Daytime Broadcast Ratings: 'The Talk' Beats 'GMA3' in Women 18-49, Ties in Women 25-54; ‘General Hospital’ Rises Again

THE NUMBERS

The week of September 20-24, 2021 marked the first full week of the 2021-2022 television season and it saw most daytime broadcast shows improve from where they left off one week earlier with a few exceptions, particularly in the news and game show categories.

In year to year comparisons, only “The Young and the Restless” saw improvement in both Women 25-54 and Women 18-49 rating while “The Talk” improved year to year in Women 18-49 rating, managing to top “GMA3: What You Need to Know” in the demo. Three out of the four daytime soaps saw improvements year to year in Total Viewers with “Y&R” and “General Hospital” seeing the largest gains, followed by “The Bold and the Beautiful.” “Days of our Lives” was down year to year in Total Viewers.

“The Bold and the Beautiful” Ratings

Although “The Bold and the Beautiful” was able to hold off a resurging “General Hospital” in Women 18-49 rating, improving +0.04 week to week (0.36 vs 0.32), the soap remained in fifth place in Women 25-54 rating despite a +0.02 increase (0.57 vs 0.55). The only daytime broadcast series to lose viewers week to week, “B&B” was down -31,000 viewers (2.910 million vs 2.941 million) but saw an increase of +255,000 viewers compared to the same week last year.

“Days of our Lives” Ratings

The first full week of the possession storyline rehash saw “Days of our Lives” steady in Total Viewers with 1.697 million tuning in, the same as last week. The soap was also flat in Women 18-49 (0.25 rating) while down slightly in Women 25-54 (0.37 vs 0.38 rating). Compared to the same week last year, “DAYS” was down -26,000 viewers while down -0.12 in Women 25-54 and down -0.07 in Women 18-49 rating.

Note: An earlier version of this post indicated that “Days of our Lives” was up +28,000 year to year in Total Viewers. The show was actually down -26,000 viewers over the same period last year. “GMA3: What You Need to Know” was up +28,000 year to year and that line was what was incorrectly entered for “DAYS.”

“General Hospital” Ratings

One week after the wedding of Jason and Carly (Steve Burton and Laura Wright) ended with a bang, the return of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) continued lighting up Port Charles as the ABC drama series improved week to week in both Women 25-54 and Women 18-49 rating. In fact, with a 0.62 rating in Women 25-54, “GH” hit its best performance in the demo since the week of June 21-25, 2021 when it averaged a 0.63 rating. With a 0.35 rating in Women 18-49, “GH” tied its best performance since the week of June 28-July 2, 2021. Overall, “GH” tied for third place in Women 25-54 with the first half-hour of “The Price is Right,” and was just 0.01 points away from tying “Y&R” which placed second. In Women 18-49 rating, “GH” placed sixth. In Total Viewers, “GH” again posted its best numbers since the week of April 13-17, 2020 with 2.412 million viewers tuning in. The daytime drama series remained ABC’s top daytime broadcast series in Viewers, Households (tied with “The View”) and the key Women demos. Just 50,000 viewers separated “GH” from tying the first half-hour of “Let’s Make a Deal” in viewers. The soap was also up +23,000 viewers week to week and up +346,000 year to year. In Households, its 1.7 rating marked its best performance since the week of April 20-24, 2020 (1.71 rating rounded down to a 1.7).

Correction: Previously it was stated “GH” gained 101,000 viewers week to week. That was an error. “The View” gained 101,000 viewers week to week. “GH” gained 23,000.

“The Young and the Restless” Ratings

“The Young and the Restless” was the only daytime series to see improvement year to year in all four categories, up +540,000 viewers compared to the same week last year and up +0.3 in Households. In Women 25-54, “Y&R” was up +0.01 and up +0.02 in Women 18-49 rating. Overall, with 3.487 million viewers tuning in, “Y&R” averaged its best Total Viewer number since the week of August 30-September 3, 2021. Week to week “Y&R” was up +0.02 in Women 25-54 (0.63 vs 0.61 rating) and up +0.03 in Women 18-49 (0.40 vs 0.37 rating).

“The Talk” Ratings

In what would appear to be the first time ever (pending confirmation), CBS’ “The Talk” beat “GMA3” in Women 18-49 rating, placing it in 11th place (tie with “Days of our Lives”) among all daytime broadcast programs. The CBS chatfest averaged a 0.25 rating compared to the 0.22 rating “GMA3” averaged. “The Talk” was up year to year in Women 18-49 (0.25 vs 0.23 rating) while virtually even with its year ago performance in Women 25-54 rating (0.34 vs 0.35 rating). It tied “GMA3” in Women 25-54. Week to week, “The Talk” improved upon its season opener in both demos and gained +56,000 viewers. The show was still down -63,000 viewers compared to the same week last year, however.

What follows is a breakdown of how the daytime shows performed for the week of September 20-24, 2021 in Women 25-54 rating, Women 18-49 rating, Households and Total Viewers. A closer look at the daytime soaps, including their daily performance in the demos, will be posted soon.

Note: Last week marked the beginning of 2021-2022 television season and therefore the season premieres of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “Days of our Lives,” “General Hospital,” “The Young and the Restless,” “TODAY 3rd Hour,” “TODAY with Hoda & Jenna” and “GMA3: What You Need to Know.”

Week of September 20-24, 2021 Rankers:

Women 25-54 Rating

Rank / Show / Network	This Week	Last Week	Last Year
1. The Price is Right 2 (CBS)	0.68 / 9	0.71	0.83
2. The Young and the Restless (CBS)	0.63 / 8	0.61	0.62
3. The Price is Right 1 (CBS)	0.62 / 9	0.64	0.74
3. General Hospital (ABC)	0.62 / 8	0.56	0.63
5. The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS)	0.57 / 7	0.55	0.60
6. TODAY 3rd Hour (NBC)	0.55	0.53	0.65
7. Let’s Make a Deal 2 (CBS)	0.50 / 7	0.46	0.57
8. The View (ABC)	0.46 / 6	0.44	0.66
8. Let’s Make a Deal 1 (CBS)	0.46 / 6	0.40	0.53
10. TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (NBC)	0.44	0.43	0.48
11. Days of our Lives (NBC)	0.37 / 5	0.38	0.49
12. GMA3: What You Need to Know (ABC)	0.34 / 4	0.33	0.48
12. The Talk (CBS)	0.34 / 4	0.31	0.35

^{Source: Nielsen}

Women 18-49 Rating

Rank / Show / Network	This Week	Last Week	Last Year
1. The Price is Right 2 (CBS)	0.47 / 8	0.47	0.52
2. The Price is Right 1 (CBS)	0.44 / 8	0.44	0.47
3. The Young and the Restless (CBS)	0.40 / 7	0.37	0.38
4. TODAY 3rd Hour (NBC)	0.38	0.38	0.44
5. The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS)	0.36 / 6	0.32	0.37
6. General Hospital (ABC)	0.35 / 6	0.34	0.39
7. Let’s Make a Deal 2 (CBS)	0.34 / 6	0.32	0.37
8. Let’s Make a Deal 1 (CBS)	0.32 / 6	0.27	0.34
9. The View (ABC)	0.30 / 5	0.28	0.44
10. TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (NBC)	0.28	0.30	0.31
11. Days of our Lives (NBC)	0.25 / 4	0.25	0.32
11. The Talk (CBS)	0.25 / 4	0.21	0.23
13. GMA3: What You Need to Know (ABC)	0.22 / 4	0.24	0.31

^{Source: Nielsen}

Households

Rank / Show / Network	This Week	Last Week	Last Year
1. The Price is Right 2 (CBS)	2.9 / 14	2.9	3.1
2. The Price is Right 1 (CBS)	2.5 / 12	2.6	2.7
3. The Young and the Restless (CBS)	2.4 / 11	2.4	2.1
4. The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS)	2.0 / 9	2.0	2.0
5. Let’s Make a Deal 2 (CBS)	1.8 / 9	1.8	1.9
6. The View (ABC)	1.7 / 8	1.6	2.0
6. General Hospital (ABC)	1.7 / 7	1.6	1.5
8. Let’s Make a Deal 1 (CBS)	1.6 / 8	1.6	1.7
9. TODAY 3rd Hour (NBC)	1.5	1.4	1.5
10. Days of our Lives (NBC)	1.2 / 5	1.2	1.2
11. GMA3: What You Need to Know (ABC)	1.1 / 5	1.1	1.1
11. TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (NBC)	1.1	1.1	1.1
13. The Talk (CBS)	1.0 / 4	0.9	1.1

^{Source: Nielsen}

Total Viewers

Rank / Show / Network	This Week	Last Week	Last Year
1. The Price is Right 2 (CBS)	4,533,000	4,403,000	4,687,000
2. The Price is Right 1 (CBS)	3,945,000	3,910,000	4,102,000
3. The Young and the Restless (CBS)	3,487,000	3,463,000	2,947,000
4. The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS)	2,910,000	2,941,000	2,655,000
5. Let’s Make a Deal 2 (CBS)	2,821,000	2,788,000	2,894,000
6. Let’s Make a Deal 1 (CBS)	2,462,000	2,403,000	2,559,000
7. General Hospital (ABC)	2,412,000	2,389,000	2,066,000
8. The View (ABC)	2,385,000	2,284,000	2,764,000
9. TODAY 3rd Hour (NBC)	2,089,000	2,066,000	2,146,000
10. Days of our Lives (NBC)	1,697,000	1,697,000	1,723,000
11. GMA3: What You Need to Know (ABC)	1,596,000	1,568,000	1,568,000
12. TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (NBC)	1,515,000	1,535,000	1,453,000
13. The Talk (CBS)	1,392,000	1,336,000	1,455,000

^{Source: Nielsen}

*Notable Preemptions/Schedule Changes

“TODAY 3rd Hour” was retitled “TODAY SHOW II-ALT” on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. A majority of the show was preempted nationally as it aired for just 7 minutes.

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