JustTV Talk: August 6, 2005
The
Soap Ratings (July 25-29, 2005)
It's been quite a while since I've looked over these, so here it goes. Added are viewers (in millions), and % change, which is versus the same week last year.
| Rank |
Household
Rating |
%
Change |
Viewers |
%
Change |
|
| 1 |
The
Young & The Restless (CBS) |
4.3/13 |
- |
5.422 |
-1 |
| 2 |
The
Bold & The Beautiful (CBS) |
3.4/11 |
+3 |
4.432 |
+8 |
| 3 |
As
The World Turns (CBS) |
2.7/8 |
-3 |
3.589 |
+1 |
| 4 |
One
Life To Live (ABC) |
2.6/8 |
-4 |
3.180 |
-8 |
| 5 |
All
My Children (ABC) |
2.5/8 |
-14 |
3.127 |
-15 |
| 5 |
Days
of Our Lives (NBC) |
2.5/8 |
-14 |
3.271 |
-14 |
| 5 |
General
Hospital (ABC) |
2.5/8 |
-26 |
3.187 |
-26 |
| 8 |
Guilding
Light (CBS) |
2.1/6 |
-4 |
2.809 |
+1 |
| 9 |
Passions
(NBC) |
1.7/5 |
-5 |
2.260 |
-4 |
CBS is actually doing quite well so far this summer with small gains in viewers, while NBC is still recovering from disasterous losses at "Days" earlier this season, when it was off by as much as a third. "Passions," however, should have done better as it aired a heavily hyped earthquake and tsunami, although that did spill over into the next week, so watch those numbers as well. ABC, meanwhile, is almost a complete disaster outside of "One Life To Live." Fans as not happy with the direction of "All My Children" and are livid about "General Hospital," and the ratings more than reflect that. And as a note, these ratings suck. 10 years ago, the standard rating was a 5, but now it's slipped below a 3. Even so, consider the value that some of these series still offer. Relatively cheap to produce (with budgets of about $1 million a week or so), they are 52 weeks a year. Even "Passions," the lowest rated soap, draws 11.3 million viewers over the course of the week, while "Y&R" is up around 27 million. But with ratings continually slipped and some cheap to buy talk shows drawing better ratings, the networks are taking a harder stance with their soaps, as the recent 10% across-the-board salary cuts on "Guilding Light" and "ATWT" demonstrate. It'll be interesting to see which is the next soap cancelled, because it is going to happen sooner rather than later.
| Rank |
Women
18-49 Rating |
%
Change |
Women
18-34 Rating |
%
Change |
Girls
12-17 Viewers |
%Change |
|
| 1 |
The
Young & The Restless (CBS) |
2.0/13 |
-9 |
1.3/9 |
-13 |
0.097 |
+35 |
| 2 |
The
Bold & The Beautiful (CBS) |
1.8/11 |
- |
1.3/8 |
+8 |
0.083 |
+112 |
| 3 |
Days of Our Lives (NBC) | 1.7/11 |
-15 |
1.8/11 |
-25 |
0.105 |
-28 |
| 3 |
One
Life To Live (ABC) |
1.7/10 |
-10 |
1.0/6 |
-28 |
0.122 |
+10 |
| 3 |
General Hospital (ABC) | 1.7/11 |
-32 |
1.2/7 |
-43 |
0.101 |
-6 |
| 6 |
All My Children (ABC) | 1.6/10 |
-20 |
1.1/7 |
-21 |
0.085 |
-32 |
| 7 |
Passions (NBC) | 1.3/8 |
-13 |
1.6/10 |
-6 |
0.181 |
+15 |
| 7 |
As The World Turns (CBS) | 1.3/8 |
-13 |
1.1/7 |
- |
0.057 |
+39 |
| 9 |
Guilding Light (CBS) | 1.0/6 |
-24 |
0.9/5 |
-18 |
0.058 |
+107 |
In women 18-49, the main demo the soaps aim for, none of the soaps were up over last season, and some showed particularly troubling losses. In Women 18-34, NBC's prized demo, it's soaps were once again 1-2 in the ratings, as per usual, although "Days" has lost many viewers since last season. And in the even smaller Girls 12-17 demo, "Passions" was number one for the umpteenth straight week and alot of soaps showed gains over last season. Be careful, however: because of the smallness of this demo, soaps tend to fluctuate wildly, and may be down alot next week. But because it is the youngest demo, it's also one of the most sought after, particularly in the summer months. This is why "Passions," although ranked last in viewers and households since it's inception (except for beating NBC's already canned "Sunset Beach"), will be on for years to come. It's the only soap on the air that gets any press outside of the soap world (witness articles and mentions in "Entertainment Weekly," Jay Leno, VH1's "Best Week Ever" where Passions is a weekly discussion topic), but many traditional soap viewers reject it because it's less traditional, hence the low ratings in the major demos. Oh well, I'll always love you, "Passions."