Surprise Show Ties for Top Spot in Coveted Soap Opera Ratings Demo

Days of our Lives got an early holiday gift! The soap opera ratings for the week of December 14-18 are in and the NBC daytime drama tied for the top spot in a key demographic!

According to the latest numbers, DAYS tied with The Young and the Restless for first place (among soaps) in the coveted Women 18-49 demographic. (That’s the one advertisers find most desirable.) DAYS and YR each earned a .37; General Hospital wasn’t far behind with a .36 and The Bold and Beautiful received .33.

In overall households, YR became took the top spot with a 2.13; BB was second with 1.85; GH was third with 1.56, and DAYS was fourth with 1.24. Each ratings point equals 1.210 million viewers so, YR had 2.6 million viewers, BB had 2.24 million viewers, GH had 1.89 million viewers, and DAYS had 1.5 million viewers.

Days of our Lives

What stories were driving fans to their screens last week? On DAYS, viewers learned that Charlie (Mike Manning) was not only Ava’s (Tamara Braun) son but also the man who attacked Allie (Lindsay Arnold) over in England and he’s the father of her son! Fan favorites Tony (Thaao Penghlis) and Anna (Leann Hunley) came back to Salem. Jennifer (Cady McClain) nearly forgave Jack (Matthew Ashford) for his fling with Kate (Lauren Koslow) while she was in a coma.

The Young and the Restless

On YR, Billy (Jason Thompson) was cleared of the attempted murder of Chance (Donny Boaz) thanks to some ace detective work by his business partner and love interest Lily (Christel Khalil). Theo (Tyler Johnson) left Genoa City to run his late grandmother Dina’s (Marla Adams) business overseas. Nate’s (Sean Dominic) future as a surgeon appeared bleak thanks to his fight with Devon (Bryton James).

General Hospital

General Hospital served up big drama as Sonny (Maurice Benard) had what appears to be his final confrontation with Julian (William deVry); the two men went off a bridge after a shootout at a bus depot with Jason (Steve Burton) and one of Cyrus’s (Jeff Kober) henchmen. Speaking of Cyrus, we learned that both he and Martin (Michael E. Knight) are the long lost half-brothers of Laura (Genie Francis)!

Also, Michael (Chad Duell) sucker-punched Chase (Josh Swickard) due to lying to him so that Michael could win custody of his son Wiley (Erik and Steven Olson). Curtis (Donnell Turner) was hurt that Jordan (Briana Nicole Henry) lied about Taggert (Réal Andrews) being alive.

The Bold and the Beautiful

On BB, Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) convinced Liam (Scott Clifton) not to share with Hope (Annika Noelle) that they’d had a one-night stand after Liam erroneously believed that Hope was kissing Thomas (Matthew Atkinson). Speaking of Thomas, he survived an operation to help treat his recent mental illness.

The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful air weekdays on CBS. Days of our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC. Check local listings for airtimes.