ARTICLE: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Holds Steady While ‘General Hospital’ Improves In Key Demos & ‘The Price is Right’ Hits Season High

[Soapsuds]

BTG dropped 70,000 viewers and .1 in HH. 

BB dropped again in viewers. Not much but they arent bringing in the numbers for the ridiculous Luna story. They also dropped in demos. 

I wish CBS would give BB timeslot to BTG.

[DRW50]

I still think Frank sabotaged ABC's attempt to improve the show last year. If they don't want to make changes, then clearly they are done. 

So far, I'm not sure BtG has had any big impact on GH, but GH being on autopilot is not a good thing at all. They seem to just be winding down the clock, either expecting viewers to stay or not caring if they do.

[Soapsuds]

GH is in trouble when you bring in SB and JJ and still are last in demographics.

[te.]

I mean, I'd say in their daytime line up GMA3 is far more problematic at this point. General Hospital grows out of it and tends to be top ten on the Hulu charts. Networks don't tend to worry as much as beating other shows in the timeslot as much as improving the overall performance on their line ups. 

[Chris B]

I don't think GH needs to worry because of BTG. GH's issues are bigger than that. The biggest problem being the poor lead in of GMA3. They should've kept TJ and Amy who were actually able to bring in ratings despite the controversy of their relationship.

[DRW50]

I think that the days of returns doing anything for soaps are long gone, but in these cases, Burton has returned many times. He did bring a temporary boost, but even if the show had known how to use him that wasn't going to last. JJ has had little career outside of GH beyond movies from decades ago and a stint on Nashville. His last permanent return also did nothing for ratings. He isn't even that popular on social media with current fans. 

Is that replacement outrating GH or was that just a one week thing?

It wasn't just the controversy, IIRC - didn't he have a past fling with a work colleague? Or am I thinking of something else?

Edited March 14 by DRW50

[Vee]

Most of the fans on social media complaining about Lucky are Liason dead-enders. They spam the GH hashtag and astroturf response hoping to make him go away every day he's on.

I don't think Lucky's return in Africa story was good but I've seen a more positive sustained response from the general audience once they settled him in with Liz back home. Nonetheless you're going to continue to see the contingent of very vocal fans who will never like him.

Edited March 14 by Vee

[Chris B]

GMA3 wasn't outrating GH but was doing much better when TJ and Amy were hosting. The affair gave them a boost but the show was overall better when they were hosting it. To my knowledge it was their first affair but ABC got cold feet due to the negative press.

[DRW50]

Sorry, I was thinking of a ratings report from a few weeks ago where one of those GMA shows had a big boost.

I do know it's a bad idea to think too much on what social media wants, as people just want what suits them and their favorite character, but for a nostalgia return, I'm surprised there isn't more - there is some positive response, but the show spent so many years stomping L&L and Lucky to dust, I'm not sure they can come back. Maybe if the show improves they can.

[Errol]

Demographically, GMA3 is generally a bomb, particularly in Women 18-49. However, it does spike a bit here and there, particularly during the week of February 10-14, 2025 when it nearly tied GH in both demos: https://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2025/02/daytime-broadcast-ratings-for-the-week-of-february-10-14-2025

That said, GH is currently a little over 400,000 viewers ahead of GMA3 in terms of Total Viewers. It should be a LOT better than that considering the cost and the overall depreciated demos for the scripted show compared to the news show. The View manages to get about 1.2 million more viewers than GMA3 at 11:00 a.m., and its demos have also seen spikes like those shown in this post.

GH is not seeing ANY spikes. That's where the problem lies. Y&R and B&B spiked to season highs with a 0.35 and 0.31, respectively in Women 18-49. A few weeks earlier, the shows were doing 0.25s and 0.24s. GH just does not see high interest, even when it does do well in Total Viewers like it did during the week of February 17-21, 2025: https://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2025/02/daytime-broadcast-ratings-for-the-week-of-february-17-21-2025

That particular week had great viewership but average demos. The demos in this post for the show are better than two weeks ago, yet the Total Viewers are just bad.

[DRW50]

Thanks.

So I guess the question is whether they will try one last time to get viewers back or make changes or just cancel the show. 

I do wonder if the ratings drops when they made a few changes last year have scared ABC from doing more. Clearly, they won't be getting rid of Frank.

Edited March 14 by DRW50

[Taoboi]

That's how I feel. I don't want GH cancelled, but it definitely needs a change. And...them ratings will talk. 

 

 

[Aragorn]

GMA3 should be shrunk to a half hour, and the 1:30 timeslot should be given to a new ABC soap.

[detroitpiston]

Agreed. GH needs a better lead in or a stronger viewer timeslot placement in the lineup.

[te.]

Well, the fact that they're basically trying to retool GMA3 behind the scenes shows that its performance is a concern for ABC: https://deadline.com/2025/03/abc-news-gma3-restructuring-1236330083/

General Hospital has the benefit of streaming and having that backend attached to it. That we're not hearing rumblings about them doing stuff backstage makes me think they're not overly concerned with GH's performance as of now. If they "fix" GMA3 that might change though, but then again, CBS kept endlessly retooling The Talk...