Highest Rated Episodes/Weeks of Each Show?

[soapfan770]

 

It’s funny since the GL & ATWT claims are debunked that pretty much discredits the last 25+ years of soap facts published in SOD I read when they were do an in-depth profile series on each soap. I wonder if anyone from that era of SOD is still involved with the mag and where they got there information from, especially with that claim about GL being “#1 briefly in 1984”. 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by soapfan770

[P.J.]

 

Weddings used to be events. Steve and Betsy WERE an iconic couple for ATWT, and all the soaps had a bigger base back then. Semi-popular is a matter of perspective, I guess. From earlier in the year:

 

 

Week of Feb 26 1984

1. GH 10.0/30

2. Y&R 9.7/33

3. AMC 9.2/28

4. GL 9.0/27

5. ATWT 8.6/27

6. OLTL 8.0/26

7. DOOL 7.5/23

8. CAP 6.8/23

9. AW 5.5/18

10. RH 5.1/17

11. LOV 4.2/16

12. SFT 3.3/12

13. EON 3.3/10

[Paul Raven]

Week ending May 20 1984

CBS won 36th consecutive week in daytime ratings, averaging 6.4/25 for week ending May 20, compared to 5.5/21 for ABC and 4.7/19 for NBC, according to CBS estimates.

Top five rated daytime shows were

1. Price is Right (CBS, 8.2/37)

2. Young and Restless (CBS, 7.9/31)

3. General Hospital (ABC, 7.8/27)

4. Guiding Light (CBS. 7.4/26)

5. All My Children (ABC, 7.4/26).

 

Week ending June 3 1984

CBS won daytime ratings race by more than one full rating point over closest competitor, ABC.

For week ended June 3, CBS recorded 7.2/25 in Nielsens  compared to 6.0/20 for ABC and 5.2/18 for NBC. Top five shows of week were 

1. Price is Right (9.5/37, CBS)

2. Young and Restless (8.8/30, CBS)

3. All  My Children (8.3/26, ABC)

4. Guiding Light (8.0/25, CBS)

5. General Hospital (7.9/25, ABC).

 

The Steve /Betsy wedding was 29th and 30th May I believe and the week above  is for that week. No ATWT in the top 5. 

[soapfan770]

Any contemporary articles at that time published addressing it?

 

LOL how many other soap ratings were bogus then lol? This reminds me of the time I remember SOC’s Character profile of Dr. Tim Halverson on GL was revealed to have bogus parts to it yet it was so detailed you have to wonder who spent the time to write it all up.

Edited May 25, 2020 by soapfan770

[BetterForgotten]

It's amazing how competitive GL was during GH's reign for much of the 80's and with sharing the same timeslot in a lot of markets. GH's ratings were quite erratic a lot of the time as there were sudden periods where the show dropped significantly, and mostly Y&R (but other soaps too) would outrank them or hit #1.  

[GLATWT88]

 

I was just thinking the same thing today actually. I always assumed that GL ended up declining in ratings because it competed directly with GH in most markets, especially in the 80s when GH ranked 1st throughout almost the entire decade. However, when I looked at the numbers GL actually remained pretty competitive with GH and was in the Top 5 for most of the early and mid 80s.

[Pine Charles]

Thank-you for posting that!!

 

It seems to confirm the “20 million viewers” for Steve & Betsy’s wedding is bs.

I’ve always questioned it, because it never added up.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Pine Charles

[BetterForgotten]

Does that inaccuracy stem from Christopher Schermering calling it out in his Soap Opera Encyclopedia?

[Paul Raven]

That Steve and Betsy wedding week was also the week that GL outranked GH in its timeslot and lead to the 'GL was #1 for the week' tale that lasted for decades.

 

Interesting that 2 rating myths emanated from the same week.

[Darn]

Oooh this is getting excited! Thanks for all the research everyone.

[soapfan770]

 

Where’d the May myth come from? I was always under the impression it was August 1984. 

So much for all those who swore by his book the last 34 years apparently. 

[Paul Raven]

I just based that on that particular week and assumed that was the week used for that claim.

If GL did outrate GH in August I wonder why the focus was on that week when it already happened months before? Or were there a few consecutive weeks in August when GL outrated GH?

[GLATWT88]

If those ratings did in fact happen, I'm surprised there isn't much evidence of it floating around, besides a few unsubstantiated claims on forums and unofficial websites. Especially, for this ATWT wedding that's supposedly the second highest rated episode for a daytime soap. I think for an achievement that significant there would be a news or magazine article or news video clip (like for GH during Luke and Laura) that could confirm that somewhere. 

Edited May 26, 2020 by GLATWT88

[BetterForgotten]

On the flip side, there is ratings evidence to back up the Patch and Kayla on DAYS wedding claim, correct?

Edited May 26, 2020 by BetterForgotten

[GLATWT88]

 

It definitely was a big week for Days. I don't know what you heard as far as numbers for Patch and Kayla's wedding, but Days did rank at the top for the week of the wedding and ranked 2nd for several weeks leading up to the wedding. So Days certainly had a significant boost - from what I saw it was somewhere between 5th and 7th place a couple of weeks before that.

 

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Edited May 26, 2020 by GLATWT88