Ratings for the week April 7-11, 2025

What's ironic is that I was hoping for Beyond the Gates to follow The Young and the Restless when it was first announced because, demographically, the latter series was stronger in Women 18-49 and Women 25-54, not to mention Black people. This remains true, but recently, The Bold and the Beautiful has been beating Y&R on certain days, including the previous week in the demos.

Clearly, CBS knew better.

That said, Beyond the Gates needs to figure out a way to attract the B&B viewers to stay and watch the show, specifically older Women, as it's clear the under 54 demos are decent enough. It's the Women 55+ that haven't picked up the show, which explains why BTG loses nearly 1.1 million viewers from B&B.

Not a woman, nor over 50, but I'm a B&B viewer who stopped watching the show after a few days and stopped sampling all together after a few weeks. I wasn't planning on being a regular viewer unless it wowed me (mostly due to it being 1 hour and being the familiar rich family set-up) but initially planned to watch the week.

There were some structural issues that dampened my interest. First and foremost was the absolute mess of the character ages. None of the generations (outside of Ms. Tunie's & her husband) seemed distinguishable so it was frustrating to figure out who was who and how they related. Yes, soaps get generationally messy over time, but why start it even messier compared to B&B is now? The mistress character being the friend of the daughter of Karla Mossey's character is laughable - if you showed a picture of the 2 women and asked 100 people who was older, 40 would say the mistress. The men all having beards and dressing the same was annoying too.

Two specific events made me not bother finishing the premier week. I didn't even make it all the way through Tuesday to be honest. The first was the slap/weird reaction walkoff from the family at the end of the pilot. It felt like something out of a reality show, and I'm not a big reality show fan at all. The second was the baby in an elevator in the next episode. That felt hacky on Saved By The Bell in the 90s.

A few other things bothered me too. The cut outs between scenes. I expected Tamara Tunie's to be a force but was given a generic diva. And all that political talk took me out of escapism and made me think about politics..which soaps are supposed to be refuge from.

That said, there were things I liked. Even if the acting wasn't perfect, it was better than the start of any other soap I've seen. No Ashley Hamiltons, Dana Sparks or Terri-Ann Linns to be found. Having a primarily Black cast is innovative and overdue.

I'm glad that people on this board are enjoying it. Not every show is for everyone. My opinion is also clearly the minority view as the show has been remarkably stable in viewers under 50. BTG's renewal will surely be announced shortly, and deservedly so based on its performance.

Edited April 18, 2025Apr 18 by bongobong

The lack of Tamara Tunie was disappointing, to be sure. We can talk about her offscreen availability and all the inside-baseball stuff, but none of that would matter to casuals: She was a major reason why there was initial excitement around the premiere. She’s not a household name, but she’s high-profile enough to land a seat next to Stephen Colbert. You’d want Anita front and center and mixing it up all over town, and that just wasn’t happening.

I wish the men were more compelling too. And a predominantly white soap would never give the Black equivalent of an Ashley that sort of fawning platform (only Evangeline from OLTL has ever had something similar and we see how eventually that turned out—one of the most ho-hum, insulting departures ever). But if they were going to foist Ashley upon us to appease white Middle America, at least make the girl interesting (and worth the attention of the show’s most charismatic Black leading man). Not this walking, talking corn muffin.

I could go on, but there’s a lot of potential, though, and I think they’ll have plenty of time to make some adjustments.

 

Edited April 18, 2025Apr 18 by Faulkner

4 hours ago, Errol said:

What's ironic is that I was hoping for Beyond the Gates to follow The Young and the Restless when it was first announced because, demographically, the latter series was stronger in Women 18-49 and Women 25-54, not to mention Black people. This remains true, but recently, The Bold and the Beautiful has been beating Y&R on certain days, including the previous week in the demos.

Clearly, CBS knew better.

That said, Beyond the Gates needs to figure out a way to attract the B&B viewers to stay and watch the show, specifically older Women, as it's clear the under 54 demos are decent enough. It's the Women 55+ that haven't picked up the show, which explains why BTG loses nearly 1.1 million viewers from B&B.

Given today's climate and the demos of the soap viewers who are left, I do wonder if a number of them just will not watch a show with a focus on black characters. 

That is not me saying the show should change focus. It's good that we have a soap trying to appeal elsewhere and not doing so in a clunky manner like, say, Doctor Who. I just think many of the soap viewers around now will not want to watch. Hopefully they can find more who have moved away from soaps or are new to soaps. 

That's where I wish they had done a half hour show instead. A half hour show also would have cut down on the character clutter.

Since the show has attracted a younger audience, I wouldn't be surprised if their ratings are higher with Live+3/7 factored in and streaming.

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Given today's climate and the demos of the soap viewers who are left, I do wonder if a number of them just will not watch a show with a focus on black characters. 

That is not me saying the show should change focus. It's good that we have a soap trying to appeal elsewhere and not doing so in a clunky manner like, say, Doctor Who. I just think many of the soap viewers around now will not want to watch. Hopefully they can find more who have moved away from soaps or are new to soaps. 

That's where I wish they had done a half hour show instead. A half hour show also would have cut down on the character clutter.

Go to Facebook soap pages and you will see the barrage of white commenters who will not watch a "racist" "DEI" majority black soap.  I truly applaud CBS for taking the risk and putting a new soap on air in 2025 ---a minority majority soap at that.

9 hours ago, Faulkner said:

The lack of Tamara Tunie was disappointing, to be sure. We can talk about her offscreen availability and all the inside-baseball stuff, but none of that would matter to casuals: She was a major reason why there was initial excitement around the premiere. She’s not a household name, but she’s high-profile enough to land a seat next to Stephen Colbert. You’d want Anita front and center and mixing it up all over town, and that just wasn’t happening.

I wish the men were more compelling too. And a predominantly white soap would never give the Black equivalent of an Ashley that sort of fawning platform (only Evangeline from OLTL has ever had something similar and we see how eventually that turned out—one of the most ho-hum, insulting departures ever). But if they were going to foist Ashley upon us to appease white Middle America, at least make the girl interesting (and worth the attention of the show’s most charismatic Black leading man). Not this walking, talking corn muffin.

I could go on, but there’s a lot of potential, though, and I think they’ll have plenty of time to make some adjustments.

 

I thought Nicole's husband Ted was pretty good. Sucks that he's being recasted.

Same about Tamara Tunie. I expected her to be this Stephanie Forrester level Grand Dame.  Instead she's the equivalent of GH's Lila or ATWT's Nancy.  A wise loving grandmother who doles out advice but has no story---a talk to character. Anita reminds me of Dominique Devereaux on Dynasty, a black grand dame with so much potential, who turned out to be mild and well liked, with not enough story.

I really thought Nicole was going to be her nemesis based on promos, I didn't expect that to be her daughter.

9 hours ago, bongobong said:

Not a woman, nor over 50, but I'm a B&B viewer who stopped watching the show after a few days and stopped sampling all together after a few weeks. I wasn't planning on being a regular viewer unless it wowed me (mostly due to it being 1 hour and being the familiar rich family set-up) but initially planned to watch the week.

There were some structural issues that dampened my interest. First and foremost was the absolute mess of the character ages. None of the generations (outside of Ms. Tunie's & her husband) seemed distinguishable so it was frustrating to figure out who was who and how they related. Yes, soaps get generationally messy over time, but why start it even messier compared to B&B is now? The mistress character being the friend of the daughter of Karla Mossey's character is laughable - if you showed a picture of the 2 women and asked 100 people who was older, 40 would say the mistress. The men all having beards and dressing the same was annoying too.

Two specific events made me not bother finishing the premier week. I didn't even make it all the way through Tuesday to be honest. The first was the slap/weird reaction walkoff from the family at the end of the pilot. It felt like something out of a reality show, and I'm not a big reality show fan at all. The second was the baby in an elevator in the next episode. That felt hacky on Saved By The Bell in the 90s.

A few other things bothered me too. The cut outs between scenes. I expected Tamara Tunie's to be a force but was given a generic diva. And all that political talk took me out of escapism and made me think about politics..which soaps are supposed to be refuge from.

That said, there were things I liked. Even if the acting wasn't perfect, it was better than the start of any other soap I've seen. No Ashley Hamiltons, Dana Sparks or Terri-Ann Linns to be found. Having a primarily Black cast is innovative and overdue.

I'm glad that people on this board are enjoying it. Not every show is for everyone. My opinion is also clearly the minority view as the show has been remarkably stable in viewers under 50. BTG's renewal will surely be announced shortly, and deservedly so based on its performance.

BTG has gotten better and flowed smoother since it's premiere date.

Edited April 19, 2025Apr 19 by Planet Soap

2 minutes ago, Planet Soap said:

Go to Facebook soap pages and you will see the barrage of white commenters who will not watch a "racist" "DEI" majority black soap.  I truly applaud CBS for taking the risk and putting a new soap on air in 2025 ---a minority majority soap at that.

I can imagine. I am sure there's a lot on Twitter too - luckily, I don't see it. I am glad CBS is trying but it's hard to have much hope. At least they did start out decently, but from a number of the comments here the momentum didn't last, as it rarely does with new soaps. 

They are allegedly launching an Anita story at the end of the month, so I doubt Tunie's role will stay as it has. She has been more active in story lately.

42 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I can imagine. I am sure there's a lot on Twitter too - luckily, I don't see it. I am glad CBS is trying but it's hard to have much hope. At least they did start out decently, but from a number of the comments here the momentum didn't last, as it rarely does with new soaps. 

BTG has a very strong Twitter/social fan presence, which probably explains the demo numbers. It certainly has flaws and growing pains like any new soap but it also has people engaged, so however those issues work out I don't think it's going anywhere for awhile.

Edited April 19, 2025Apr 19 by Vee

10 minutes ago, Vee said:

They are allegedly launching an Anita story at the end of the month, so I doubt Tunie's role will stay as it has. She has been more active in story lately.

BTG has a very strong Twitter/social fan presence, which probably explains the demo numbers. It certainly has flaws and growing pains like any new soap but it also has people engaged, so however those issues work out I don't think it's going anywhere for awhile.

I hope so. We could all use a new positive path forward, in daytime, or anywhere.

18 hours ago, Errol said:

What's ironic is that I was hoping for Beyond the Gates to follow The Young and the Restless when it was first announced because, demographically, the latter series was stronger in Women 18-49 and Women 25-54, not to mention Black people. This remains true, but recently, The Bold and the Beautiful has been beating Y&R on certain days, including the previous week in the demos.

Clearly, CBS knew better.

That said, Beyond the Gates needs to figure out a way to attract the B&B viewers to stay and watch the show, specifically older Women, as it's clear the under 54 demos are decent enough. It's the Women 55+ that haven't picked up the show, which explains why BTG loses nearly 1.1 million viewers from B&B.

It's baffling how Y&R and B&B remain in the top spots. Neither of these soaps have been good since 2013. Young is the most boring soap on television, and Bold is the most repeditive. That must really speak to audience loyalty.

General Hospital is no prize but it's certainly more creative and a lot more happens than on the tatter two soaps. GH and BTG should be in those top two spots based on quality.

8 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I can imagine. I am sure there's a lot on Twitter too - luckily, I don't see it. I am glad CBS is trying but it's hard to have much hope. At least they did start out decently, but from a number of the comments here the momentum didn't last, as it rarely does with new soaps. 

Family of mine sguggested CBS shouldn't have announced BTG was an all black soap. They should have put it on the air and let viewers come to that realization themselves.

If anyone complained about a "lack of diversity", just say it "wasn't intentional", then compare it to a cast photo of B&B and Y&R and say their majority white cast "isn't intentional" either, LOL. 

Edited April 19, 2025Apr 19 by Planet Soap

8 hours ago, Planet Soap said:

Family of mine sguggested CBS shouldn't have announced BTG was an all black soap. They should have put it on the air and let viewers come to that realization themselves.

If anyone complained about a "lack of diversity", just say it "wasn't intentional", then compare it to a cast photo of B&B and Y&R and say their majority white cast "isn't intentional" either, LOL. 

That's a good idea, although I guess then people would have said the show and CBS were ashamed of having a majority black cast. 

15 hours ago, DRW50 said:

That's a good idea, although I guess then people would have said the show and CBS were ashamed of having a majority black cast. 

Yup you can't win.

In that scenario, I would use the racist's argument against them and say "We never announced the majority black cast because this was never about race. Most of our cast members just happened to be black because they were qualified for the job!"

Edited April 20, 2025Apr 20 by Planet Soap

On 4/19/2025 at 8:31 AM, Planet Soap said:

It's baffling how Y&R and B&B remain in the top spots. Neither of these soaps have been good since 2013. Young is the most boring soap on television, and Bold is the most repeditive. That must really speak to audience loyalty.

General Hospital is no prize but it's certainly more creative and a lot more happens than on the tatter two soaps. GH and BTG should be in those top two spots based on quality.

WHOA. Hold on. I believe I can offer you assistance here. Ratings have never been about quality. They do not assess it & they do not predict it. 

On 4/19/2025 at 8:31 AM, Planet Soap said:

Family of mine sguggested CBS shouldn't have announced BTG was an all black soap. They should have put it on the air and let viewers come to that realization themselves.

Now one thing they did that I personally thought was very smart was to tie the pre-launch promotion & the launch in with Black History Month. If they'd decided to be coy, they could not have used that tie-in. (I am one who thinks the premiere was originally aimed at a Jan. date but was changed to Feb. because of Black History Month.)

 

On 4/19/2025 at 8:31 AM, Planet Soap said:

If anyone complained about a "lack of diversity", just say it "wasn't intentional", then compare it to a cast photo of B&B and Y&R and say their majority white cast "isn't intentional" either, LOL. 

And, you think that would be credible? People would actually believe it was some kind of coincidence? I do not. 

 

Tuned in the gays