Soap Opera Ratings Race: Numbers In Free Fall Again?

The soap opera ratings race for the week ending October 13 shows soap numbers once again on the decline. It’s been a difficult year for daytime dramas, and every time things seem to get better, it feels like the rug is pulled out–ratings wise.

The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless (YR) had yet another bad week, garnering 4,161,000 viewers on average overall, down 173,000 from the week before and a staggering 530,000 from the year before.

The soap tied its lowest household numbers ever and also lost viewers from the prior week and prior year in all three female demographics.

The Bold and the Beautiful
Sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful (BB) was the only show to make gains, but the gains were modest. B&B pulled in 3,508,000 viewers on average overall, up 21,000 from the previous week, but down a whopping 419,000 from the previous year.

Like Y&R, this soap also lost viewers from the previous week and year in the three coveted women’s demos.

General Hospital
General Hospital (GH) also took a hit (yet not as much as the Bell shows), garnering 2,505,000 viewers on average overall, down 18,000 from the week before and 198,000 from the same time last year.

While GH maintained its newly-found number two spot among women 18-49, it did lose viewers all around in that spot and in the other two female demos.

Days of Our Lives
Days of Our Lives (DOOL) remained in fourth place out of four soaps, but lost the least amount of viewers in general. DAYS pulled in 2,088,000 viewers on average overall, down 12,000 from the previous week and 125,000 from the previous year.

Like all other soaps, it lost viewers from the week before and year before in all three female demos.