THE NUMBERS
For the fourth consecutive week, NBC’s “Days of our Lives” has averaged more than 1.7 million viewers. While on the surface that number isn’t significant you have to consider that the show had been averaging just over 1.6 million viewers (1.604 million in actuals) during the four weeks prior to the show’s two-week Olympics hiatus (weeks of July 26-30, 2021 and August 2-6, 2021). In fact, going back slightly further, the soap recorded a series low in Total Viewers during the week of June 21-25, 2021 with just 1.489 million viewers tuning in. Hitting a near seven-month high in viewers (since the week of February 15-19, 2021), “DAYS” averaged 1.777 million viewers during the week of August 30-September 3, 2021. Overall, in the four weeks since returning to the broadcast schedule, “DAYS” is averaging 1.739 million viewers. Compared to the same week last year, “DAYS” was down -9,000 viewers. Week to week the soap is up +55,000 viewers.
Another soap that is doing well courtesy of word of mouth is “The Young and the Restless.” The soap again attracted its largest audience since the week of February 8-12, 2021, which itself was a fluke week considering only one episode aired due to CBS’ coverage of The Second Impeachment of President Donald J. Trump from that Tuesday through Friday. Excluding impeachment week, with 3.617 million viewers tuned in, “Y&R” attracted its largest audience since the week of April 20-24, 2020 which was the final week of originals pre-pandemic. In households, “Y&R” was the second-highest-rated daytime broadcast series behind only a repeat of the second half-hour of “The Price is Right.” In Total Viewers, however, the soap was in third place behind repeats of both half hours of “The Price is Right.” “Y&R” was the highest-rated daytime broadcast series in Women 25-54 with a 0.70 rating. The series was up year to year in Total Viewers (+601,000) and was merely down -4,000 viewers compared to its performance in 2019.
“The Bold and the Beautiful” has now made it to five consecutive weeks in which it has averaged more than three million viewers. For the week, the soap averaged 3.027 million viewers, down -20,000 viewers week to week while it was up +318,000 viewers year to year.
While on the surface “General Hospital” appears to be doing just fine in both Women 25-54 (0.55 rating) and Total Viewers (2.120 million), the soap continues to be a concern when you consider its year ago performance. During the same week last year, “GH” was the highest-rated soap in both Women 25-54 and Women 18-49, with a 0.66 and a 0.43 rating, respectively. However, the soap has fallen to third place among the four soaps in both demographics with significant losses year to year. “GH” is down -0.11 year to year in Women 25-54 rating and down -0.11 in Women 18-49 rating. The soap was up +44,000 viewers year to year in Total Viewers and an even greater +95,000 viewers compared to its performance in 2019 (2.025 million) but advertising sales are based on the key demos, not viewers. With the show’s 2020 performance in the demographics being virtually on par with its 2019 figures (0.67 in W25-54 and 0.45 in W18-49, respectively), the show’s decline this year is a real cause for concern.
What follows is a breakdown of how the daytime shows performed for the week of August 30-September 3, 2021, sorted by Women 25-54 rating. A closer look at the daytime soaps, including their daily performance in the demos, will be posted soon.
Note: “The Price is Right,” “Let’s Make a Deal,” “The View” and “The Talk” were all in reruns for the week.
Week of August 30-September 3, 2021 Rankers
| Rank. Show (Network) | W25-54 RTG / Share | W18-49 RTG / Share | Households | Total Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The Young and the Restless (CBS) | 0.70 / 9 | 0.42 / 7 | 2.5 / 11 | 3,617,000 |
| 2. The Price is Right 2 (CBS) – R | 0.67 / 9 | 0.45 / 8 | 2.7 / 13 | 4,249,000 |
| 3. TODAY 3rd Hour (NBC) | 0.64 | 0.44 | N/A | N/A |
| 4. The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS) | 0.61 / 7 | 0.32 / 5 | 2.1 / 9 | 3,027,000 |
| 5. The Price is Right 1 (CBS) – R | 0.57 / 8 | 0.40 / 7 | 2.4 / 12 | 3,755,000 |
| 6. General Hospital (ABC) | 0.55 / 7 | 0.32 / 5 | 1.4 / 6 | 2,120,000 |
| 7.TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (NBC) | 0.47 | 0.33 | N/A | N/A |
| 8. Let’s Make a Deal 2 (CBS) – R | 0.46 / 6 | 0.30 / 5 | 1.8 / 8 | 2,732,000 |
| 9. Days of our Lives (NBC) | 0.44 / 5 | 0.29 / 5 | 1.2 / 5 | 1,777,000 |
| 10. Let’s Make a Deal 1 (CBS) – R | 0.41 / 6 | 0.28 / 5 | 1.5 / 7 | 2,386,000 |
| 11. GMA3: What You Need to Know (ABC) | 0.38 / 5 | 0.25 / 4 | 1.1 / 5 | 1,625,000 |
| 12. The Talk (CBS) – R | 0.30 / 3* | 0.10 / 2* | 0.8 / 4 | 1,177,000 |
| 12. VIEW-ALT (ABC) – R | 0.30 / 4 | 0.20 / 4 | 0.9 / 4 | 1,332,000 |
Note: The numbers above are calculated using Live+Same Day viewing and DVR playback, defined as 3:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m, and are courtesy of Nielsen. Household ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television
*Notable Preemptions/Schedule Changes
- “Days of our Lives” aired for just 36 minutes on Monday, August 30 and just 49 minutes on Tuesday, August 31.
- “GMA3: What You Need to Know” was not rated on Tuesday, August 31 or Friday, September 3. The show’s weekly average is based on its Monday, August 30, Wednesday, September 1 and Thursday, September 2 numbers only.
- “Let’s Make a Deal” aired reruns all week. The second half-hour of “Deal” was preempted on Tuesday, August 31.
- “The Price is Right” aired reruns all week.
- “The Talk” aired reruns all week. Unrounded figures for the show were unavailable. Therefore, we are publishing the available rounded figures in their place. As a result, rounded numbers place the show in a virtual tie with “VIEW-ALT” in Women 25-54.
- In reruns, “The View” was retitled to “VIEW-ALT” which does not factor into the show’s season average.
