LATEST RATINGS: April 14-18, 2025

[Toups]

Ratings for the week April 14-18, 2025

[Maxim]

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[Errol]

Whatever happened on Wednesday, April 16, General Hospital needs more of that because it started the week on a very Talk-like level, at 0.17s in Women 18-49. Had it not been for those, it would have beaten Beyond the Gates in that demo. However, I don't understand its performance among Women 25-54. Why is BTG topping the show in this particular demo with ease? Why is GH so far behind the pack in this demo?

Day	W18-49 Rating	W25-54 Rating	Duration (In Minutes)
Wednesday	0.25	0.34	60

[te.]

I think it has to do with overall demographics of the networks - ABC has always skewed younger, CBS has always skewed older. CBS was the first network I saw talking about the 25-54 demographic in prime time - and that was for a reason. 

[1974mdp]

I'm really hoping the gradual slide down of ratings for BTG stops and stabilizes. I can't emphasize how much I want this show to succeed...

But...

IMO, the show has really got to work on pacing though. Before this week, there were way too many episodes FOR WEEKS where basically nothing happened. I often found my mind drifting during episodes, and I'm a hardcore soap fan with a high tolerance level of questionable writing. Imagine the people who tuned in those first two weeks because they were curious to try out a brand-new soap for the first time. Most of them are not going to stick around if it feels like nothing is happening.

It doesn't mean you need constant bombs, showdowns, murders, etc. But, you can have particular story beats within a story happening to make there feel like there's movement in the plot, and then the audience feels like they'll actually miss something if they don't tune in. For example: How does no one know that Dani is sleeping with Andre yet? If even one person found out, that deepens that story's plot and conflict. Why is Joey so interested in Doug versus some other addicted gambler? We still have zero clue. Who in the hell is Ashley besides a nurse? (Don't even get my started on Derek!). These plot points won't wrap up a story, but it will give them more depth and interest.

I could have missed almost the entire month of April, and tuned in this past Monday, and be current on what was happening. I'm sure if a lot of those early viewers who dropped off were surveyed, they'd say that the show moved too slowly for them.

Picking up the pace and the DRAMA is the only way they're going to grow an audience in today's TV landscape with 10 episode seasons on streaming and younger people's TikTok brains. The slooooow moving soaps on the 70s and 80s aren't going to work if you're going to attract younger (and that by I mean below 50 years old) demo viewers. That's the future if the genre is going to survive not all of us old-school viewers.

I feel like it would have been a great idea that if MVJ needed a co-head writer they should have paired her with someone MUCH younger and fresher with a modern story-telling viewpoint versus Guza who is also in his 70s! How are two 70 year olds expected to give us a modern day take on the 5-day a week soap? The head writing team should be a mix of proven experience with some new talent and ideas! I think one of the reasons the genre has been dying off is that there has been no new head-writing blood in what feels like forever. Who is TODAY'S Agnes Nixon, for example?