1977-78 Soap History

Written by Bridger Cunningham.

Expansion fever continued to sweep CBS and ABC as Guiding Light eyeballed an hour-long expansion late in 1977.  This expansion threatened ABC's OLTL and GH with the very overlap they used to crush NBC's The Doctors.  Eyeing ruin, ABC decided to go for broke and expanded both soaps to 60 minutes, crossing over GL.  GH was in threat of cancellation and had six months to shape up or ship out.  The strategy worked as GH finally broke its 70's drought.

AMC's 1977 expansion paid off as the show pushed into 3rd and closely edged its upper competition.  Its expansion severely damaged DAYS, which dropped to 10th Place after shedding over a point.  Their expansion also robbed GL of the same measure.  ABC's remaining stable couldn't catch a break as most hovered in the middle of the pack, and newly recycled EDGE dropped a point.  Lovers and Friends rebranded itself For Richer, For Poorer and gained a tenth, though it remained in the back of the pack.  Search for Tomorow also lost a point as may did this season.


Enjoy this entry and want to see how the other seasons ranked?  Follow this link for dozens of other seasons profiled: http://www.tvratingsguide.com/2017/12/tvrg-ratings-library-daytime-soaps.html

Source -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._daytime_soap_opera_ratings

Author : LazyJournalist

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