1978-79 Soap History

Written by Bridger Cunningham

NBC was getting trounced in the ratings by ABC, which robbed its show-pony Another World of an entire point.  Come May 1979, the 15th anniversary of AW, NBC decided to grab for more innovation and augmented the soap to 90 minutes.  To accommodate, NBC pushed DAYS back to 1:00 directly against All My Children, and The Doctors back to 2:00.  The experiment failed asthe network's ratings woes continued.

All My Children usurped As the World Turns' 20-year run in 1st Place, and the entire lineup perked up.  The real MVP was General Hospital, which perked up 24% and gained 1.7 ratings points, jumping from 8th Place to 2nd.  In this windfall, EDGE regained six-tenths and matched CBS' ailing Love of Life.  OLTL gained six-tenths, and Ryan's Hope gained two-tenths.  CBS' empire began to crumble despite Y&R's surge into 3rd place.  NBC fell apart due to moves as viewers did not embrace a 90-minute soap.

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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