Week of July 16th Soap Opera Ratings Updated Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 demographics included

Something Positive For Each Soap, But CBS On A Hot Streak

Great news! The great people of [www.soaoperanetwork.com] published the demographic ratings for the two most recent weeks. Looking at each of the four remaining soap operas, everybody had at least one reason to celebrate. The two CBS soaps performed well, especially in the demographics from the week ending July 9th, ABC’s General Hospital remained steady with numbers consistent with the season average thus far. NBC’s Days Of Our Lives, much like the characters in fictional Salem, bounced back after a tough week, hitting a 12 week high in viewers (check it out here). GH is still doing the best compared to last year’s total-viewer average but is down more in the demographic this season than either CBS soap opera. DAYS bounced back from series lows but still remains frighteningly low in all measures.

Y&R Still Tops, Despite Post-Pandemic Drops

Both Young & The Restless and Bold & The Beautiful posted impressive gains the week of 7/9 in both women 18-49 and 25-54. Y&R increased 7% from a .43 to a .46, the second-highest the soap has seen all season. The week of 7/16, the highest-rated soap dipped back to a solid .43. Season to date Y&R is down just 7% from last year’s .49 to a .43 in the demographic. Y&R increased 7% in women 25-54 as well, l going from a .69 to a .74 which is among the show’s top five in that demographic. Y&R currently is averaging a .70 for that demographic seas to date.

As previously reported here during the week of July 9th, Young and The Restless saw a small decline in total viewers losing 33,000 viewers from the season highs the previous week to 3.341 million viewers. Y&R inched back up to 3.346 million viewers this past week and currently averages 3.21 million viewers, just 10% below last year’s average. While the soap is down from last year, Y&R remains the leader in all three categories season to date. The CBS daytime drama has been number one in total viewers every season since 1988, the longest run in TV history.

B&B Doing Bold Numbers in Demos

Bold And The Beautiful continued its hot streak during the week of July 9th with a stellar performance in all three categories. B&B jumped 16% in women 18-49 from a .37 to .43 in the demographic to tie its highest rated full week of episodes this season. The only half-hour soap on television dipped 7% this past week to a .40 which is still ahead of B&B’s season average and up 8% from two weeks earlier. Season to date, B&B is number two in women 18-49 with a .38 season to date and is down 12% compared to last year.

In women 25-54, B&B’s increases were even more impressive as it nearly tied Y&R for number one. B&B added 17% more viewers in the demo, jumping from a .62 the previous week to a.73 for the week ending July 9th. The week of July 9th was B&B’s highest rating in the demographic for a full week of episodes since April of 2020. The soap dipped 5% to a .69 this past week, its second-best full week since prior to the shutdown. The soap is averaging a .64 season to date behind Y&R.

GH Doing Best VS LY in Viewers

General Hospital added viewers for the second week in a row, up from 2.105 million to 2.119 million viewers for a 14,000 increase week to week (1 %). This week’s total-viewer average was right in line with the season average of 2.115 million, which is just 3% less than last season’s 2.183 million viewers. GH is down the least among total viewers than all four soap operas season to date.

General Hospital was down in both demographics during the week ending July 9th, despite an increase in total viewers. GH dipped 6% from a .35 to a .32 but rebounded to a .34 the week of July 16th. This was just below its season average of a .35. GH is down 21% from last season in the demographic. In women 25-54. The ABC soap opera dipped similarly in women 25-54., losing 4% of that audience dropped from a .57 to a .55 but rebounded to a .56 for the week of July 16th. Season to date, GH is down 18% in the demographic with a .57.

Brighter Ratings ‘DAYS’ This Week

Days Of Our Lives has had some difficult weeks as of late but has made some moves forward. After hitting s series low just three weeks ago in viewers and both demographics, DAYS hit a 12 week high in total viewers ( see more here) the week of July 16th. In women 18-49, however, DAYS hit another series low in the demographic dropping from a .27 to a .23 and then back up to a .27 the most recent week. Conversely, DAYS jumped in the women 25-54 demographic by nearly 8% to a .43 before dropping back to a .40 the next week.

DAYS Ratings Don’t Ruffle Peacock’s Feathers

Season to date, DAYS is averaging a .31 in women 18-49 and is down 21% in the demographic. The average is also down double digits to a .45 in women 25-54. The NBC soap has not outperformed its average in either demographic since February and remains the lowest-rated soap in all three measures. DAYS was the sole soap opera to continue without an interruption in scheduled episodes during the pandemic-related shutdown. The soap opera did not seem to benefit from the lack of competition and should be a cause of concern for the network. However, the soap operas performance on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock http://www.peacocktv.com, has been strong. NBC renewed DAYS for two more years in April, continuing its run until at least 2023. This was the first multi-year renewal for DAYS in recent memory.