Behold the latest installment in TV Ratings Guide's Ratings Library Anthology.
Soap are often mocked for their campiness and asinine dialogue. However, they are a durable genre which miraculously survived a deliberate purge in the late 2000's/early 2010's. Once striking its zenith with 19 entries in the 1969-70 season, 2012 onward has featured four durable survivors. Along the way, nine contenders were crowned 1st place, with The Young and the Restless carrying the crown for a current 29-year run, followed closely by defunct As the World Turns owning the title for 20 years and General Hospital taking an honorable 9 years.
Soaps went through a cavalcade of evolution. The 50's started by carrying radio soaps over to television, with only Guiding Light surviving the transition. This decade funded production with product placement sponsors such as Proctor and Gamble, and all of course advertising household soaps. The 60's featured NBC and ABC entering the arena, and geometry lessons built viewers as NBC launched its soap blocks to prominence with popular love triangles. The 70's sought relevance and youth, followed by the 80's displaying, glamour, glitz and action-adventure capers. The genre peaked by 1994, and the OJ Simpson trial of 1995 offset the eternal decline in Nielsen's. The 2000's and 2010's featured the endings of several franchises which spanned multiple decades, and yet a scant four still remain. Enjoy the ensemble of Nielsen data.
This, along with other diverse entries of ratings data can be found in the TVRG Ratings Library, located at the following link: http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2018/01/tvrg-ratings-library.html
1950-58 -- The Beginnings on CBS
1950-51 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1950-51-soap-ratings.html
1951-52 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1951-52-soap-ratings.html
1952-53 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1952-53-soap-ratings.html
1953-54 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1953-54-soap-ratings.html
1954-55 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1954-55-soap-ratings.html
1955-56 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1955-56-soap-ratings.html
1956-57 COMING SOON
1957-58 COMING SOON
1958-66 -- NBC and ABC Enter the Game
1958-59 COMING SOON
1959-60 COMING SOON
1960-61 COMING SOON
1961-62 COMING SOON
1962-63 COMING SOON
1963-64 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1963-64-soap-ratings.html
1964-65 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1964-65-soap-ratings.html
1965-66 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1965-66-soap-ratings.html
1966-73 -- Scheduling Blocks Shape Soap Geometry
1966-67 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2018/02/1966-67-soap-ratings.html
1967-68 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2018/02/1967-68-soap-ratings.html
1968-69 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2018/02/1968-69-soap-ratings.html
1969-70 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2018/02/1969-70-soap-ratings.html
1970-71 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2018/02/1970-71-soap-ratings.html
1971-72 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1971-72-soap-ratings.html
1972-73 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1972-73-soap-ratings.html
1973-78 -- A Play For Social Relevance and Expansions
1973-74 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1973-74-soap-ratings.html
1974-75 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1974-75-ratings.html
1975-76 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1975-76-soap-ratings.html
1976-77 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1976-77-soap-ratings.html
1977-78 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1977-78-soap-history.html
1978-84 -- ABC's Love in the Afternoon
1978-79 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1978-79-soap-history.html
1979-80 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1979-80-soap-ratings.html
1980-81 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1980-81-soap-ratings.html
1981-82 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/12/1981-82-soap-ratings.html
1982-83 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1982-83-soap-ratings.html
1983-84 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1983-84-soap-history.html
1984-89 -- Late 80's Declines
1984-85 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1984-85-soap-ratings.html
1985-86 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1985-86-soap-ratings.html
1986-87 http://www.tvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1986-87-soap-ratings.html
1987-88 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1987-88-soap-ratings.html
1988-89 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1988-89-soap-ratings.html
1989-85 -- The 90's Golden Period
1989-90 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1989-90-soap-ratings.html
1990-91 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1990-91-soap-ratings.html
1991-92 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1991-92-soap-ratings.html
1992-93 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1992-93-soap-ratings.html
1993-94 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1993-94-soap-ratings.html
1994-95 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1994-95-soap-ratings.html
1995-2006 -- OJ Kills the Soaps
1995-96 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1995-96-soap-ratings.html
1996-97 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1996-97-soap-ratings.html
1997-98 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1997-98-soap-ratings.html
1998-99 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1998-99-soap-ratings.html
1999-00 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/1999-2000-soap-ratings.html
2000-01 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2000-01-soap-history.html
2001-02 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2001-02-soap-ratings.html
2002-03 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2002-03-soap-ratings-history.html
2003-04 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2018/02/2003-04-soap-ratings-history-port.html
2004-05 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2004-05-soap-ratings-history.html
2005-06 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2005-06-soap-ratings.html
2006-12 -- One By One, The Soaps Die
2006-07 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2006-07-soap-ratings-one-more-soap-ends.html
2007-08 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2007-08-soap-ratings-wga-strike-and.html
2008-09 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2008-09-soap-ratings-power-outage.html
2009-10 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2009-10-mercury-in-retrograde-leaves-as.html
2010-11 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2010-11-soap-ratings-end-of-era-all-all.html
2011-12 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2011-12-soap-ratings-one-life-to-live.html
2012-Present -- And Then There Were Four
2012-13 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2012-13-new-york-purge-cools-most.html
2013-14 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/08/2013-14-soap-ratings-gh-ticks-up-y.html
2014-15 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2014-15-soap-ratings.html
2015-16 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2015-16-soap-ratings.html
2016-17 http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1971/12/2016-17-soap-ratings.html
2017-18 COMING SOON