Soap Opera Ratings Race: Is Daytime Out Of A Slump?

The soap opera ratings race for the week ending October 12 finds three soaps on a surprising upswing but one soap still having troubles.

Days of Our Lives
Days of Our Lives, which saw a shocking loss of viewers the week before, has bounced back and is on the positive path it’s been taking for the past year.

DAYS garnered 2,138,000 viewers on average overall, up 77,000 from the week before and 22,000 from the year before. It was the only soap to make overall gains from the previous week and year.

However, in the female demographics, DAYS only made gains from the week before with women 25-54.

General Hospital
General Hospital, which has had sinking ratings for the last half a year or so, managed to turn it around the week Jason and Sam almost reunited, but of course, didn’t.

GH pulled in 2,489,000 viewers on average overall, up a whopping 185,000 from the week before yet down 23,000 from the year before.

The 55-year-old soap also made gains from the prior week in all three female demos, placing at number two with women 18-49.

The Young and the Restless
The number-one-rated The Young and the Restless, which has taken fan heat for story and character inconsistencies of late, garnered 4,214,000 viewers on average overall, up 183,000 from the previous week but down 156,000 from the previous year.

Y&R lost viewers all around with women 18-49 but made gains in the other two women’s demographics.

The Bold and the Beautiful
Sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful was the only soap not to show any real improvement. As fans tire of musical couples within the same two families and repeated storylines over and over, the numbers reflect it.

B&B pulled in 3,294,000 viewers on average overall, down 41,000 from the week before and 227,000 from the same time next year.

The soap only saw gains from the year before with women 18-34, where it was up by a mere 4,000. However, it was down in the same demo from the prior week by 1,000.