Soap Opera Ratings Race: New Life For All Four Soaps

The soap opera ratings race for the week ending March 23 shows all four daytime dramas on the rise with some VERY surprising news for General Hospital (GH).

General Hospital
While General Hospital remained in third place, it garnered 2,597,000 viewers on average overall, up 17,000 from the week before and 56,000 from the year before.

However, it took a major jump with women 18-49 and stole the first place perch from The Young and the Restless, with GH up in this demo 31,000 from the previous week and 7,000 from the previous year.

GH did take third place in the other two female demographics, but its numbers did rise from the week before and year before.

Days of Our Lives
Days of Our Lives (DOOL) also saw quite a jump, although not in rankings. The 52-year-old soap pulled in 2,362,000 viewers on average overall, up 43,000 from the week before and a whopping 258,000 from the same time last year.

DAYS also saw increases from the prior week and prior year with women 18-49 and 25-54.

The Young and the Restless
The perpetually number one-rated The Young and the Restless (YR), saw a mixed week. It kept 4,312,000 viewers on average overall, down 89,000 from the previous week, but up 6,000 from the previous year.

It also lost viewers in two out of three female demographics, but still took the number one spot with women 18-34 and 25-54.

The Bold and the Beautiful
Sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful (BB) fared slightly better in terms of improvements, garnering 3,684,000 viewers on average overall, down 29,000 from the prior week but up a respectable 198,000 from the prior year.

In terms of demographics, B&B only made improvements from the previous year with women 18-34.