Ratings for the week April 29 - May 3, 2019

Hmm. Y&R’s Monday episode (the KSJ tribute) had 4.37m viewers, down from 4.544m from the previous Monday. As many posters surmised last week, I suppose many of the lapsed viewers watched via DVR or online, so they may not be accounted for in the Live+Same Day rating? Still, a disappointing result that speaks to CBS Daytime’s failures.

Last week ratings went up and this week they almost matched last Monday for a clip show. Isn’t that good? I imagined Monday would’ve been the lowest just on the basis that it was a tribute show. 

If it were just a random clip show (like they used to do for sitcoms in the ‘80s), I wouldn’t be surprised to see a dip, but this was a tribute to a popular actor featuring the return of an iconic actress we never thought we’d see on the show again. It just feels a bit... odd. Perhaps the average viewer is less invested in the real-life stuff and just wants the show to get on with things. Speaking personally, that tribute episode was the best thing Y&R has done since Bill Bell died. 

Since I can't really tell the last time I watched a CBS program that was not online, I can't really tell you how well (or not) they promoted these episodes. I know what I saw on social media but we know that social media doesn't speak to everybody and there is a whole legion of soap viewer that does not engage online.

(as strange as that might sound to many of us).

 

Online though, I did notice there seemed to be some confusion among some viewers who were repeatedly asking whether "Dru" would be showing up--sometimes others in the subtweets would inform them that "Dru" was not returning and you could almost hear the collective groans of disappointment.  Something similar seemed to happen when some folks found out that "Hilary" would not be returning but the actress would be participating in a tribute show.  Some seemed to get upset that neither actress was being asked to reprise their roles but just make an appearance.  Despite the tribute, I actually think some people still very angry and in a strange way, these tributes have stirred those feelings up for them.

Yeah, I can’t tell how or even if CBS promoted these episodes beyond preaching to the choir (ads during daytime, appearances on The Talk). KSJ also died in early February, with his final episode airing shortly after, and while I know Y&R needed time to plan and shoots well in advance of broadcast, it was almost May when these tribute episodes aired. That’s a long gap to bridge without strong, consistent marketing or a story that engages viewers. At the end of the day, the show had so marginalized Neil/KSJ and the Winters family that this didn’t have the seismic impact it might have had if they’d received the airtime that the Abbotts, the Newmans, or the Rosaleses had gotten. Sony/CBS made a concerted effort to make viewers apathetic about that side of town, and damn if they didn’t succeed.

 

A lot of the people who openly mourned KSJ immediately after his death were folks who’d abandoned soaps a long time ago. For them, it was a sad loss that sparked some nostalgia, but isn’t enough to motivate them to tune in to a now-unrecognizable show they’ve outgrown (months after the initial shock had passed), which is also on at an inconvenient time during working hours.

Edited May 19, 20196 yr by Faulkner

17 hours ago, Faulkner said:

Yeah, I can’t tell how or even if CBS promoted these episodes beyond preaching to the choir (ads during daytime, appearances on The Talk). KSJ also died in early February, with his final episode airing shortly after, and while I know Y&R needed time to plan and shoots well in advance of broadcast, it was almost May when these tribute episodes aired. That’s a long gap to bridge without strong, consistent marketing or a story that engages viewers. At the end of the day, the show had so marginalized Neil/KSJ and the Winters family that this didn’t have the seismic impact it might have had if they’d received the airtime that the Abbotts, the Newmans, or the Rosaleses had gotten. Sony/CBS made a concerted effort to make viewers apathetic about that side of town, and damn if they didn’t succeed.

 

A lot of the people who openly mourned KSJ immediately after his death were folks who’d abandoned soaps a long time ago. For them, it was a sad loss that sparked some nostalgia, but isn’t enough to motivate them to tune in to a now-unrecognizable show they’ve outgrown (months after the initial shock had passed), which is also on at an inconvenient time during working hours.

 

Very astutely put.

Carlivati's Days is toast. How embarrassing. Ken gave him enough rope to hang himself during his second year.  Now they're stuck trying to get renewed on his material.  Sad

Days ratings are truly deserved. The show is close to going under 2 mil in viewers. The storylines are horrible and those that could have a chance are only shown once a month. 

I've never watched DAYS but one thing I've noticed from the outside, when I have the NBC 11:00 or Noon news on and I see preview commercials - every single week it shows different people in the promos and I always wonder - do they finish storylines or who are these people and where are the people they showed on commercials last week?