Pre-Wedding Jitters? GH loses 169,000 Viewers From Last Week, Below 2 Million Viewers for the first time since October
General Hospital has had everybody talking this week. That’s something, right? As I type this, Carly and Jason’s wedding is still ongoing- and no, Carly does not know Sonny’s alive yet. Many of you may not be sticking around to find out, at least if ratings are any indication. After GH pulled in 2.12 million viewers, just barely above the season average by just 20,000 viewers, GH took a nosedive in the opposite direction to near season lows. GH averaged 1.951 million viewers, its first week below 2 million since 10.23.2020 and lowest since 10.16.2020. Also troubling, the ABC soap lost 101,000 viewers from last year, for a decline of 5% from the 2.052 million viewers it scored last week.
The demographic ratings, where GH has been underperforming the season average as of late, were even worse. Week to week, the soap declined 19% from a .32 rating, dropping to last place in women 18-49 with a .26 rating. This rating was a series low for the ABC soap opera and was down 31% from last year. The story was the same in women 25-54, with the soap down 19 percent from last week’s .55 and down a massive 30% from a .64.
The season-to-date numbers have GH down 3% from last season’s 2.171 million. The soap opera is down just 53,000 viewers, with 2.118 million tuning in on average this week. In women 18-49, the soap averages a .35 compared to last year’s .45 and a .57 season to date in women 25-54. While GH remains the soap with the smallest decline compared to the previous year in total viewers, the positives stop there. The soap has been unable to move higher than the 2.276 million viewer mark this season, which it hit on 6/25/2021. Since then, the soap has lost 315,000 viewers, down 14 percent.
##DAYS Dips Despite ‘Beyond Salem’ Buzz but moves ahead of GH in Women 18-49
After a month of above-average viewer totals leading up to the premiere of its limited run spinoff, Days of Our Lives dipped 7% to 1.696 million viewers. The 118,000 viewer decline sent the soap below its season average of 1.697 million viewers. The soap also dropped from last season’s comparable week by 74,000 viewers. Season to date DAYS is down the most in total viewers, with 11% fewer people tuning in than last season. The declines were similar in women 18-49 and women 25-54. In women 25-54, the soap was down from the previous week’s .44 and last year’s .48 to a .40 rating. Among women 18-49, DAYS dipped to a .27 from last week’s .29. The positive news was that DAYS moved ahead of GH in the demographic for the first time since February.
While these numbers look dismal for DAYS, it helps to remember that the heavily promoted Beyond: Salem aired on the Peacock streaming service exclusively. There’s a good chance many viewers decided to watch DAYS alongside the special event in primetime. DAYS added 132,000 viewers from before the Olympics to last week; it makes sense that a good chunk of those viewers chose to tune in via Peacock. Of all four soaps, NBC’s DAYS has had the most significant year-to-year declines- despite not having to contend with the shutdown that impacted the other soaps airing of new episodes last year.
We can only guess how well DAYS is performing on Peacock. One thing is for sure: the network renewed it for another two seasons and launched a limited series event spinoff for the soap and promoted the hell out of it. The fact that NBC began airing a promo hyping the upcoming revisiting of Marlena’s demonic possession this past Monday is also telling. DAYS is having a moment, and it looks like NBC sees even better ‘days’ ahead.
B&B Breaks Streak, But Increases in Women 18-49
CBS also saw some declines but still remained ahead of its competitors. B&B broke its five-week 3 million viewer run, dropping to its lowest audience in 7 weeks, losing 68,000 viewers week to week. With 2.959 million viewers, B&B outperformed its season-to-date average of 2.827 million viewers, marking the fifteenth week in a row it has done so. B&B is down 7 percent from the 3.022 million who tuned in last year but well above the series low of 2.038 million last summer. B&B has seen most viewers it lost during the previous year’s hiatus find their way back to the soap.
In demographics, B&B held up better than the previous week when it saw double digit declines week to week. In women 18-49 B&B actually improved from a .32 to a .33 and was the only soap to do so this week. In women 24-54, it dropped 7 percent from .61 to .57, the smallest decline in the demographic among the four soaps. Season to Date, B&B is averaging a .38 in women 18-49 and .64 in women 25-54, with declines far smaller than DAYS and GH.
Y&R Only Soap Not To Drop Year to Year
Young and The Restless saw some declines but still performed ahead of its season average by a wide margin in total viewers. The soap averaged 3.412 million viewers, down 205,000 viewers from the season high it managed last week. Y&R outdid last year’s perfomance by 415,000 viewers, up 14% year to year. The soap also outperformed its season to date average of 3.256 million viewers. In fact, Y&R has outperformed its season average every week of 2021 except for three weeks- better than any soap opera. It was the only soap to not see declines from last year at all- it increased in women 18-49 to a .40 from last year’s .39 and held steady with a .65 in women 25-54.
Totally agree,R.A.
Nice interview. Thanks to both of you for being so open and sharing private personal experiences. It helps others.
Leslie is Monica. She’s also sadly missed. Whatever she decides to do, I’m positive all fans wish her the very…
I apologize for the errors- finding accurate and detailed info on soap storylines is surprisingly tricky. Thank you for the…
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Love your take & style, but proofing could use a nudge.