Latest Soap Opera Ratings: Week of 10/29/21
All four soaps remained in their familiar spots, with the rankings unchanged. The consistent combination of sister soaps on CBS led the way, although Y&R did lose a little ground. Thankfully B&B bounced back in both demos. ABC and NBC had something to celebrate with both GH and DAYS posting gains for the week.
Young & The Restless is Continues Run at #1
Y&R had its first “bad” week of the season and dropped in every category. Y&R averaged 3.527 million viewers, declining 4 percent and losing 160,000 viewers from last week. But its really not bad at all considering Y&R was up 12 percent, with an additional 370,000 viewers from last year. The hour long CBS soap was down in both demographics, dropping 5 percent to a .38 in women 18-49 and a 2 percent decline in women 25-54 to a .64 rating. Y&R was number one in all three categories as it has been without fail since Christmas of last year. But, the soap did fall harder than normal from last year, losing 10 percent of its women 18-49 audience and 11 percent in the older demographic.
Ashland’s Medical Mystery Deepened As Billy Continues to Plot Against Him
This past week in Genoa City, there was a lot of discussion about Ashland and Adam. Ashland and Victoria received some bad news about Ashland’s health. Meanwhile Billy continued to plot against Ashland, Victor and Adam. Sharon confronted Billy for plotting against Adam. Then Rey confronted Sharon for confronting Billy for plotting against Adam. Phyllis got closer to Nick but by the end of the week they seemed back on thin ice. Ashland’s medical mystery deepened. I don’t know how the show does it- but it gets viewers. The complex situation facing Mariah, Tessa, Devon and their attachment to the baby moved towards its unavoidable dramatic turn as the week ended
| Series | Total Viewers | % Last Week | % Last Year | Women 18-49 | % Last Week | % Last Year | Women 25-54 | % Last Week | % Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young & The Restless | 3.527 | -4% | +12% | .38 | -5% | -10% | 0.64 | -2% | -11% |
| Bold & The Beautiful | 2.972 | 0% | +9% | .34 | +6% | 0% | 0.59 | +7% | -8% |
| General Hospital | 2.231 | +2% | +8% | .33 | +14% | -5% | 0.54 | +13% | -5% |
| Days of Our Lives | 1.673 | +6% | -1% | .27 | +8% | -18% | 0.37 | +3% | -19% |
Bold & The Beautiful Looking Better Than It Had Recently
B&B had a pretty good week- and was basically flat with last week with 2.974 milllion viewers compared to 2.982 million viewers. The 8,000 viewer difference was a statistically insignificant drop, plus the soap was way up from last year with an additional 251,000 viewers tuning in. B&B was up by 6 percent to hit a .34 rating in women 18-49 and up 7 percent to a .59 in women 25-54. B&B matched its performance last year in women 18-49 but dropped 8 percent in the older demographic. Definitely a stronger showing than recent weeks overall.
B&B’s Uncomfortable Pairings Aren’t Upsetting Viewers… Yet
The younger CBS soap is managing to lure in viewers to watch some seriously uncomfortable romantic entanglements. Nothing was has been more off-putting for Hope and Finn than seeing their ex-con parents, Deacon and Sheila get friendly in public. The two schemers tried to convince Hope and Finn their romance is not some scam. After Liam and Steffy vowed to keep their marriages safe from the criminal in-laws they are troubled by, Liam lost it as Hope interfered in Steffy’s marriage. The most icky story appears to Eric was reminded of his virility by Donna and went back home to make love to Quinn. Quinn was none too pleased when she realized the cause of Eric’s rise to the occasion. Quinn lashed out at the Logan sisters in epic fashion.
General Hospital Has A Very Healthy Week
GH had the best week of the soaps with an additional 51,000 viewers turning in, an increase of 2 percent to 2.231 million viewers. The ABC soap was up from last year by 169,000 viewers, an increase of 8 percent. GH was up in both women 18-49 (+14 percent to .34) and 25-54 (+13 percent to .54) week to week, a reversal of the past few weeks. GH dropped just 5 percent in both demographics- which is a a marked improvement over the soap’s year-to-year performance so far this season.
Peter’s Refusal To Die Has Fans Stewing, But Sonny’s Return is Popular- Cassidine Drama Looming
GH’s Brooklynn duped Austin as he gets closer to Maxie. Sonny seemed to be softening to Nina, especially as they both expressed interest in buying Charlie’s for Phyllis. All the positivity went out the window as Michael hatched a scheme- much to Willow’s dismay. Shawn and Alexis realized the truth about Nikolas and Hayden. Spencer got a job, while his father revealed to Ava that he struck a deal with Valentin’s father Victor. All of this was not lost on Anna who already seems to know Nikolas is knee deep in Cassidine drama.. Valentin got to GH alive and heading into surgery- just in time for Gladys to try to tell him about Brooklynn’s deception. Jason and Britt went to Greece to save Liesl from Peter. Sam and Dante returned home unsure if Drew was alive or dead. Viewers learned Drew is under Peter’s control.
Days of Our Lives Took Advantage of Halloween To Great Effect
DAYS was up 6 percent in total viewers with an additional 90,000 tuning in this week to bring its audience up to 1.673 million viewers. This was the biggest audience for the NBC soap in five weeks and was down just 1 percent from last year (down 16,000 viewers). Week to week in the demographics, DAYS was up 8 percent to .27 in women 18-49 and inched up 3 percent to .38 in women 25-54. Compared to last year, DAYS was down a steep 18% in the younger demo and 19 percent in the older group. I want to mention that outside of the networks, nobody has a clue how any of the soaps perform via streaming.
The Dead Came Back To Haunt Salem Thanks To Marlena/Ciara and Ben Get Baby News
DAYS made the best of Halloween as viewers witnessed some heaven and some hell. After he flatlined on the operating table, viewers got to revisit decades of Abe Carver on the show while exploring the afterlife complete with a recast of his wife with a younger actress. With John now aware of the presence of Satan in Marlena, the dark one is acting with impunity- she resurrected some very evil villains to torment the people of Salem. Johnny and Allie messed about with a Quija board and got some shocking answers. Kristen returned to lash out at EJ before making a run for it with Rachel- only to be stopped by Stephen. Ciara and Ben learned that they are having a baby. Belle wondered why her mother is so interested in the baby.
I am looking forward to SOAP OPERA NETWORK’s promised report on Live Plus 7 Day ratings tomorrow. I’ll do a deep dive into those numbers this week as well!
Raw data courtesy of Soap Opera Network.
