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Ratings

Daytime’s 40 Most Popular Shows

HOME / Ratings / Daytime’s 40 Most Popular Shows

Ratings

Daytime’s 40 Most Popular Shows

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THE NUMBERS

Monday, December 15, 2008 12:11 AM ET | By Errol Lewis


 (SoapOperaNetwork.com) — The economy is a bust and we’re in a recession. Advertisers are pulling ad dollars from network television and have instead decided to spend less and fire thousands. With daytime’s audience trending down for more than a decade, 2008 will forever be remembered as the year the daypart finally received its reality check.

So, instead of bringing you a what’s up and what’s down ratings report, we at Soap Opera Network have decided to launch a new feature where we pit soap against soap in the Nielsen Ratings. No, not who is doing better on a week to week basis, but who is the best-of-the-best, only day-by-day.

Without further adieu…

What remains the strory of the year is how low CBS’ “Guiding Light” can fall as it fights to survive and retain its title as broadcasting’s longest running program. With numbers so low (a 1.4 HH rating on Thursday), it would make “Port Charles” look like a ratings winner. Sadly, “Port Charles” was cancelled in 2003 with higher ratings than this despite airing in the wee-hours of the night. While NBC’s “Days of our Lives” loses 40% of its budget in the upcoming year and a loss of its two stars (Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn), three out of its five weekly episodes (Friday, Tuesday, and Monday) outranked every episode of ABC’s “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” The highest episode was its Friday broadcast with 2.9 million viewers. For the week, “DAYS” averaged 2.7 million viewers. “DAYS” is also the only soap to increase viewers year-over-year, gaining 120,000 viewers from the same point last year. “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” remain daytime’s most watched programs as they hold the 1-5 and 6-10 positions. “Restless,” however has lost the most audience year-over-year with a decline of 630,000 viewers. It’s Women 18-49 ranking, however, remains on par with its year-ago and up a point week-to-week.

After losing the most viewers collectively year-over-year in the early months of ’08, ABC has handed the title off to CBS (207,000 viewers vs 2.1 million  viewers). While the minor loss might not be so bad to one just seeing the numbers, it should  be noted that the network had already lost millions of viewers by mid-2007. More severe losses would have cost a show its cast and crew.


 Daytime Ratings:
Week of December 1, 2008
(in order of Households)

 Rank  Network Show
Households
(Rating/Share;
change vs last week/last year)
 Total Viewers
(in millions;
change vs last
week/last year)
Women 18-49
(Rating/Share;
change vs last week/last year)
 1  CBS Y&R  3.6/13
(same/-.4)
 5,016,000 (-93,000/-630,000)  1.7/11
(+.1/-.1)
 2  CBS B&B  2.7/9
(+.1/-.2)
 3,597,000
(-225,000/-451,000)
 1.3/8
(+.1/-.2)
 3  ABC GH  2.2/7
(same/-.1)
2,853,000
(-100,000/-115,000)
1.4/8
(+.1/same)
 4  CBS ATWT  2.0/7
(+.1/-.3)
 2,694,000 (-121,000/-434,000)  1.1/7
(+.1/-.1)
 5  NBC DAYS 2.0/7
(same/-.1)
 2,736,000 (+5,000/+120,000)  (+.1/same)
 6  ABC OLTL  2.0/7
(-.1/-.1)
2,618,000
(-142,000/-43,000)
 1.2/7
(same/-.1)
 7  ABC AMC  1.9/7
(-.1/-.1)
2,541,000 (-217,000/-49,000)  1.2/7
(same/+.1)
 8  CBS  GL  1.5/5
(same/-.4)
 2,011,000 (-181,000/-569,000)  0.9/5
(+.1/-.2)

Source: NTI Live+SD


 Soap Opera Episode Rankings:
Week of December 1, 2008
(in order of Total Viewers)

 Rank Network
 Show

 Households

 Total Viewers
(in millions/rounded)
 Airdate
 1  CBS  The Young and the Restless
 3.8  5,227 (5.2)  Tuesday
 2  CBS  The Young and the Restless  3.6  5,080 (5.1)  Thursday
3  CBS  The Young and the Restless  3.7 5,010 (5.0)  Friday
 4  CBS  The Young and the Restless  3.5  4,889 (4.9)  Monday
 5  CBS  The Young and the Restless 3.5  4,874 (4.9)  Wednesday
 6  CBS  The Bold and the Beautiful
2.8
3,704 (3.7) Friday
 7  CBS  The Bold and the Beautiful  2.6  3,602 (3.6) Thursday
 8  CBS  The Bold and the Beautiful  2.6  3,593 (3.6)  Monday
 9  CBS  The Bold and the Beautiful  2.6  3,563 (3.6) Tuesday
 10  CBS  The Bold and the Beautiful  2.6 3.523 (3.5) Wednesday
11  ABC  General Hospital
 2.3 3,124 (3.1)
Tuesday
 12  ABC  General Hospital  2.3  3,035 (3.0) Monday
 13  NBC  Days of our Lives
2.1
2,880 (2.9)
Friday
 14  NBC  Days of our Lives 2.1  2,806 (2.8) Tuesday
 15 CBS
 As The World Turns  2.1 2,787 (2.8)
Wednesday
 16 ABC General Hospital 2.2 2,768 (2.8)   Friday
 17  CBS  As The World Turns 2.0 2,756 (2.8)  Monday
 17  ABC  General Hospital  2.2  2,756 (2.8)  Wednesday
 19  NBC  Days of our Lives 2.0 2,730 (2.7) Monday
20
 ABC  One Life to Live
 2.0 2,719 (2.7)
 Tuesday
 21  ABC  All My Children
 2.1  2,714 (2.7)  Monday
 22  CBS  As The World Turns 2.0 2,711 (2.7) Tuesday
 23  ABC  All My Children  2.0  2,696 (2.7) Tuesday
 24  ABC  One Life to Live 2.0  2,687 (2.7) Friday
 25  CBS  As The World Turns  2.0 2,684 (2.7)  Thursday
 26  NBC  Days of our Lives  1.9  2,633 (2.6) Thursday
 27  NBC  Days of our Lives  1.9  2,630 (2.6) Wednesday
 28  ABC  One Life to Live  2.0 2,620 (2.6) Wednesday
 29  ABC  One Life to Live  2.0 2,602 (2.6)  Monday
 30  ABC  General Hospital  2.0 2,584 (2.6)  Thursday
 31  CBS  As The World Turns 2.0  2,533 (2.5) Thursday
 32  ABC  All My Children  1.9 2,494 (2.5) Wednesday
 33  ABC  One Life to Live  1.9 2,463 (2.5) Thursday
 34  ABC  All My Children  1.8 2,409 (2.4) Friday
 35  ABC  All My Children 1.9 2,393 (2.4) Thursday
 36  CBS  Guiding Light 1.5
2,147(2.1) Monday
 37  CBS  Guiding Light 1.5 2,091 (2.1)  Tuesday
 38  CBS  Guiding Light  1.5 2,024 (2.0)  Friday
 39  CBS  Guiding Light  1.4 1,997 (2.0) Wednesday
40  CBS  Guiding Light  1.4  1,839 (1.8)  Thursday
           
   Legend:  Most Watched Episode
   Least Watched Episode

Source: NTI Live+SD

For more ratings data:  Ratings for the week December 1-5, 2008


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