1969-70 Soap Ratings

Written By Bridger Cunningham


No soaps were cancelled this year, which is why there is only one schedule present.  Starting the season, CBS moved Love of Life from 12/Noon ahead 30 minutes to accommodate new soap Where the Heart Is.  Three weeks later on September 29, NBC expanded its 90-minute soap block with Bright Promise behind its leading soap, Another World.  Flash forward to January 5, 1970, and ABC ramped up its soap block by launching AMC in its outlying 1:00 timeslot, free of competition.  Its success led to two more additions joining the schedule March 30 as The Best of Everything and A World Apart joined the lineup from 12:00-1:00.  Stiff competition from CBS led to soft performances, and The Best of Everything ended in September 1970.  Also on March 30, NBC expanded its soap block with the first-ever soap spinoff, Somerset.  The series settled at 4:00 against ABC's declining Dark Shadows and was the first of several AW spinoffs.


Behold the season of soap zenith, as a record-setting 19 entries covered 5 hours of daytime.  Sturdy Love of Life was pushed back to 11:30AM, resulting in a 1.3 rating point drop and tumbling from 5th to 11th in the ratings.  In its place at 12 Noon, Where the Heart is became the highest-rated of the freshman class in 13th Place.  ABC feebly attempted a new soap franchise with The Best of Everything, then setting record-low ratings.  At 12:30, Search for Tomorrow took a seven-tenth hit and shifted from 2nd to 3rd.  ABC also attempted direct competition with underwhelming.  A World Apart.  All My Children found mild success at 1:00, proving to be the longest survivor among this season's freshman class as it survived to 2011.  As the World Turns continued to reign in 1st place, competition free at 1:30.

2:00 again saw NBC's DAYS drop a half point as CBS sophomore LIAMSP made the same gain and led the timeslot.  At 2:30, CBS' GL regained most of its lost viewers from the season before, while NBC's Doctors lost seven-tenths.  At 3:00, CBS' Secret Storm rebounded with an eight-tenth bounce, stealing the lead from AW as it lost nearly a point.  ABC's OLTL also gained a point in its sophomore season in that same timeslot, while follow-up GH lost mild ground at 3:30.  CBS' EDGE retained its lead and pushed into 2nd due to CBS' uptick, and NBC's Bright Promise trailed.  At 4:00, ABC's declining Dark Shadows lost over a tenth, opening the door for NBC newbie/spinoff Somerset to give it a run for its money.

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

..

Share this

Related Posts

Previous
Next Post »