Ratings From the 90's

[YRfan23]

@JAS0N47 Thanks so much! Worth the Wait!

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[JAS0N47]

You're welcome!  

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 8/17/92-8/21/92 & 8/24/92-8/28/92:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 8/31/92-9/4/92 & 9/7/92-9/11/92:

Edited March 21, 2024 by JAS0N47

[kalbir]

Guiding Light August 18 Beverlee McKinsey departure.

Y&R August 28 Nikki learns she is pregnant.

B&B September 10 Daniel McVicar last episode until his 1996 return.

Three of four weeks CBS entire line up in the Top 5!

Y&R is still so far ahead of the pack. 

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 9/14/92-9/18/92 & 9/21/92-9/25/92:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 9/28/92-10/2/92 & 10/5/92-10/9/92:

[kalbir]

B&B September 28-October 2 Sheila's fashion show nightmare.

Y&R September 29 Olivia gives birth to Nate.

Three of four weeks CBS entire line up in the Top 5. 

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 10/12/92-10/16/92 & 10/19/92-10/23/92:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 10/26/92-10/30/92 & 11/2/92-11/6/92:

[kalbir]

CBS entire line up in the Top 5. Sadly I think this is it for Guiding Light as far as Top 5 finishes go.

Also noticed Santa Barbara clearanced dropped during the Fall. I don't recall any new talk shows that launched Fall 1992. When did NBC announce Santa Barbara end?

[JoeCool]

General Hospital really slumping for ABC. All My Children a solid Number 2 but way behind Restless. Besides AMC, ABC is slumping.

[Franko]

"'Santa Barbara' is 1 of 2 daytime casualties at NBC" (Sept. 30, 1992, L.A. Times)

Acknowledging the unprofitable economics of its daytime programs, NBC will turn some time periods over to its affiliates as part of a major overhaul of its schedule.

The move, the second time in a year that NBC has cut its daytime programming, is the strongest evidence yet of the network’s retrenchment efforts in the face of stiffer competition from syndication, cable and other networks.

NBC will drop its struggling afternoon soap opera “Santa Barbara” on Jan. 15. It will also cancel its medical advice show, “Doctor Dean.” Both shows ranked near the bottom in daytime ratings.

In the last several years, NBC has cut back a third of its daytime programming, to four hours from six hours. The decision to drop “Santa Barbara” was prompted last week when John Rohrbeck, president of NBC-TV’s stations division, refused to continue carrying the soap opera after key affiliates in Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis dropped the show, sources said.

Affiliates will be handed back the 11 to 11:30 a.m. time period to fill in with syndicated shows. Network executives are still pondering how to fill the “Santa Barbara” 3 to 4 p.m. slot. Among the replacement shows apparently under consideration are an expanded version of “Classic Concentration,” a youth-oriented game show, and a talk show hosted by Sassy magazine editor Jane Pratt.

The cancellations underscore the rapidly changing economics of daytime television, which only a few years ago could account for up to 70% of a network’s profit.

Traditionally, daytime programs cost much less than prime-time shows to produce and attracted healthy advertising because of their success in reaching a largely female audience.

But in recent years, the daytime marketplace has become increasingly crowded, with syndicated shows pulling viewers away from the weaker network shows.

“NBC has been hurting in the daytime race,” said Bill Croasedale, president of national broadcasting at the Los Angeles-based ad agency Western Media. “They have been running a really poor third against ABC and CBS.”

NBC’s problems have been compounded by the fact that impatient affiliates, facing their own financial pressures, are no longer willing to stick with ratings losers when they can acquire more profitable syndicated shows on their own.

NBC, which had been the prime-time ratings leader for five years before being bumped into second place by CBS this last season, is now retrenching from several ambitious expansion plans launched in recent years.

Network staffers have been buzzing for several weeks about an “October surprise” that could entail further cutbacks and might include the long-anticipated “strategic” transaction hinted at by NBC’s parent, General Electric.

As for syndicated talk shows that debuted in fall 1992, there were Vicki Lawrence and Jane Whitney's shows. Jane Pratt was actually between shows at the time of the above article. She went from FOX stations to Lifetime, then was done by 1993. (If Jane Pratt had stayed, it's interesting to consider what that would have meant for Ricki Lake.)

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 11/9/92-11/13/92 & 11/16/92-11/20/92:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 11/23/92-11/27/92 & 11/30/92-12/4/92:

[kalbir]

@Franko Thank you for the info re Santa Barbara.

B&B November 13 Colleen Dion departure.

Y&R 5000th episode was December 1, 1992.

General Hospital appears to be making a comeback. Luke/Laura return was less than a year away.

James Reilly arrives at Days sometime in December 1992 and he cannot get there fast enough. Little did we know that Reilly Days 1993-1997 would shake up daytime at a level not seen since ABC huge rise and dominance some 15 years earlier.

 

Edited February 15, 2024 by kalbir

[Paul Raven]

Unfortunately for NBC that shake up didn't flow through the lineup as ABC had done previously.

[Franko]

It makes me wonder what would have happened if Reilly wrote for Days in the late '80s. Would the rising tide effect have happened with Another World and Santa Barbara? Would we have gotten a variant of Aremid or Passions instead of Generations, or as the Santa Barbara replacement?

(There's other implications, which I'll save for the classic Days thread.)

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 12/7/92-12/11/92 & 12/14/92-12/18/92:

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FROM THE VAULT: WEEKLY DAYTIME NIELSEN RATINGS: WEEKS OF 12/21/92-12/25/92 & 12/28/92-1/1/93:

 

Jim Reilly actually was a breakdown writer on Days from September 1988-January 1990, so that was his first association with the show. Of course, he wasn't coming up with the actual storylines, but he did do breakdowns for the last 16 months of the 1980's!

Edited March 21, 2024 by JAS0N47