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

Soapsuds · November 14, 2018

Twelve years in and Dallas still in the top 20. Dynasty on its last legs.

BetterForgotten · November 14, 2018

Murder She Wrote and 60 Minutes were really keeping CBS alive by this point...

Paul Raven · November 15, 2018

Yes CBS had real problems developing youth appeal 8pm shows,. Season after season they tried new shows on Tues,Wed,and Sat in particular and none of them worked.Guess viewers were used to NOT tuning in to CBS in those timeslots.

Paul Raven · November 15, 2018

Wk 1 of 84/85 Season

ABC made changes immediately,dropping Foul Ups (Tues @ 8), People Do Craziest Things (Th @ 8), moving Three'sA Crowd from Tues @8.30 to 8 and shifting Who's The Boss from Th @8.30 to Tues @8.30.Glitter Th@9 was dropped and a Thursday Movie was introduced.

CBS used mini series Mistral's Daughter to try and blunt the ratings of opposition shows.

NBC had Cosby as an immediate hit.

Still to debut

CBS

Scarecrow & Mrs King,Kate & Allie, Newhart,Cagney & Lacey, Charles in Charge, Dreams and Knots Landing

NBC

Riptide,V

Dallas CBS 26.4/44
Falcon Crest CBS 234/40
Cosby Show NBC 22.5/37
Dynasty ABC 22.2/34
A'Tèam NBC 21.7/34 2hr premiere 8-10
60 Minutes CBS 20.9/34
Cheers NBC 20.7/32
Family Ties NBC 20.1/32
Murder She Wrote CBS 18.9/29 2hr premiere Sun 8-10
Knight Rider NBC 18.9/29 2hr premiere Sun 8-10
Hotel ABC 18.7/31 (Elizabeth Taylor guest star)
Mistral's Daughter, part 2 CBS 18.7/30 Tues 9-11
Heartsounds ABC 18.5/31 Sunday Movie 9-11
Magnum, P.I. CBS 18.4/30
Night Court NBC 18.3/28
Hill Street Blues NBC 18.2/31
Simon & Simon CBS 18.2/29 2hr premiere Th 9-11
Mistral's Daughter, part 1 CBS 18.2/29 Mon 8-11
Secrets/Married Man NBC 17.5/27 Mon 9-11
NFL (7 -7:22 p.m.) CBS 17.4/32
Highway to Heaven NBC 17.4/28
Fall Guy ABC 17.0/28
Facts of Life
Webster ABC 16.5/28
Mistral's Daughter, part 3 CBS Wed 8-11
NFL, San Diego vs. LA. RaldersABC 15.5/27
Benson ABC 15.3/27
It's Your Move NBC 15.3/24
Three's a Crowd ABC 15.3/24
Love Boat ABC 14.9/27 2hr premiere Sat 8-10
Remington Steele NBC 14.0/26
Hardcastle & McCormick ABC 14.0/23
TV Bloopers and Prac. Jokes NBC 14.6/23
Dlffrent Strokes NBC 14.5/28
Trapper John, M.D. CBS 14.3/26
Gimme a Break NBC 14.3/28
Bob Hope Special NBC 14.3/25 Fri @8
Cover -Up CBS 14.2/27
Finder of Lost Loves ABC 14.2/27
Punky Brewster NBC 14.1/23
Miami Vice NBC 13.8/24
Dukes of Hazzard CBS 13.6/24
20/20 ABC 13.6/23
Paper Dolls ABC 13.6/21
Jessie ABC 13.3/23
Partners in Crime NBC 13.1/24
Foulups, Bleeps & Blunders ABC 13.0/22
E/R CBS 12.9/20
Mike Hammer CBS 12.8/23
Airwolf CBS 12.6/24
St. Elsewhere NBC 12.6/21
Scene of the Crime NBC 12.5/21 Sun 10-11
Glitter ABC 12.4/19
Call to Glory ABC 12.3/20
Silver Spoons NBC 12.2/21
.AfterMASH CBS 12.0/20
Hunter NBC 11.8/20
Hot Pursuit NBC 11.0/21
Matt Houston ABC 10.7/18
Who's the Boss? ABC 10.7/17
Hawaiian Heat ABC 10.0/17
People Do the Craziest Things ABC 9.0/15
Ripley's Believe It or Not ABC 8.6/14
Larouche for President ABC 8.3/11

I Am A Swede · November 16, 2018

Primetime soaps at their peak. Dallas #1, Falcon Crest #2 and Dynasty #4.

Happy days.

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BetterForgotten · November 16, 2018

It's amazing to see how audience tastes fluctuated in the 80's. The primetime soaps had a high peak in the early/mid part of the 80's, but a significant fall by the end of that decade. The opposite seems to be true for sitcoms.

Paul Raven · November 24, 2018

Sorry to be jumping around but anyway here's Wk 12 of the 88/89 season.

Night Court @ No 1 ! guess people really liked watching after Cheers. Must have been frustrating for the producers to have it moved out of that timeslot.

All of CBS' new shows were disasters. They talked about trying to hook younger viewers at 8pm then slotted Dick Van Dyke...

Dynasty...a sad ending. If they had have kept it Wed @10, but probably ready to be rid of it.

23.9/39 N Night Court Special Thurs 9.30-10 (pre-emptng Dear John)
23.8/38 N Cosby Show
23.7/37 N Cheers
23.2/36 N Different World
22.2/39 N Golden Girls
22.0/33 A Roseanne
20.9/33 C 60 Minutes
20.3/32 A Who's the Boss?
19.4/35 N L.A. Law
19.2/34 N Empty Nest
18.5/31 A Monday Night Football
18.029 A Growing Pains
17.9/27 A Moonlighting (Season Premiere)
17.5/28 A Head of the Class
17.5/32 N Hunter 42. 12.7/22
17.2/26 N NBC Monday Movie 'Maybe Baby'
17.125 C Rudolph- Reindeer Mon @8 (pre-empting Newhart/Coming of Age)
17.127 N NBC Sunday Movie
16.8/25 N In the Heat of the Night
16.6/25 N Matlock
16.3/30 N Amen
16.2/24 N Family Ties
15.724 A Wonder Years
15.523 N ALF
15.424 A ABC Sunday Movie
15.4/28 N 227
15.226 A Full House
15.2/25 C Dallas
14.7/25 A thirtysomething (Sesaon Premiere)
14.5/22 C Kate and Allie Special Sun @8 (pre-empting Murder She Wrote)
14.3/20 N Hogan Family
14.0/25 C Knots Landing
14.0/21 C Murphy Brown Special Sun @8.30(pre-empting Murder She Wrote)
13.724 A Perfect Strangers
13.7/21 N Day by Day
13.7/23 N Midnight Caller
13.620 C Murphy Brown
13.4/24 A 2020
13.0/20 A Hooperman
12.8/19 C Designing Women
12.7/19 A Mission: Impossible
12.7/22 C Falcon Crest
12.322 A China Beach
11.8120 A Mr. Belvedere
11.8/18 N Highway to Heaven Wed 8-10 (pre-empting Unsolved Mysteries/Night Court/Baby Boom)
11.7/18 A MacGyver
11.721 N Miami Vice
11.6/18 C CBS Tuesday Movie 'Tricks of the Trade'
11.6/20 C Wiseguy
11.4/19 A Just the Ten of Us
11.1/17 C CBS Sunday Movie
9.7/15 A Dynasty
9.515 N Magical World of Disney
9.5/15 A Incredible Sunday
. 9.1/16 C Beauty and the Beast
8.7/14 C Almost Grown
8.5/15 A Battle of the Network Stars Sat 9-11
8.5/13 C Paradise
8.5/14 N Sonny Spoon
8.4/13 F Americas Most Wanted
8.2/13 C 48 Hours
8.2/12 F Married...Wiith Children
8.1/14 N Something Is Out There
7.7/12 C Equalizer
7.5/13 N Tattinger's
7.0/11 A Presidential Cont. Analysis
6.8/12 A Murphy's Law
6.8/12 C Simon and Simon
6.8/11 F 21 Jump Street
6.7/12 C West 57th
6.0/10 A Knightwatch
6.0/11 C Dirty Dancing
6.09 C TV 101
5.8/9 F Rock -Roll Xmas Special
5.5/10 C Raising Miranda
4.8/8 F Duet
4.7/8 C Van Dyke Show
4.4/7 C Annie McGuire
4.3/8 F Reporters
2.9/5 F Beyond Tomorrow

Soapsuds · November 24, 2018

Wow...Dynasty at 9.7 rating and ranked #52. The last year was pretty bad story wise. Dallas still the top soap and doing well at 15.2. ratings....and the number 2 show for CBS behind 60 minutes. CBS sure was struggling.

I Am A Swede · November 24, 2018

Even though Dynasty at this time clearly was a dying show I think it did get an injection of energy with Stephanie Beacham's arrival as Sable. I didn't miss Krystle at all after she fell into a coma.

And although Emma Samms couldn't hold a candle to Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon the writing for her did improve slightly at the end.

So personally I feel that Dynasty's last season was better than Falcon Crest's final season. That poor show definitely went out with a whimper.....

Paul Raven · November 27, 2018

Wk 13 -Lucky 13 for The Bradys.

25.9/42 N Cosby Show
25.1/39 C CBS Sunday Movie 'A Very Brady Xmas'
24.2/39 N Different World
23.7/37 N Cheers
22.9/35 A Roseanne
21.3/33 A Who's the Boss?
20.1/35 N Golden Girls
20.0/33 N L.A. Law
19.9/31 C Murder She Wrote
19.3/32 C 60 Minutes
19.3/30 N Dear John
18.8/30 N Unsolved Mysteries
18.6/28 N ALF
18.0/32 N Empty Nest
17.9/28 N NBC Monday Movie 'I'll Be Home For Xmas'
17.5/27 A Moonlighting
17.5/27 N Matlock
17.0/29 A Monday Night Football
16.8/26 N In the Heat of the Night
16.7/28 C Knots Landing
16.7/26 N Night Court
16.1/24 N Hogan Family
15.5/23 C Designing Women
15.5/29 N Hunter
15.1/26 A thirtysomething
14.8/25 C Dallas
.14.8/24 N NBC Sunday Movie 'She Was Marked For Murder'
14.1/21 C Murphy Brown
14.0/24 N Amen
13.9/23 A Hooperman
13.9/25 A 20/20
13.6/25 C Wiseguy
13.5/23 N Midnight Caller
13.4/24 N 227
132/23 A Full House
13.0/20 N Family Ties
12.9/20 A Wonder Years
12.8/23 A Perfect Strangers
12.7/19 C Kate and Allie
12.6/21 C Charlie Brown's Christmas Wed @ 8
12.3/19 C Newhart
12.2/22 A China Beach
. 12.1/22 N Miami Vice
12.0/21 A Mr. Belvedere
11.9/21 C Falcon Crest
11.8/21 C Beauty and the Beast
11.8/18 N Day By Day
11.7/19 A MacGyver
11.5/20 A Just the Ten of Us
11.2/18 N Baby Boom
10.8/17 C Equalizer
10.7/17 A Dynasty
10.7/19 C Bugs Bunny Christmas Sat @8
10.6/18 N Chipmunk Christmas Fri @ 8.30
10.5/18 C Night Before Christmas Sat @ 8.30
10.4/17 C CBS Tuesday Movie 'The Promise'
10.3/17 A Free to Be a Family Wed @ 8
10.0/16 C Almost Grown
10.0/18 N Season to Be Smurfy Fri @ 8
9.9/15 C Paradise
. 9.4/17 A ABC Saturday Movie 'The Toy'
. 9.2/14 F America's Most Wanted
9.2/16 N Sonny Spoon
9.0/14 C 48 Hours
8.9/14 A ABC Sunday Movie 'Smoky Mountain Xmas'
8.9/16 N Tattinger's
8.8/14 N Magical World of Disney
8.7/13 A Mission: Impossible
8.6/13 F Married...With Children
8.2/14 A Moscow Circus
7.9/13 C Annie McGuire
7.5/13 F 21 Jump Street
7.2/14 C West 57th
6.8/12 C Simon and Simon
6.6/10 C TV 101 22
6.5/11 A Murphy's Law
6.4/10 A Knightwatch
5.5/9 A Burning Questions Thur @10
4.8/7 F Garry Shandling Show
4.2/6 F Tracey Ullman Show

Gray Bunny · November 27, 2018

Well there we have it. The Bradys delivered! haha thanks for posting!

Paul Raven · November 28, 2018

Found some ratings for syndicated programming:

Syndication ratings Week ended Sept 24 1989.

First figure is rating, second - number of stations airing that show and third percentage of coverage of the country.

1 Wheel of Fortune13.2 230 99

2 Jeopardy! 12.1 218 98

3 Oprah Winfrey Show 9.3 215 99

4 Cosby Show 9.0 204 98

5 Wheel of Fortune, weekend 8.5 204 91

6 Star Trek 8.2 226 97

7 Current Affair 8.1 185 95

8 Entertainment Tonight 8.0 162 95

10 Geraldo! 5.9 195 99

11 Mama's Family 5.4 170 90

12 Star Search 4.9 125 86

12 Family Feud 4.9 125 86

14 Superboy 4.7 166 91

15 People's Court 4.5 170 91

Paul Raven · December 5, 2018

Wk 25 of the 88/89 season.

Changing of the guard as Roseanne hits #1. ABC moved it from 8.30 to 9 to replace the faltering Moonlighting. That benefited Wonder Years which moved into Roseanne's old slot and Anything but Love which followed Roseanne.

Dallas and Falcon Crest fading but still holding up in their timeslots. Knots winning Thurs @10.

1 Roseanne 27.7/40

2 Cosby Show 25.3/40

3 NBC Monday Movie 25.1/38 'Those She Left Behind'

4 60 Minutes 23.0/39

5 Who's the Boss 22.8/34

6 Different World 22.7/35

7 Anything But Love 22.6/34

8 Wonder Years 22.4/33

9 Cheers 21.7/34

10 Murder. She Wrote 21.2/32

11ALF 20.7/30

12Peoples Choice Awards 19.6/31CBS Sun @9

13Golden Girls 19.2/34

14 Hogan Family 18.9/28

15 Dear John 18.7/29

16 Matlock 18.1/27

17 Night Court 18.0/29

18 Growing Pains 17.9/29

19 Knots Landing 17.6/30

20 Head Of the Class 17.2/27

21 In the Heat of the Night 17.1/25

22 Unsolved Mysteries 17.0/27

23 Empty Nest 16.8/29

24 thirtysomething 16.1/28

25 Hunter 16.1/31

26 My Two Dads 15.9/26

27 Midnight Caller 14.9/26

28 Murphy Brown 14.7/21

29 Amen 14.7/26

30 Full House 14.5/25

31 L A Law 14.5/25

32 ABC Mystery Movie 14.3/21'BL Stryker'

33 Designing Women 14.2/21

34 Family Ties 14.2/22

35 NBC Sunday Movie 14.2/22

36 Dallas 13.7/23

37 Wiseguy 13.5/24

38 Coach 13.4/21

39 MacGyver 13.0/19

40 227 13.0/24

41 Kate and Allie 12.9/18

42 48 Hours 12.8/20

43 American Salute: Liz Taylor 12.7/20 ABC Th@9 (pre-empting Dynasty)

44 Newhart 12.4/18

45 Hooperman 12.3/20

46 Father Dowling Mysteries 12.2/21

47 China Beach 12.1/22

48 20 20 11.8/22

49 Falcon Crest 11.6/21

50 Day by Day 11.4/17

51 Mr Belvedere 11.3/19

52 Married With Children 11.1/16

53 ABC Sunday Movie 10.9/17

54 Just the Ten of Us 10.7/18

55 Paradise 10.4/16

56 Unsub 10.0/19

57 Equalizer 10.0/16

58 Americas Most Wanted 9.9/15

59 Hard Time on Planet Earth 9.5/15

60 Miami Vice 9.4/16

61 Magical World of Disney 9.3/16

62 Beauty and the Beast 8.8/14 Mon @10

63 This is America C Brown. Part 6 8.2/15 CBS Fri @ 8

64 Man Called Hawk 8.1/14

65 Marvin Special 8.1/15 CBS Fr @8.30

66 NBC News Special 8.1/14 Wed @10

67 Mission Impossible 7.8/14

68 Flight -Navigator. Part 1 7.7/12

69 West 57^{th 7.6/14}

70 Cops 7.5/13

71 21 Jump Street 7.1/12

72 Dolphin Cove 7.0/13

73 Tour of Duty 7.0/10

74 CBS Tuesday Movie 6.4/10 'Intrigue'

75 Heartbeat 6.3/11

76 Great Circuses of the World 6.2/10

77 Garry Shandling's Show 5.3/8

78 Murphÿs Law 5.2/10

79 TV 101 5.1/9

80 Reporters 4.9/9

81 Tracey Ullman Show 4.6/7

82 Duet 3.7/6

Edited December 6, 2018 by Paul Raven

Soaplovers · December 8, 2018

That was because Knots Landing had the Jill/Val story all season.. and I swear that story kept the show afloat.. as well as the hilarious Abby/Greg political marriage.

Paul Raven · September 16, 2019

Premiere Week 1986/87 Season

Cosby Show NBC 33.5/50.,
Family Ties NBC 32.1/43. '
Cheers NBC 30.0/46
Dallas CBS 28.5/44 2hr premiere pre-empting Falcon Crest
Golden Girls NBC 25.6/45
Stranded NBC 24.9/38 NBC Monday movie
Moonlighting ABC 24.9/38
Murder, She Wrote CBS 24.6/38
Raiders of the Lost Ark ABC 22.7/37 ABC Sunday Movie
Johnny Carson Special NBC 22.1/38 Th 9.30-11 pre-empting Night Court/Hill St Blues
Football, Chicago -Green Bay ABC 22.3/36
Who's the Boss ABC 21.8/36
Amen NBC 20.3/36
Matlock NBC 20.1/32
Dynasty ABC 20.1/31
60 Minutes CBS 19.8/34
Head of the Class ABC 19.2/30
Sledge Hammer (Tues.) ABC 18.6/29 pre-empting Growing Pains
Kate & Allie CBS 17.8/28
Hunter NBC 17.5/33
Gimme a Break NBC 17.5/27
Perfect Strangers ABC 17.4/29
Miami Vice NBC 17.4/28 24.
Together We Stand CBS 17.1/26 Mon preview pre-empting My Sister Sam
Doing Life NBC 18.8/27 Tuesday Movie pre-empting Crime Story/1986
Highway to Heaven. NBC 16.7/27
Scarecrow & Mrs. King CBS 18.6/30
The Colbys (Wed.) ABC 16.6/28 pre-empting Hotel
St. Elsewhere NBC 15.7/27 30.
Facts of Life NBC 15.6/30 '
ALF NBC 15.6/24
Amazing Stories NBC 15.6/23
Under the Influence CBS 15.4/24
MacGyver ABC 15.4/24
Valerie NBC 15.4/23 36.
Jack & Mike ABC 15.3/26
Football, NFL game (Sun.) NBC 15.2/29
Knots Landing CBS 14.8/23
Easy Street NBC 14.6/23
Intimate Encounters NBC 14.2/23 Sunday movie
Our House NBC 14.1/24
A Team NBC 13.6/24
Crime Story NBC 13.3/23 Fri @10 preview pre-empting LA Law
20/20 ABC 13.2/22 45.
Kay O'Brien, Surgeon CBS 13.1/22
Firefighter CBS 12.6/20 Tuesday movie
Courage CBS 12.5/20 3hr Sophia Loren TV movie Wed 8-11pre_empting Together we stand/Better Days/Magnum PI/The Equalizer
Mike Hammer CBS 12.1/21
Hero in the Family ABC 12.0/20 Disney Sunday Movie
Downtown CBS 11.8/21
Sidekicks ABC 11.7/22
Webster ABC 11.3/18
Simon & Simon CBS 10.8/20
Spenser: For Hire ABC 10.6/20
Twilight Zone CBS '10.2/16
The Colbys ABC 10.1/20
Life with Lucy ABC 9.8/15
George Washington II, part 2 CBS 9.6/16 Mon 9-11 pre-empting Newhart/Designing Women/Cagney & Lacey
Sledge Hammer ABC 9.3/15
The Wizard CBS 8.9/16
Ellen Burstyn Show ABC 8.7/15
Starman ABC 8.3/13
Mr. Belvedere ABC 6211
Heart of the City ABC
Our World ABC 6.0/9

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

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