of the doubt! The Rita rape episodes do not seem to be available. It sounds like Calhoun thought it was not dramatized, but it was. I saw it when it aired. Yes, it's close to 50 years ago, and memories aren't 100% reliable. I also know that Zaslow reportedly complained that it was written too much like a seduction and that's why the Dobsons portrayed Holly's rape differently. Maybe it started like a seduction and she rejected him and that's when it turned violent. I don't remember that part, if it exists. What I do remember is that Roger threw Rita so violently to the floor that she hit her head. They showed him coming at her from her point of view and he looked all fuzzy. It was an act of violence, not a seduction. Rita kept it a secret until it looked like Roger might be acquited, and then finally admitted it. She didn't make it up, it definitely was not a ploy.
    • I was actually referencing another scene between Roger and Alex, which I think is right after they marry.  But yeah---I'm not really impressed with Calhoun's reasoning. Or the "both recall it wasn't unprovoked" line. Wasn't Holly trying to leave him when he raped her? Oy vey.
    • I know we have discussed the location of Bay City in the Another World thread and the fact that originally Irna conceived of it as being the real Bay City MI, and it was later writers that treated it as a fictional Bay City [probably IL]. This article seems to suggest that that idea was well-established by 1981. I wonder when it started.
    • Desert Sun, 22 December 1983 Guiding Light’ writer looks for fresh ideas By TOM JORY Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - “Guiding Light” has been a daytime companion for millions since 1937, starting on radio and switching to TV after 15 years. Can anything new, really new, ever happen to the Bauers or the Reardons or any of the other folks in Springfield? “I get really upset,” says Pamela Long Hammer, principal writer for the CBS soap opera since March, “because I’ll come up with this neat scenario and someone will say, ‘That’s like “Strangers on a Train.’” “I think, ‘They keep stealing my material.’ “The way I figure it,” she says, “there are only so many stories in the world. It’s the characters who keep the show new and exciting. All of our stories come from them: I don’t come up with a plot, and then work a character into it.” Continuity is important. Someone out there surely knows all that’s happened, to everyone on the show, in 46 years. How about Miss Long Hammer? "Nope. I care about what our core families have been doing,” she says. “I’m always interested in what happened to Bert Bauer (played since 1950 by Charita Bauer) 20 years ago, but as far as going back and reading scripts, no. “Others on the show keep track,” she says. “I’ll suggest something, and be told, ‘You don’t remember, but five years ago, they had this terrible fight. They would never speak to one another now.”’ Miss Long Hammer, a former Miss Alabama who came to New York as an aspiring actress in 1980, began writing for daytime television while playing Ashley on NBC’s “Texas.” She eventually wrote herself out of the story. Her staff for “Guiding Light” includes nine writers, among them her husband, Charles Jay Hammer, whom she met while both worked on “Texas.” NBC dropped “Texas” after two seasons, and episodes from the serial currently are being rerun on the Turner Broadcasting System’s cable-TV SuperStation, WTBS. Gail Kobe, who was executive producer of “Texas,” now has the same job on “Guiding Light.” And Beverlee McKinsey, who played Iris Carrington in “Another World” on NBC, and later in "Texas,” will join the Light” cast of the CBS soap in February. Miss Long Hammer is reponsible for the long-term story, which can mean looking ahead 18 months or more. Staff writers deal with specifics, including the scripts for individual episodes. She says she draws on “imagination and instinct” for the “Guiding Light” story. Often, that involves inventing new characters. “‘I look at Vanessa (Maeve Kinkead), one of our leading ladies,” Miss Long Hammer says. "What could make the audience care more about her? “Then I think, ‘Why can’t she find a man she can love, who will also love her?’ Voila, here comes Billy Lewis (Jordan Clarke). “Another example,” she says, “is Alan Spaulding (Christopher Bernau). All of a sudden, he’s got a sister no one ever knew about. “They come complete,” says Miss Long Hammer of the serial’s characters, including the new ones. “We know who they are and where they came from long before the viewer gets all that information. That’s one of the most interesting things about daytime, the complexities of the characters.” The writers make a big effort to keep the show contemporary, and four of the leading players are in their late teens or early 20s Judi Evans, who plays Beth Raines, Kristi Tesreau (Mindy Lewis), Grant Aleksander (Philip Spaulding) and Michael O’Leary (Rick Bauer). “Guiding Light,” longevity notwithstanding, is a moderate success by that ultimate yardstick of the industry; ratings. The show is behind only “General Hospital,” “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” all on ABC, and CBS’ “The Young and the Restless,” among soaps. And Miss Long Hammer says she’s convinced writing is the key to even greater achievement. “When I say I love the characters, it’s not a light thing,” she says. “I think what the audience senses is an enthusiasm and an energy among the people who do the show.”
    • I initially read this as Marilyn Manson and did a double take.  Thanks for the screen grabs. The outfits are horrible. Somehow Victoria's Miss Piggy dress is the best. Ashley looks like a French madam bent on revenge, and Abby looks like she hot glued lace scraps to her garbage bag.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy