via Press Release

Bob D'Amico/ABC

MISSING DEBUTS WITH ABC’S BIGGEST AUDIENCE IN 14 MONTHS DURING THURSDAY’S 8PM HOUR

Quick Take for Thursday, March 15, 2012
(Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Finishing a Strong No. 2, ABC Posts its Most-Watched Thursday in 11 Weeks

“Missing” Debuts with ABC’s Biggest Audience in the Time Period in 14 Months and As TV’s Most-Watched Drama Debut in the Opening Hour of Prime in 1-1/2 Years

“Grey’s” Dominates the 9 O’clock Hour with its Biggest Audience in 5 Weeks

Up Over its Most-Recent Original in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC’s “Private Practice” Wins the 10pm Hour with its 2nd-Biggest Audience in Over 2 Months

Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
With the series debut of “Missing,” plus “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice,” ABC earned second place on Thursday night to an “Idol”-led Fox in Total Viewers (9.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7).

* ABC marked its most-watched Thursday in 11 weeks and equaled its top Adult 18-49 number on the night since early February – since 1/5/12 and 2/9/12.

“Missing” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-9:00 p.m., opposite Fox’s “American Idol,” ABC’s “Missing” opened a strong No. 2, more than doubling the audience (+136% – 10.6 million vs. 4.5 million) of NBC’s original comedy block (“Community” return/”30 Rock” slot premiere). The ABC drama premiere also took second place in the hour in Adults 25-54 and key Women (W18-49/W25-54). The show gained audience from its first half-hour to its second half-hour (10.4 million to 10.7 million).

* Despite airing on the first Thursday after the change to Daylight Savings time, as overall TV usage levels declined, “Missing” delivered ABC’s biggest audience in the time period in 14 months – since 1/13/11. In fact it was TV’s most-watched drama debut during the opening hour of primetime on any night in 1-1/2 years – since 9/28/10.

* “Missing” represented a big improvement for ABC in the hour, boosting its time period by 4.7 million viewers (10.6 million vs. 5.9 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.6/4) over the Net’s season average with regular original programming.

“Grey’s Anatomy” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” moved up to a dominant No. 1 in the 9 o’clock hour, leading its nearest competition (Fox) by 1.0 million viewers (9.7 million vs. 8.7 million) and by 36% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.2/6).

* Up by 7% in viewers over its last original telecast, “Grey’s” generated its biggest audience in 5 weeks – since 2/9/12.

“Private Practice” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Private Practice” finished as the most-watched TV show in the 10 o’clock hour, defeating NBC’s “Awake” by 37% in Total Viewers (7.0 million vs. 5.1 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 1.6/4).

* Gaining 11% in Total Viewers and 5% in Adults 18-49 over its last original three weeks ago, “Private Practice” drew its 2nd-largest audience in more than 2 months – since 1/5/12.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 43% currently, from 40% at the same point in 2011. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next-day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 03/15/12.

Disney/ABC Television Group

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Call it the case of a pissed off audience or call it a fluke, but whatever it is the mystery of where “General Hospital‘s” audience went by its Friday, March 2, 2012 episode is up in the air.

During the week of February 27-March 2, 2012, when ratings reports started piling in, it was revealed that “General Hospital” recorded some of its highest ratings in as many months (highest total audience since week of January 9, 2012; largest Women 18-49 and biggest Women 25-54 total since week of October 24, 2011), but had the series not nosedived to just over 2 million viewers for its Friday March 2, 2012 episode (just 2,001,000 viewers tuned in per Nielsen Media Research data) when we posted the dailies and averaged above 2.5 million viewers, as it had been trending to do on that date, the reports would have gone on to say “General Hospital” had its largest audience since the week of September 26-30, 2011 (when it averaged 2,597,000 viewers for the week). So what happened? Why such a big drop in total viewership and key demos from the four days prior (2,404,000 on Monday, 2/27; 2,509,000 on Tuesday 2/28; 2,575,000 on Wednesday 2/29; and 2,526,000 on Thursday 3/1)?

According to comments we’ve seen from our SON Community Members and responses in the weekly ratings report, it is likely that “General Hospital” received what is described as the “repeat of death” (ie. a repeat airing pulls down the weekly average for a program). Allegedly, the description for the Friday, March 2, 2012 episode of “GH” was the same as the description for the Thursday, March 1, 2012 episode for the soap, which according to DVR setup standards would result in your DVR (Digital Video Recorder) to misinterpret that Friday’s episode as a repeat and not a new episode, unless of course you scheduled all episodes (repeat and new) to record.

Of course, the other side of the coin could be that viewers were in fact turned off from what they had seen that Friday compared to the four days previously and just decided not to tune in. It isn’t an unlikely scenario as for the same week of September 26-30, 2011 data we cited above, “GH” went from nearly 2.8 million viewers on the Monday to just under 2.4 million by the time Friday came around. From Tuesday to Thursday the show consistently hovered over 2.5 million viewers (as it did during the week of February 27 – March 2, 2012).

We’ll soon find out what direction, if any, that particular episode indicated for the future of “General Hospital” when the latest ratings for the week of March 5-9, 2012 are released sometime today. In the meantime, here is a look at how the talk shows and game shows compare to the soaps based on data for the week February 27-March 2, 2012:

By Network

Network / Households / Total Viewers / Women 18-49 Viewers / Women 25-54 Viewers
1. CBS / 2.6 / 3,499,000 / 624,000 / 819,000
2. NBC / 2.1 / 2,7533,000 / 606,000 / 751,000
3. ABC / 2.0 / 2,536,000 / 541,000 / 729,000

By Show

Total Viewers
1. The Price is Right 2 (CBS) 5,163,000
2. The Young and the Restless (CBS) 4,353,000
3. The Price is Right 1 (CBS) 4,270,000
4. The View (ABC) 3,628,000
5. The Today Show 2 (NBC) 3,473,000
6. The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS) 3,099,000
7. Let’s Make a Deal 2 (CBS) 3,023,000
8. Let’s Make a Deal 1 (CBS) 2,570,000
9. Days of our Lives (NBC) 2,548,000
10. The Chew (ABC) 2,489,000
11. General Hospital (ABC) 2,403,000
12. The Talk (CBS) 2,329,000
13. The Today Show 3 (NBC) 2,289,000
14. The Revolution (ABC) 1,620,00

Note: NBC has begun counting “The Today Show 2″ and “The Today Show 3″ in the weekly ratings averages, thereby increasing its standings in the weekly averages (the network ranks second to CBS in total viewers).

Legion College

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) –  Two more long time “General Hospital” writers leave.

First it was script writer Michele Val Jean who left after 18 years, then script writer Mary Sue Price after 11 years, now it’s breakdown writer Michael Conforti and script writer Susan Wald who are leaving.  Wald has been with “GH” for 10 years and Conforti for 10.5 years.

“Days of our Lives” makes an addition to the writing staff by adding breakdown writer Lisa Connor.

For discussion on these topics and more, join us in the Writers/Directors thread at the SON Community.

NBC Universal

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Ratings Report for the Week of February 27 – March 2, 2012

NOTE: Please do not copy and paste the entire ratings.  Thank you.

Numbers are based on Live+Same Day ratings

(Compared to Last Week/Compared to Last Year)

Total Viewers
1. Y&R 4,353,000 (-231,000/-111,000)
2. B&B 3,099,000 (+15,000/+269,000)
3. DAYS 2,548,000 (+59,000/-98,000)
4. GH 2,403,000 (+49,000/-385,000)

Households
1. Y&R 3.2/11 (-.2/-.1)
2. B&B 2.3/8 (same/+.2)
3. DAYS 1.9/6 (+.1/same)
4. GH 1.8/5 (same/-.3)

Women 18-49 Viewers
1. Y&R 870,000 (-86,000/-42,000)
2. B&B 685,000 (-12,000/+113,000)
3. GH 657,000 (+59,000/-154,000)
4. DAYS 572,000 (+51,000/-122,000)

Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.4 (-.1/same)
2. B&B 1.1 (same/+.2)
3. GH 1.0 (+.1/-.2)
4. DAYS 0.9 (+.1/-.2)

Women 18-34 Rating
1. B&B 0.6 (+.2/+.1)
1. Y&R 0.6 (same/-.2)
3. DAYS 0.5 (+.1/-.1)
3. GH 0.5 (same/-.3)

Men 18+ Viewers
1. Y&R 954,000 (-34,000/-75,000)
2. B&B 642,000 (+54,000/+61,000)
3. DAYS 598,000 (+58,000/-41,000)
4. GH 436,000 (-17,000/-68,000)

Day-To-Day Ratings – HH/Total Viewers

B&B
Monday: 2.4/3,199,000
Tuesday: 2.2/2,974,000
Wednesday: 2.3/3,079,000
Thursday: 2.3/3,285,000
Friday: 2.3/2,956,000

DAYS
Monday: 1,8/2,334,000
Tuesday: 1.9/2,614,000
Wednesday: 2.0/2,768,000
Thursday: 1.9/2,589,000
Friday: 1.8/2,437,000

GH
Monday: 1.9/2,404,000
Tuesday: 1.9/2,509,000
Wednesday: 2.0/2,575,000
Thursday: 1.9/2,526,000
Friday: 1.6/2,001,000

Y&R
Monday: 3.3/4,479,000
Tuesday: 3.1/4,208,000
Wednesday: 3.3/4,414,000
Thursday: 3.2/4,491,000
Friday: 3.2/4,172,000

For the SEASON September 19, 2011 through March 4, 2012

Households
1. Y&R 3.6
2. B&B 2.5
3. DAYS 2.0
4. GH 1.9

Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.6
2. DAYS 1.1
2. GH 1.1
4. B&B 1.0

Ratings Archive

Disney/ABC Television Group

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — On June 6, 2011, ABC finally announced (after months of rumors) that it had signed a deal with former “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric to host a new daily syndicated talk show, and that said show would replace veteran soap opera “General Hospital” in the 3:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT/CT timeslot. Initially the decision brought fear to soap opera fans, who only two months prior learned that ABC Daytime’s two other veteran soaps (“All My Children” and “One Life to Live“) would be replaced by two new food and lifestyle centered talk shows (“The Chew” and “The Revolution“). Now nearly a year since the announcement it looks like Katie Couric may just be the lifesaver “General Hospital” desperately needs.

According to TV Guide‘s Michael Logan, sources have informed him that the talk show host and her executive producer (former NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker) have expressed their concern to the Disney/ABC Television Group brass, producers of her new talk show, in regards to the poor ratings performance that has been “The Revolution” – Since the talk shows debut in January the program hovers at just over 1.5 million viewers on average. By comparison, “One Life to Live,” which “Revolution” replaced, averaged more than 2.3 million viewers on average and performed better in key sales demos during the same period of time on the year-ago. “Couric and Zucker want to see ’GH’ get that slot because it’s a stronger show, Nielsen-wise, plus Couric does not want to face the wrath of ‘GH’ fans and risk the chance they’ll organize a boycott. Who the hell needs that? So she and Zucker want ‘The Revolution’ to go bye-bye,” the website stated.

With “General Hospital’s” recent uptick in key demos and total viewers since the new dynamic duo of Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati (executive producer and head writer) debuted just a few short weeks ago, for the first time in over a year the soap finally has a fighting chance, but will ABC listen? “They may not have a choice,” said Logan. “In fact, they might even agree at this point. Our spies at Times Square Studios — the new tag for ABC Daytime — tell us the commitment to nonscripted shows remains firm in the ABC daypart but no one is doing handstands over the ones currently in development, which include a doctor show and a game show. While ABC technically has time (though not much) to replace ‘The Revolution’ with more reality, that option is looking way too chancy.”

Should ABC end up keeping “GH” on the air and canceling “The Revolution,” the soap will move to the 2:00 PM ET/1:00 PM CT/PT timeslot beginning in September. According to sources, a decision on the eventual outcome on either series will not be made until at least mid-April.

What Do You Think? Sound Off! below.

Thomas A. Montalto/MontaltoPhotos.com

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) – Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati, who took over the reigns as ABC’s new executive producer and head writer for “General Hospital,” are now on the world wide web courtesy of Twitter, the social networking media giant.

A “General Hospital” spokesperson has confirmed to Soap Opera Network that Valentini joined Twitter  on Wednesday, March 7 and his handle is @valentinifrank. Valentini is fastly approaching 3,000 followers in that short period of time. Carlivati, whose handle is @carlivatiron, actually joined Twitter back in March of 2011, but wasn’t very active until around December 14, 2011. Since then he’s made nearly 300 tweets (discussions with actors, fans, etc) and retains over 7,000 followers.

Donna Svennevik/ABC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — “General Hospital” is the only soap opera left on the ABC Daytime schedule and is also the longest running dramatic series in the networks history. Unfortunately, the soap is facing the same cancellation danger that its former network counterparts (“All My Children” and “One Life to Live“) faced just over a year ago before ABC officially announced the two would go off the air in a press release. Before any decision on the future of “GH” is ultimately made, the drama series is showing an uptick in key demos and viewership.

For the week of February 27 – March 2, 2012, “General Hospital” averaged 2.4 million viewers (highest since week of January 9, 2012), 657,000 Women 18-49 viewers (18-week high) and 871,000 Women 25-54 viewers (three-month high) per ratings details released today by Marc Berman of TV Media Insights. Compared to its performance during the week of February 20-24, 2012, “GH” increased its Women 18-49 performance by 59,000 viewers and retained a similar overall viewership total. By comparison, “The Revolution,” which hit its second most-watched week since its debut (week of January 16, 2012), averaged just 1.62 million viewers.

“The Revolution” is down 23 percent in total viewers, 27 percent in Women 25-54 rating, 38 percent in Women 18-49 rating and 40 percent in Women 18-34 rating compared to “One Life to Live’s” performance on the year-ago (week of February 28, 2011).

For more ratings information on “The Revolution,” “The Chew,” “The Talk” and “The View,” check out TV Media Insights.

ABC Press Release:

“The Chew” posted a 7-week high in Total Viewers (2.489 million – since week of 1/9/12), climbing by an impressive 11% over “All My Children’s” year-ago delivery (vs. 2.249 million), by 10% in Women 25-54 (1.1 rating vs. 1.0 rating) and tying in Women 18-34 (0.4 rating) and Women 18-49 (0.7 rating).

“General Hospital” recorded 18-week highs in Women 18-49 (657,000) and Women 25-54 (871,000), since the week of 10/24/11, a 13-week high in Women 18-34 (172,000 – since the week of 11/28/11) and a 7-week high in Total Viewers (2.403 million – since the week of 1/9/12).

“The Revolution” delivered its most-watched week in Women 25-54 (485,000 – tied debut week) and 2nd-most-watched week to date in Total Viewers (1.624 million) and Women 18-49 (351,000), behind only its premiere week, posting an impressive 4th consecutive week of gains in Total Viewers.

Moreover, Friday’s show was the series’ #2 telecast ever in Women 25-54 (531,000), while Wednesday’s show was its #4 telecast to date in Total Viewers (1.761 million).

NBC Universal

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — On Tuesday, March 6, a presidential press conference took place and was carried live by NBC and other broadcasters. The press conference resulted in the preemption of “Days of our Lives,” which pushes all episodes of the drama series back by one day.

As “DAYS” currently films approximately three months in advance of airdate, the soap opera will not become current with its planned episodes for some time.

ABC

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Ratings Report for the Week of February 20-24, 2012

NOTE: Please do not copy and paste the entire ratings.  Thank you.

Numbers are based on Live+Same Day ratings

(Compared to Last Week/Compared to Last Year)

Total Viewers
1. Y&R 4,584,000 (-160,000/-42,000)
2. B&B 3,084,000 (-201,000/+157,000)
3. DAYS 2,489,000 (+21,000/-267,000)
4. GH 2,354,000 (+192,000/-571,000)

Households
1. Y&R 3.4/11 (-.1/+.1)
2. B&B 2.3/7 (-.1/+.2)
3. DAYS 1.8/6 (same/-.2)
3. GH 1.8/5 (+.2/-.4)

Women 18-49 Viewers
1. Y&R 956,000 (-16,000/+92,000)
2. B&B 697,000 (-43,000/+178,000)
3. GH 598,000 (+71,000/-276,000)
4. DAYS 521,000 (-5,000/-218,000)

Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.5 (same/+.2)
2. B&B 1.1 (-.1/+.3)
3. GH 0.9 (+.1/-.4)
4. DAYS 0.8 (same/-.3) <—— ties low (5th straight week)

Women 18-34 Rating
1. Y&R 0.6 (-.1/same)
2. GH 0.5 (+.1/-.3)
3. DAYS 0.4 (same/-.2) <—— ties low (4th straight week)
3. B&B 0.4 (-.1/same)

Men 18+ Viewers
1. Y&R 988,000 (-76,000/-26,000)
2. B&B 588,000 (-77,000/-25,000)
3. DAYS 540,000 (-14,000/-105,000)
4. GH 453,000 (+28,000/-43,000)

Day-To-Day Ratings – HH/Total Viewers

B&B
Monday: 2.4/3,219,000
Tuesday: 2.3/3,015,000
Wednesday: 2.4/3,274,000
Thursday: 2.2/2,800,000
Friday: 2.3/3,109,000

DAYS
Monday: 1.8/2,570,000
Tuesday: 1.8/2,370,000
Wednesday: 1.8/2,428,000
Thursday: 1.8/2,582,000
Friday: 1.8/2,497,000

GH
Monday: 1.6/2,188,000
Tuesday: 1.8/2,466,000
Wednesday: 1.7/2,294,000
Thursday: 1.8/2,308,000
Friday: 1.9/2,516,000

Y&R
Monday: 3.5/4,882,000
Tuesday: 3.4/4,523,000
Wednesday: 3.4/4,674,000
Thursday: 3.3/4,440,000
Friday: 3.3/4,400,000

For the SEASON September 19, 2011 through February 26, 2012

Households
1. Y&R 3.6
2. B&B 2.5
3. DAYS 2.0
4. GH 1.9

Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.6
2. DAYS 1.1
2. GH 1.1
4. B&B 1.0

Ratings Archive

Disney/ABC Television Group

(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — Ratings Report for the Week of February 13-17, 2012

NOTE: Please do not copy and paste the entire ratings.  Thank you.

Numbers are based on Live+Same Day ratings

(Compared to Last Week/Compared to Last Year)

Total Viewers
1. Y&R 4,744,000 (-11,000/+100,000)
2. B&B 3,285,000 (-65,000/+494,000)
3. DAYS 2,468,000 (+7,000/-89,000)
4. GH 2,162,000 (-31,000/-346,000) <—– new low (2nd straight week) *

* Previous low: 2,193,000 (February 6-10, 2012)

Households
1. Y&R 3.5/11 (same/+.2)
2. B&B 2.4/8 (-.1/+.4)
3. DAYS 1.8/6 (same/same)
4. GH 1.6/5 (same/-.2) <—— ties low (3rd straight week)

Women 18-49 Viewers
1. Y&R 972,000 (+18,000/+86,000)
2. B&B 740,000 (+18,000/+210,000)
3. GH 527,000 (-72,000/-193,000) <—– new low *
4. DAYS 526,000 (+21,000/-92,000)

* Previous low: 530,000 (January 16-20, 2012)

Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.5 (same/+.2)
2. B&B 1.2 (+.1/+.4)
3. GH 0.8 (-.1/-.3) <—— ties low
3. DAYS 0.8 (same/-.1) <—— ties low (4th straight week)

Women 18-34 Rating
1. Y&R 0.7 (+.1/same)
2. B&B 0.5 (same/+.1)
2. DAYS 0.4 (same/-.1) <—— ties low (3rd straight week)
4. GH 0.4 (same/-.3) <—— ties low (2nd straight week)

Men 18+ Viewers
1. Y&R 1,064,000 (-6,000/+16,000)
2. B&B 665,000 (-42,000/+56,000)
3. DAYS 554,000 (+2,000/-67,000)
4. GH 425,000 (+32,000/-44,000)

Day-To-Day Ratings – HH/Total Viewers

B&B
Monday: 2.5/3,302,000
Tuesday: 2.5/3,440,000
Wednesday: 2.5/3,386,000
Thursday: 2.5/3,232,000
Friday: 2.2/3,064,000

DAYS
Monday: 2.0/2,634,000
Tuesday: 1.7/2,349,000
Wednesday: 1.8/2,501,000
Thursday: 1.8/2,496,000
Friday: 1.7/2,361,000

GH
Monday: 1.7/2,404,000
Tuesday: 1.6/2,115,000
Wednesday: 1.5/2,013,000
Thursday: 1.7/2,165,000
Friday: 1.6/2,114,000

Y&R
Monday: 3.6/4,822,000
Tuesday: 3.5/4,881,000
Wednesday: 3.6/4,803,000
Thursday: 3.5/4,778,000
Friday: 3.2/4,438,000

For the SEASON September 19, 2011 through February 19, 2012

Households
1. Y&R 3.6
2. B&B 2.5
3. DAYS 2.0
4. GH 1.9

Women 18-49 Rating
1. Y&R 1.6
2. DAYS 1.1
2. GH 1.1
4. B&B 1.0

Ratings Archive