May 29 - June 2, 2006

[SteveFrame]

SON gets their ratings straight from Nielsen. LKSKREET always has the same thing as Toups does here. Toups and SKREET have both answered these allegations of changing the ratings here many times already.

What would Toups or SKREET either one benefit from changing the ratings? I mean it is not like they are getting kick backs for it. What in the world would anybody at SON gain from it. It is not like they could change the official rating.

And besides it is not just Days rating that has been different here than what was in the soap mags.

And as far as the rounding up thing which is brought up here frequently too. That has been answered. The rounding up that we get is based on the numbers that we see, but when Nielsen compiles the actual ending number they do it from the full carried out daily numbers and not just the rounded number that is released.

[Carolyn1980]

But ABC's press release puts DAYS in 3rd, not 2nd in women 18-49. NBC didn't even issue a press release this week.

If ABC lied in their press release, NBC would have a cow.

So I'm inclined to believe that as ABC says, OLTL was alone in 2nd, and DAYS tied GH and AMC for 3rd.

[SteveFrame]

Carolyn I went back and looked at Toups post. If you will look at the end of ABC's ratings report - it states "based on live data". I have never understood the difference between all the ratings things but I do know that there is a difference in the live data and the final data released by Nielsen. Maybe someone a little bit more up on the ratings can explain it better. I looked around on the Internet to see if I could find an explanation but couldn't.

Anyway that report is based on the live data. Toups listing of the ratings is the official report from Nielsen.

As with any network thing they are going to release it in such a way that their shows are going to come out looking better. I can tell you that when you look at all the numbers the 4% that they say they beat Days by in the 18-49 category does not calculate as very much at all.

I find it funny that they singled out Days in the first place. I mean usually (for the most part) ratings reports and analysis only points to the shows that compete with the actual show being discussed. OLTL and Days usually are not time slot competitors so why in the world would ABC want to mention Days anyway. I think it is just pointing out that they knew that Days and OLTL were tied in the official report and wanted to point out that according to the live data they were ahead of Days by 4%.

[Carolyn1980]

DAYS and OLTL actually both air at 1:00 on the west coast, and have for over 25 years. So they are timeslot competitors.

I still don't see how ABC can claim DAYS is tied for 3rd with GH and AMC if that's not the case. Seems fishy to me, especially since 9 times out of 10, the soap mags show DAYS' ratings as lower than what's reported here (usually only by 0.1, but still....).

Oh well, guess we'll never know for sure since NBC didn't even issue a press release this week (which seems like something they would have done had DAYS finished 2nd instead of a 3-way tie for 3rd).

[SteveFrame]

I don't know about on the West Coast but the ratings report shows what happens in the majority of the country. It states the time slot competitors for OLTL are ATWT and Passions. In the state of Tennessee where I am from it airs opposite Passions and Bold & the Beautiful.

I still hold that why they even made mention of Days in that is very rare, because it is not a normal time slot competitor for OLTL in most of the country. In the majority of the country Days airs opposite AMC - here in Tennessee it is opposite GH and GL.

Notice that the ABC report did not even mention any of AMC"s time slot competitors. Remember the ratings reports always spin it in favor of the network and there wasn't much to spin in favor of AMC in that.

As to the report, I still hold Toup's report over the ABC report because of what data the report is based on. And I definitely put Toups info above the soap mags.

I still can't figure out why it is a big deal and why Days is the only one pointed out. I mean the mags have had other soaps ratings off and different in the past few weeks - not just Days - but those are never pointed out. Of course if Days is ever reported doing good there has to be fault somewhere.

[Toups]

From last week's ABC Release where there was a mistake.

Maybe the ABC Ratings person isn't double checking?

And thanks to those who are backing me up. I'm glad years of doing the ratings hasn't gone to waste.

[Carolyn1980]

Lol. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm doubting you, I just don't understand how NBC would let ABC get away with a bogus press release. Networks have sued each other for much less. If it's not true that DAYS was 3rd in the 18-49 female demo, I just can't picture NBC not calling ABC on their inaccurate release.

Is it possible that Nielsen doesn't actually provide rankings for the soaps the way the networks do? Do the networks just interpret the data? Are there two ways to rank the shows so that one way DAYS is in 2nd with OLTL, but the other it's in 3rd? Not trying to be smart-alecky, just really curious....Thanks!

[Toadstool]

We trust you, Toups.

[Toups]

For the ABC release, they only factor in the "Live" ratings, while the ratings I get are for the "Live + Same Day" ratings. What is the difference? I have no idea, but I'm trying to get that answered. LOL

SOD/SOW are also probably using the "live" ratings, and that's why sometimes they are different than my ratings.

[Carolyn1980]

I think "Live" is when people watch it or record it on a VCR when it airs in its timeslot, and "live + Same Day" also includes those who DVR it and watch it the same day it airs (which would seem to indicate DAYS has a lot of people using DVR's).

[SteveFrame]

Toups, Maybe this article will help you and help others too:

from http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/47976.html

From that article it explains why ABC chose to only go by the Live Data. It looked better for them to have OLTL out there all by itself at #2 - so they chose to ignore the other rating.

[Carolyn1980]

Wow, I was right, lol.

[Toups]

Ah okay, I think I get it now. Thanks Carolyn and Steve for the info.

So I guess we can now put to rest the question of why SON's ratings are different. LOL

[Carolyn1980]

It actually means yours are more accurate, because SOD/SOW/ABC apparently leave out the viewers who DVR the show and watch it the same day. (And by seeing which shows are actually a little higher in your ratings, we can tell which shows are DVR'd more often).

[Angela]

AH, FINALLY THE ANSWER, it was driving me crazy why the numbers were different. Let's keep in mind that SOW/SOD didn't start going by just the LIVE rating until the first week of May! So clearly SON is more right on here, SOD/SOW had been using the same LIVE+SD thing until May 2006.

SON: MAY 1-5

1. Y&R 4.2/16 (+.1)

2. B&B 3.2/11 (+.1) (3.1/11 - JUST LIVE)

3. GH 2.8/9 (+.1)

4. AMC 2.6/9 (-.1)

4. OLTL 2.6/9 (+.1) (2.5/9 - JUST LIVE)

6. ATWT 2.5/9 (-.1) (2.4/9 - JUST LIVE)

7. DAYS 2.3/8 (-.2) (2.2/8 - JUST LIVE)

8. GL 2.1/7 (-.2)

9. PSNS 1.4/5 (-.1)

SON: MAY 8-12

1. Y&R 4.4/16 (+.2) (4.3 - JUST LIVE)

2. B&B 3.3/12 (+.1)

3. GH 2.9/10 (+.1)

4. AMC 2.8/10 (+.2)

5. OLTL 2.7/9 (+.1)

6. ATWT 2.6/9 (+.1)

7. DAYS 2.5/9 (+.2) (2.4 - JUST LIVE)

8. GL 2.3/8 (+.2)

9. PSNS 1.5/5 (+.1)

SON: MAY 15-19

1. Y&R 4.3/16 (-.1)

2. B&B 3.4/12 (+.1)

3. AMC 2.8/9 (SAME) (2.7/9 - JUST LIVE)

3. GH 2.8/9 (-.1) (2.7/9 - JUST LIVE, SOD had 2.6, lol)

5. ATWT 2.6/9 (SAME) (2.5/9 - JUST LIVE)

5. OLTL 2.6/9 (-.1)

7. DOOL 2.5/8 (SAME) (2.4/8 - JUST LIVE)

8. GL 2.2/7 (-.1)

9. PASS 1.5/5 (SAME)

SON: MAY 22-26

1. Y&R 4.3/15 (SAME) (4.2/15 - JUST LIVE)

2. B&B 3.2/11 (-.2)

3. GH 2.8/9 (SAME)

4. AMC 2.6/9 (-.2)

4. OLTL 2.6/9 (SAME)

6. DAYS 2.5/9 (SAME) (2.4/8 - JUST LIVE)

7. ATWT 2.4/8 (-.2)

8. GL 2.1/7 (-.1)

9. PSNS 1.4/5 (-.1)