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Soap Opera Ratings: 1950's-1970's
Topic Started: Jul 29 2007, 04:28 PM (380 Views)
Rick Jul 29 2007, 04:28 PM Post #1
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Dreamlander

 Please do not copy/paste on other sites.
Link back only please :)

Soaps ratings are based on the yearly average.
Total Viewers are rounded and/or estimated

1951-1952

Households
1. Search For Tomorrow
2. Love of Life
3. Hawkins Falls
4. The Guiding Light

1952-1953
153,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. Search for Tomorrow 2.5 million
2. Love Of Life 2.3 million
3. Hawkins Falls 2.1 million
4. The Guiding Light 1.7 million

Households
1. Search for Tomorrow 16.1
2. Love Of Life 15.1
3. Hawkins Falls 13.7
4. The Guiding Light 11.3

1953-1954
204,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. Search for Tomorrow 3.2 million
2. The Guiding Light 2.9 million
3. Love Of Life 2.8 million
4. Valiant Lady 2.1 million

Households
1. Search for Tomorrow 15.8
2. The Guiding Light 14.4
3. Love Of Life 14.0
4. Valiant Lady 10.2
5. The Brighter Day 7.0
5. The Secret Storm 7.0

1954-1955
260,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. Search for Tomorrow 4.0 million
2. The Guiding Light 3.8 million
3. Love of Life 3.4 million
4. Valiant Lady 2.7 million
5. The Secret Storm 2.2 million
5. The Brighter Day 2.2 million

Households
1. Search for Tomorrow 15.2
2. The Guiding Light 14.6
3. Love of Life 13.1
4. Valiant Lady 10.5
5. The Secret Storm 8.5
6. The Brighter Day 8.4

1955-1956
307,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. Search for Tomorrow 4.0 million
2. The Guiding Light 3.9 million
3. Love Of Life 3.3 million
4. The Brighter Day 3.2 million
5. The Secret Storm 3.1 million
6. Valiant Lady 2.8 million

Households
1. Search for Tomorrow 13.1
2. The Guiding Light 13.0
3. Love Of Life 10.9
4. The Brighter Day 10.5
5. The Secret Storm 10.2
6. Valiant Lady 9.2
7. The Edge of Night 8.7
8. As The World Turns 8.5

1956-1957
349,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. The Guiding Light 4.0 million
2. Search for Tomorrow 3.8 million
3. The Brighter Day 3.7 million
4. The Secret Storm 3.5 million
5. The Edge Of Night 3.4 million
6. Love Of Life 3.2 million
7. As The World Turns 2.9 million

Households
1. The Guiding Light 11.4
2. Search for Tomorrow 11.0
3. The Brighter Day 10.5
4. The Secret Storm 10.0
5. The Edge Of Night 9.7
6. Love Of Life 9.1
7. As The World Turns 8.4

1957-1958
389,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. The Guiding Light 3.9 million
2. Search for Tomorrow 3.8 million
2. The Secret Storm 3.8 million
2. The Edge Of Night 3.8 million
5. The Brighter Day 3.6 million
6. As The World Turns 3.3 million

Households
1. The Guiding Light 10.1
2. Search for Tomorrow 9.8
2. The Secret Storm 9.8
4. The Edge Of Night 9.7
5. The Brighter Day 9.3
6. As The World Turns 8.4
7. Love of Life 8.2

1958-1959
419,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. As The World Turns 4.1 million
1. Search for Tomorrow 4.1 million
3. The Guiding Light 4.0 million
4. The Secret Storm 3.6 million
4. The Edge Of Night 3.6 million
6 .The Brighter Day 3.4 million

Households
1. As The World Turns 9.8
1. Search for Tomorrow 9.8
3. The Guiding Light 9.7
4. The Secret Storm 8.6
4. The Edge Of Night 8.6
6. The Brighter Day 8.2
7. Love of Life 8.0
8. Young Dr. Malone 7.4

1959-1960
440,000 viewers per rating point (1.0)

Total Viewers
1. As The World Turns 4.4 million
2. The Guiding Light 4.2 million
2. Search for Tomorrow 4.2 million
2. The Edge Of Night 4.2 million
5. The Secret Storm 3.9 million
6. The Brighter Day 3.6 million

Households
1. As The World Turns 9.9
2. The Guiding Light 9.6
3. Search for Tomorrow 9.5
3. The Edge Of Night 9.5
5. The Secret Storm 8.9
6. The Brighter Day 8.2
7. Love of Life 8.0
8. Young Dr. Malone 7.0

1950's Top 3 Shows

1. Search For Tomorrow
2. The Guiding Light
3. Love of Life
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Rick Jul 29 2007, 04:37 PM Post #2
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Dreamlander

 Total viewers and ratings point coming soon.

1960-1961

Households
1. As The World Turns 10.4
2. The Edge Of Night 9.4
2. The Guiding Light 9.9
2. Search for Tomorrow 9.4
5. The Secret Storm 9.1
6. The Brighter Day 7.9
7. Love Of Life 7.5
8. Young Dr.Malone 6.6
9. From These Roots 5.9
10. The Clear Horizon 4.8


1961-1962

Households
1. As The World Turns 11.9
2. The Guiding Light 10.1
3. Search for Tomorrow 9.5
4. The Edge Of Night 8.2
5. The Secret Storm 7.6
7. Love Of Life 7.4
6. The Brighter Day 6.9
8. Young Dr.Malone 6.1
9. Our Five Daughters 5.9
10. From These Roots 5.6
11. The Clear Horizon 3.2


1962-1963

Households
1. As The World Turns 13.7
2. The Guiding Light 11.7
3. Search for Tomorrow 10.6
4. The Edge Of Night 9.5
5. The Secret Storm 9.0
6. Love Of Life 8.6
7. Our Five Daughters 5.5
7. Young Dr. Malone 5.5


1963-1964

Households
1. As The World Turns 15.4
2. The Guiding Light 14.2
3. Search for Tomorrow 11.0
4. The Edge Of Night 10.5
5. Love Of Life 10.3
6. The Secret Storm 9.2
7. General Hospital 5.4
8. The Doctors 3.4


1964-1965

Households
1. As The World Turns 14.5
2. The Guiding Light 12.2
2. Search for Tomorrow 12.2
4. The Secret Storm 11.5
5. Love Of Life 10.6
6. The Edge Of Night 10.4
7. General Hospital 8.0
8. The Doctors 7.5
9. Another World 6.8
10. Moment Of Truth 5.0
11. The Young Marrieds 4.4
12. Flame In The Wind 2.8


1965-1966

Households
1. As The World Turns 13.9
2. The Guiding Light 11.2
3. Search for Tomorrow 11.0
4. The Secret Storm 10.9
5. Love Of Life 10.3
6. The Edge Of Night 9.9
7. General Hospital 7.3
8. Another World 6.9
9. The Doctors 6.6
10. Days Of Our Lives 5.3
11. The Young Marrieds 4.7
12. Moment Of Truth 4.3
13. Morning Star 4.1
13. Paradise Bay 4.1
16. The Nurses 3.9
16. Never Too Young 3.9


1966-1967

Households
1. As The World Turns 12.7
2. The Edge Of Night 10.9
3. The Guiding Light 10.8
4. Search for Tomorrow 10.7
4. The Secret Storm 10.7
6. Love Of Life 9.5
7. Another World 9.0
8. The Doctors 7.6
9. General Hospital 7.0
10. Days Of Our Lives 6.9
12. The Nurses 4.6
13. Dark Shadows 4.3
14. A Time For Us 4.0


1967-1968

Households
1. As The World Turns 13.6
2. Another World 10.2
3. The Guiding Light 10.0
4. Search for Tomorrow 9.9
5. The Doctors 9.7
6. The Edge Of Night 9.4
6. The Secret Storm 9.4
8. Love Of Life 9.2
9. General Hospital 8.8
10. Days Of Our Lives 8.7
11. Love is A Many Splendored Thing 7.9
12. Dark Shadows 7.3


1968-1969

Households
1. As The World Turns 13.8
2. Search for Tomorrow 10.7
3. Another World 10.5
4. The Edge Of Night 9.5
5. Love Of Life 9.3
5. The Doctors 9.3
5. Days Of Our Lives 9.3
8. Love is A Many Splendored Thing 9.0
9. The Guiding Light 8.9
10. General Hospital 8.8
11. Dark Shadows 8.4
12. The Secret Storm 7.8
13. One Life To Live 5.4
14. Hidden Faces 3.3


1969-1970

Households
1. As The World Turns 13.6
2. The Edge Of Night 10.8
3. Search for Tomorrow 10.0
4. The Guiding Light 8.9
5. Another World: Bay City 9.6
6. Love is A Many Splendored Thing 9.5
7. Days Of Our Lives 8.8
8. The Doctors 8.6
8. The Secret Storm 8.6
10. General Hospital 8.5
11. Love Of Life 8.0
12. Dark Shadows 7.3
13. Where The Heart Is 7.0
14. One Life To Live 6.7
15. Another World: Somerset 5.7
16. Bright Promise 5.2
17. All My Children 4.4
18. A World Apart 2.8
19. Best Of Everything 1.8
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Rick Jul 29 2007, 04:44 PM Post #3
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Dreamlander

 Total viewers and ratings point coming soon.




1970-1971

Households
1. As The World Turns 12.4
2. The Edge Of Night 10.1
3. The Guiding Light 9.7
4. Another World: Bay City 9.5
4. Days Of Our Lives 9.5
4. General Hospital 9.5
7. The Doctors 9.4
8. Search for Tomorrow 9.3
9. Love is A Many Splendored Thing 9.2
10. The Secret Storm 8.0
11. Love Of Life 7.9
12. Another World: Somerset 7.0
12. Where The Heart Is 7.0
14. Bright Promise 6.8
15. One Life To Live 6.5
16. Dark Shadows 5.3
17. All My Children 4.8
18. A World Apart 3.4


1971-1972

Households
1. As The World Turns 11.1
2. General Hospital 10.4
3. Days Of Our Lives 9.9
4. The Edge Of Night 9.5
5. The Doctors 9.3
6. Another World 9.1
7. Search for Tomorrow 8.6
7. The Guiding Light 8.6
9. Love is A Many Splendored Thing 8.0
10. Love Of Life 7.4
10. Return to Peyton Place 7.4
10. The Secret Storm 7.4
13. One Life To Live 7.3
14. Another World: Somerset 6.5
15. Where The Heart Is 6.3
16. Bright Promise 6.1
17. All My Children 5.7


1972-1973

Households
1. As The World Turns 10.6
2. Days Of Our Lives 9.9
3. Another World 9.7
3. General Hospital 9.7
5. The Doctors 9.3
6. Search for Tomorrow 8.6
7. One Life To Live 8.3
8. All My Children 8.2
8. The Guiding Light 8.2
10. The Edge Of Night 7.9
11. The Secret Storm 7.3
12. Love Of Life 7.2
13. Return to Peyton Place 7.2
14. Love is A Many Splendored Thing 7.1
15. Somerset 6.8
16. Where The Heart Is 6.4
17. The Young And The Restless 5.0



1973-1974

Households
1.As The World Turns 9.7
1.Days Of Our Lives 9.7
1.Another World 9.7
4.The Doctors 9.5
5.General Hospital 9.2
6.All My Children 9.1
7.The Guiding Light 8.1
8.One Life To Live 7.8
9.Search for Tomorrow 7.7
10.The Edge Of Night 7.4
11.Return to Peyton Place 7.0
12.How To Survive A Marriage 6.4
13.The Young And The Restless 6.2
14.Somerset 6.1
15.Love Of Life 6.0
16.The Secret Storm 5.8


1974-1975

Households
1. As The World Turns 10.8
2. Days Of Our Lives 9.7
2. Another World 9.7
4. Search for Tomorrow 9.4
5. All My Children 9.3
6. The Doctors 9.0
7. The Guiding Light 8.5
7. General Hospital 8.5
9. The Young And The Restless 8.4
10. The Edge Of Night 7.6
11. One Life To Live 7.4
12. Love Of Life 7.0
13. Somerset 6.0
14. How To Survive A Marriage 5.7


1975-1976

Households
1. As The World Turns 9.4
2. Another World 8.9
3. The Young And The Restless 8.6
4. Search for Tomorrow 8.3
4. Days Of Our Lives 8.3
6. All My Children 8.1
6. The Guiding Light 8.1
8. The Doctors 7.3
9. Love Of Life 7.2
10. General Hospital 7.1
11. One Life To Live 6.8
12. The Edge Of Night 6.7
13. Somerset 5.9
14. Ryan's Hope 5.7


1976-1977

Households
1. As The World Turns 9.9
2. Another World 9.0
3. The Guiding Light 8.9
4. The Young And The Restless 8.7
5. Search for Tomorrow 8.6
6. All My Children 8.2
7. Days Of Our Lives 7.8
8. Ryan's Hope 7.3
8. One Life To Live 7.3
10. General Hospital 7.0
11. The Doctors 6.9
12. Love Of Life 6.3
13. The Edge Of Night 6.2
14. Somerset 5.2
15. Lovers And Friends 2.9


1977-1978

Households
1. As The World Turns 8.6
1. Another World 8.6
3. All My Children 8.4
4. Guiding Light 8.0
5. The Young And The Restless 7.8
6. Search for Tomorrow 7.5
7. One Life To Live 7.2
8. Ryan's Hope 7.0
8. General Hospital 7.0
10. Days Of Our Lives 6.9
11. The Doctors 6.5
12. Love Of Life 6.0
13. The Edge Of Night 5.2
14. For Richer, For Poorer 3.9


1978-1979

Households
1. All My Children 9.0
2. General Hospital 8.7
3. The Young And The Restless 8.6
4. As The World Turns 8.2
5. Guiding Light 8.1
6. One Life To Live 8.0
7. Search for Tomorrow 7.6
8. Another World 7.5
9. Ryan's Hope 7.2
10. Days Of Our Lives 6.8
11. The Doctors 6.3
12. Love Of Life 5.8
13. The Edge Of Night 5.8
14. For Richer, For Poorer 2.1


1979-1980

Households
1. General Hospital 9.9
2. All My Children 9.2
3. The Young And The Restless 8.8
4. One Life To Live 8.7
5. Guiding Light 8.3
6. As The World Turns 7.9
7. Search for Tomorrow 7.6
8. Another World 7.1
9. Ryan's Hope 7.0
10. Days Of Our Lives 6.6
11. The Doctors 6.1
12. The Edge Of Night 5
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Steve Frame Jul 29 2007, 05:20 PM Post #4
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 Thanks for posting these Rick.

I am going to pin them at the top as part of the Important Archive Topics.

Great job man.
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Steve Frame Jul 29 2007, 05:22 PM Post #5
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 Rick, Is that dangling 9, 10, 11, 12 at the bottom supposed to be there?

Just asking?
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Rick Jul 29 2007, 05:48 PM Post #6
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Dreamlander

 Oopsie

fixed
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Ally Jul 29 2007, 10:06 PM Post #7
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The Royal Princess

 There were 19 soaps in the late 60's?! DANG!
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Steve Frame Jul 29 2007, 10:12 PM Post #8
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 Well not really until 1970 when Somerset, The Best of Everything, All My Children, and A World Apart came on.

A World Apart is considered by many critics to be the better of the 4 in it's first year, but it didn't make it that long.
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psychofan Aug 4 2007, 09:40 AM Post #9
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#1 Fan of Daytime Psychos!

 Holy Damn! Why was AMC so low?
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Steve Frame Aug 4 2007, 10:17 AM Post #10
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 Tyler, Those were it's first 2 years on the air. It took time to build it's audience. Remember CBS and NBC were dominating soaps back then. ABC was relatively new in the soap business. They had GH back in 1963 and then later Dark Shadows became a hit, but both OLTL in 1968 and AMC in 1970 had to build audiences due to the competition they were against.

By the 1972/1973 season AMC had struck a chord with young viewers plus Carol Burnett heavily promoted it on her CBS variety show almost every week. She loved the show.

If you will even look at the 1970/71 season all the ABC shows except GH are lined up in a row at the bottom.
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Deleted User Apr 26 2009, 06:45 PM Post #11
Deleted User

 One day you'll update these like your post says Rick!
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JoshBingh Jun 23 2009, 11:58 PM Post #12
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 I wonder why Nbc soaps went down hill in the late 70's? they were so strong in the first part of the decade.
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MichaelGL Jul 9 2009, 11:47 AM Post #13
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Sexy Jew

 I think it was partly due to network/TPTB interference like expanding AW to an hour, and if I'm correct The Doctor's was moved to a different timeslot too. I think DAYS falling has to do with a variety of issues, including the changing of Head Writers.
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Matt Jul 20 2009, 11:47 AM Post #14
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Classic Soap Fan

 According to DAYTIME TV (issue date: June, 1972), the top 10 rated daytime soaps for the 2 week period ending February 20, 1972 are:

1 ratings pt. = 620,000 homes

#1 - As the World Turns (12.0/38% share)
#2 - General Hospital (11.3/35% share)
#3 - Days of our Lives (10.2/32% share)
#4 - The Edge of Night (9.8/31% share)
#5 - Another World (9.7/31% share)
#6 - Search for Tomorrow (9.5/33% share)
#7 - The Doctors (9.4/31% share)
#8 - The Guiding Light (9.3/31% share)
#9 - Love is a Many Splendored Thing (8.7/28% share)
#10 - One Life to Live (7.9/24% share)

other soaps on the air at this time, but not making the Top 10...

Love of Life
The Secret Storm
Somerset
Where the Heart Is
Bright Promise
All My Children
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Deleted User Jul 20 2009, 11:51 AM Post #15
Deleted User

 So ATWT had roughly 7,440,000 viewers while OLTL had roughly 4,898,000 viewers. Much better than today. Sigh ...
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Matt Jul 20 2009, 12:09 PM Post #16
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Classic Soap Fan

 The same issue of DAYTIME TV has an article about the rising ratings of game shows and it cites these numbers...

for the 2 weeks ending January 28, 1972

(for all daytime show, not just soaps)
#1 - Hollywood Squares (11.5)
#1 - General Hospital (11.5)
----- Newlywed Game (11.1)
----- Jeopardy (9.9)
#7 - Sale of the Century
#10 - Let's Make a Deal (9.5)
#10 - Dating Game (9.5)
#10 - Another World (9.5)

The article also mentions ATWT being #1 for 11 straight years until it was bumped from the #1 spot in November 1971, first by Days of our Lives and then by General Hospital.
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RogerNewcomb Jul 24 2009, 11:29 AM Post #17
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Matt
Jul 20 2009, 12:09 PM
The same issue of DAYTIME TV has an article about the rising ratings of game shows and it cites these numbers...

for the 2 weeks ending January 28, 1972

(for all daytime show, not just soaps)
#1 - Hollywood Squares (11.5)
#1 - General Hospital (11.5)
----- Newlywed Game (11.1)
----- Jeopardy (9.9)
#7 - Sale of the Century
#10 - Let's Make a Deal (9.5)
#10 - Dating Game (9.5)
#10 - Another World (9.5)

The article also mentions ATWT being #1 for 11 straight years until it was bumped from the #1 spot in November 1971, first by Days of our Lives and then by General Hospital.
Matt, Do you know how many total viewers these ratings equates to? We really can't compare ratings points from decade to decade but each point represented a lot smaller number of homes.
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Matt Jul 24 2009, 12:16 PM Post #18
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Classic Soap Fan
RogerNewcomb
Jul 24 2009, 11:29 AM
Matt
Jul 20 2009, 12:09 PM
The same issue of DAYTIME TV has an article about the rising ratings of game shows and it cites these numbers...

for the 2 weeks ending January 28, 1972

(for all daytime show, not just soaps)
#1 - Hollywood Squares (11.5)
#1 - General Hospital (11.5)
----- Newlywed Game (11.1)
----- Jeopardy (9.9)
#7 - Sale of the Century
#10 - Let's Make a Deal (9.5)
#10 - Dating Game (9.5)
#10 - Another World (9.5)

The article also mentions ATWT being #1 for 11 straight years until it was bumped from the #1 spot in November 1971, first by Days of our Lives and then by General Hospital.
Matt, Do you know how many total viewers these ratings equates to? We really can't compare ratings points from decade to decade but each point represented a lot smaller number of homes.
1 ratings pt. = 620,000 homes
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RogerNewcomb Jul 24 2009, 01:45 PM Post #19
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 So AW had 5.89 million homes and then each home may have had multiple people watching.
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Matt Jul 24 2009, 01:56 PM Post #20
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Classic Soap Fan

 I believe that would be a fair assumption.
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