Boffo Ratings for Young and Restless; ATWT Hits New All-Time Low
The week of May 4-8, 2009 was a good one for some daytime dramas, others...not so much. According to the Nielsen Ratings (posted by our friends at Soap Opera Network), the best soap opera in the game, The Young and the Restless added 61,000 total viewers over the previous week, and also jumped up two-tenths of a point in households. Y&R also added one-tenth of a point among the coveted Women 18-49 demographic. The Maria Arena Bell-helmed sudser is up an impressive 214,000 total viewers (more than any other soap) over this time last year, and is up two-tenths of a point in households year-to-date. Go 'head Auntie Maria! I can't wait to see what the ratings will look like once word spreads that Thom Bierdz is back!
The news wasn't so good for Y&R's ugly step-soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. The cartoon-opera lost 107,000 total viewers and dropped one-tenth of a ratings point in households. B&B did gain one-tenth of a point among Women 18-49, however the once-great soap is down a whooping 518,000 viewers year-to-date. To think there was a time when I rushed home to watch my B&B episodes first. Maybe this bleedout will convince Brad Bell the fans aren't as fascinated by Ridge vs. Rick, Phoebe and Donna as he is.
Things were even worse for As The World Turns. The only P&G/TeleNext show that will appear on the CBS daytime lineup past next Sept. 18, lost 70,000 total viewers over the previous week, hitting a new all-time low. Memo to Chris Goutman and Barbara Bloom: The three-day-a-week model bites. Go back to telling good stories every day, you know, like you get paid to do! ATWT is down one-tenth of a point in households, yet held steady among Women 18-49. ATWT has lost a devastating 417,000 total viewers year-to-date and is down three-tenths of a point from this time last year in households.
Unfortunately, Guiding Light didn't have the best of weeks either. The Little Soap Opera That Could dropped 81,000 total viewers over the previous week, losing one-tenth of a ratings point in households where it dipped back to a depressing 1.5. GL is down 371,000 viewers year-to-date. GL head steady among Women 18-49. Maybe all of the one-sided doom and gloom reporting from the mainstream media is causing fans to give up and tune the show out, just when it needs our support more than ever?
Over at ABC, the big story is One Life to Live, though in the midst of the creative chernobyl known as Stacy, OLTL still managed to add 66,000 total viewers over the previous week. OLTL also went up one-tenth of a point in households and held steady among Women 18-49. OLTL is only down 18,000 total viewers year-to-date. That certainly isn't the case for ABC flagship General Hospital. GH is still bleeding out, and appears to be in desperate need of emergency surgery. The soap opera lost 77,000 total viewers over the previous week and is down a staggering 403,000 total viewers year-to-date. GH went down one-tenth of a point in households, yet held steady in Women 18-49, ranking Number 2 in that demo. All My Children managed to only shave off 26,000 total viewers, holding steady in households and Women 18-49. Don't expect that to be enough to get rid of Chuck Pratt anytime soon, however. AMC is actually up 92,000 viewers over this time last year. Whether we like it or not, it's good to be Chuck. Sigh.
As for NBC's Days of Our Lives, in yet another head-scratching jolt of irony, just as many of us at DC are thinking the soap opera is finally improving, DAYS lost 130,000 viewers last week. I've given up trying to figure out what makes people watch this show and when. DAYS is up 40,000 total viewers over this time last year, however, which makes the fanboy in me happy. DAYS is the show most dear to my heart, so even when it pisses me off, I can't imagine a Christmas not sitting at home watching my aunts and cousins cook while watching the Hortons hang those damn ornaments on that tree. What can I say, I'm sentimental.
Ratings for the week May 4-8, 2009
(Compared to Last Week/Compared to Last Year)
Total Viewers
1. Y&R 5,171,000 (+61,000/+214,000)
2. B&B 3,360,000 (-107,000/-518,000)
3. DAYS 2,736,000 (-130,000/+40,000)
4. AMC 2,459,000 (-26,000/+92,000)
5. GH 2,445,000 (-77,000/-403,000)
6. OLTL 2,439,000 (+66,000/-18,000)
7. ATWT 2,434,000 (-70,000/-417,000) <-------- new low
8. GL 2,018,000 (-81,000/-371,000)
HH
1. Y&R 3.8/14 (+.2/+.2)
2. B&B 2.5/9 (-.1/-.3)
3. DAYS 2.1/7 (same/same)
4. AMC 1.9/7 (same/same)
4. OLTL 1.9/7 (+.1/-.1)
4. GH 1.9/6 (-.1/-.3)
7. ATWT 1.8/7 (-.1/-.3)
8. GL 1.5/5 (-.1/-.2)
Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.7/13 (+.1/same)
2. GH 1.2/8 (same/-.2)
2. DAYS 1.2/8 (-.1/-.2)
2. B&B 1.2/8 (+.1/-.1)
5. AMC 1.1/8 (same/same)
5. OLTL 1.1/8 (same/-.1)
7. ATWT 0.9/6 (same/-.2)
8. GL 0.8/5 (same/-.3)
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
Comments
8 May 2008
1 week 2 days
Jamey, maybe Melanie will hang the ornament on the Horton Christmas tree this year? LOL. Jamey, I think that tiic beaten down the fans to the point of not caring anymore and its a shame because they feel that they are not being listening to and feel they are value as a audience member who loves and care about this industry to want it to survive and thrive again is not being heard and are not caring anymore. Jamey, I glad you are speaking for the fans who are sick and tired of the bs going on behind the scenes and want go soap. I can't wait to hear your opinion about the ratings and give them hell.
30 March 2009
1 week 2 days
GREAT NEWS ABOUT Y&R!!! I hope the ratings continue to go up during May Sweeps because the show keeps getting better and better.
I watched an episode of B&B online last week and I just can't bring myself to go back to watching it. I am going to check out Don Diamont's first show but I will continue to tune out until they get it together. Jamey it is so sad about B&B. I thought the Taylor/Ridge/Brooke triangle was the best in soap opera in the 90s. I was a Taylor/Ridge fan but that ship has sailed. The triangle isn't any good anymore. Neither couple has any rooting value left in it. It's sad sad sad.
8 May 2008
1 week 2 days
Yeah, I over the B&B triangle and Brad needs to end it, NOW>
22 January 2008
1 hour 44 min
Smitty, imagine how I feel. I LIVED for Ridge and Brooke, and they've been back together, what two years now? And I can't stand them. I love Brooke, but hate the coupling. Anytime a soap makes you hate the very couple that got you hooked, it's not a good sign.
20 August 2008
35 weeks 2 days
just a guess, but i'm betting OLTL's numbers are tracking up for a few reasons, the main one being that the morasco fiasco hasn't gotten as much screen time in the past two weeks as it had gotten in the previous month. april definitly sucked for OLTL. stacy overkill almost every single day - UG. but it seems as though the balance has returned to the show over the past week or two. sure, i didn't need to see crystal hunt do a really REALLY bad stripper impersonation the other day, but at least the morasco fiasco didn't make up the bulk of the show.
8 May 2008
1 week 2 days
Brooke needs to dump Ridge and get with Bill. They would be hot.
14 January 2009
2 years 3 weeks
Since having given up on GH months and months ago, I am now becoming invested in Y&R myself! If GH/ABC are wondering where their viewers are going, my guess is over to CBS!!
6 January 2008
27 weeks 4 days
Well B&B ratings will go up once Rick Herbst joins. I know I will be watching.
So happy GH is going down in the ratings. I hate what that once great show is now. Liason!!!!!
So happy about Y&R. I still believe since they got Phillip III back, they need to get Nina scheming and steal Paul from Nikki. I don't think Cricket would mind.
5 January 2009
3 years 5 hours
Congrats MAB! It can't be long before NBs fearless prediction of 4.5 comes true. So close.
This is a significant jump vs. last week/last year, but doesn't Y&R hit 3.8 pretty regularly? I didn't think this was that surprising for sweeps, and was this same week part of sweeps period last year too?
I've been loving the show for the past two weeks, but was a little surprised not to see some 4s during sweeps, when it's happened several weeks this year already.
TB and this storyline should definitely help though. I'm on the edge of my seat right now, and i don't really know how good of an actor/character he was on the show.
14 November 2007
2 years 2 weeks
ATWT Question: I know they were renewed for a year, are there any goals that ATWT needs to meet in order to be renewed after that? I'm thinking about how GL had to reach certain ratings by a specific time (and failed to do that
) Has anyone heard if that's the case for ATWT now?
3 March 2009
4 hours 3 min
Good for Y&R. Too bad for GL though. Seems the ratings continue to drop since the cancellation announcement was made. Guess some people don't want to watch it and invest in it if they know its going to end soon.
11 November 2008
1 year 29 weeks
I must admit...I am really enjoying AMC these days And I agree with the ratings, it is currently the best ABC soap .
I'm looking forward to the murder mystery of who killed Adam Chandler.
On anther note, AMC is a shoe in to win best daytime drama. The Jesse/Angie reunion was one of the best episodes in daytime history and the tornado was quite impressive
22 January 2008
1 hour 44 min
Daisy, from what we've heard, CBS intimated that ATWT won't be on the air past Sept. 2010. CBS slashed the heck out of their licensing fees. So much so that Y&R is feeling the pinch, i.e. the contract drama with Don Diamont, Jess Walton and now Melody Scott. I fear there is no way ATWT can continue much longer with a reduced licensing fee and pisspoor ratings. I am not trying to be an alarmist, but I truly do believe it is over too.
29 May 2008
19 weeks 1 day
I'm pretty much on hiatus from the ABC soaps, but what is it with OLTL's fascination with young, talentless blondes? I only saw a few episodes with that Stacy and she was just as bad as Jen Rappaport (Jessica Morris). I can remember the fans complaining about her, ad nauseum, for TPTB to get rid of her, but she was on there for years.
14 November 2007
2 years 2 weeks
Jamey, I don't think you're being an alarmist at all...the writing seems to be on the wall for ATWT. That's so upsetting. I just feel like, Okay they've got a year, *maybe* they can turn things around. I started watching again recently and while I don't think it's the worst show on air, it *is* a mess.
22 January 2008
1 hour 44 min
TeleNext did hire a new marketing team for ATWT, according to TV Guide Canada, so at least the production company is committed to the show. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
27 September 2008
1 year 42 weeks
Everytime I look at the ratings, I'm still amazed at how GL was at a 2.6 just over two years ago and they weren't even that high in the rankings! I think at that point, they were ahead of AMC and OLTL. Thats it. It seems the ratings dropped drastically in April of 07, a full two months after Jammy left. No, I think the potential pairing of Olivia and Jeffery disgusted people alot. Top that with the demeaning way Olivia was used to build up Jeffery and then the new production model with no focus on writing and you can see how you lose over 1 million viewers.
As for the other shows losing viewers, I think they are all dependent on each other. Yeah, they've all been bad, but even Y&R is going to be affected by a loyal GL viewer getting pissed off at the whole soap industry. And it isn't even just GL. Days killing off everyone wasn't good. Killing Dixie off with pancakes isn't good. Telling people Carly is now Claudia isn't good. Killing off Jennifer after being terrorized for a whole year isn't good. Lynn Marie Lathon isn't good. Yeah, it takes a village, but it is a village of dominos. One falls and they all fall.
2 April 2009
1 hour 22 min
Guiding Light goes up Guiding Light goes down its been the same way for months now.