Monday TV Ratings 3/27/23: iHeartRadio Awards Slide, The Bachelor Finale Stable, The Voice Drosp, Young and the Restless 50th Anniversary Weak (UPDATED)

Finals Update: All shows held their preliminary rounded rating.

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

..

TVRG Ratings Library -- Daytime Soaps

Written Profiling an Unkillable Genre's Ratings by Bridger Cunningham


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

2007-08 Soap Ratings -- WGA Strike and Other Forces Sink Soap Ratings

Written Washing the Suds Wash Down the Drain by Bridger Cunningham

The 2007-08 WGA Strike devastated television ratings across the board, including daytime.  As the World Turns endured the greatest retention, only losing one tenth and pushing into 4th place.  The losses hit other shows hard.  Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital and Days of Our Lives all lost two-tenths, while Young and the Restless, All My Children, One Life to Live and Guiding Light shed an astonishing three-tenths.  Cancellation threats continued to loom, particularly against DAYS as it was the lone soap on a troubled NBC.  Sadly, this season catalyzed the end of half of the lineup as all New York-produced sudsers met their end by early 2012.

Aside from Passions exiting the schedule, no changes occurred to the lineup.

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

2008-09 Soap Ratings -- A Power Outage Snuffs Guiding Light's 57-Year Soap Record With Cancellation

Written Awing a Broadcast Record by Bridger Cunningham

Before CBS swung the fatal ax on ailing Guiding Light, it was a record setter.  Not only for being the then-longest broadcast TV show on the air at 57 years (Today show took the next honor and passed this record in 2012).  But it also was a soap from the radio heyday, having launched in January 1937.  That ended a nearly-73-year old scripted production.  So how did GL fall?  A ratings hit well into the 90's, it hit a sharp decline during the Seinfeld era.  Save for a brief late-90's renaissance, it frequently placed in the bottom of the Nielsens pack.  Cruise through Wikipedia's article on the series, readers will notice frequent changes in writers and producers.  Perhaps TVRG's commenting muse Smoo will shine some light on the workings of what went wrong.  Then, starting in early 2008, the New York based production moved to New Jersey to slash the budget by one-third.  The quality changed as the soap adopted the Blair Witch-esque steadicam, leaving older viewers dizzy.  Countless changes and poor writing sank the show, which was replaced by gameshow Let's Make a Deal.

Days of Our Lives nosed up in the ratings as all CBS shows experienced significant declines.  ABC soaps held steady, and GL's sister show, As the World Turns, experienced a sharp drop and was speculated as the next rumored casualty.

Having dueled for Nielsens since 1978 for the 3pm timeslot, GH emerged victorious and left the 3pm timeslot bare and vacant.

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