The latest ratings are out for the week of August 17- 21, 2026. Two daytime dramas showed an uptick in total viewers week-over-week, while two did not, and General Hospital moved back into 3rd place over Beyond the Gates in the key women’s 18-49 ratings share, and tied with the CBS soap for 3rd place for the key women’s 25-54 ratings share.

According to Soap Opera Network via data supplied via Nielsen’s Live+Same Day, Big Date +Panel model, CBS’s The Bold and the Beautiful showed the most gains in total viewers adding +12,000 and bringing its year-over-year tally to +262,000. For the week of August 17, B&B had an average audience of 2,688,000 tuning-in.

The central story focused on Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Carter Walton (Lawrence Saint-Victor) bonding over their crumbling marriages while eachwas on drunken bender, they slept together. Meanwhile, Finn (Tanner Novlan) rushed back to Los Angeles from Monaco to salvage his relationship with his wife, and Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) turned around and headed back from the airport to reconcile with Carter after walking out on their marriage.

GENERAL HOSPITAL

Over at General Hospital, the ABC soap opera added +8,000 total viewers for the week with an average of 1,856,000 tuning-in from August 17 to 21. The series is still under the 2 million mark for the last few consecutive weeks. Year-over-year at this time, GH is -35,000 off the pace from 2025.

In story, there was drama across Port Charles with shifting alliances, explosive confrontations, and shocking revelations including: Jason (Steve Burton) quitting the mob and informing Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Ric (Rick Hearst) getting jealous of Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) and Elizabeth’s (Rebecca Herbst) closeness, and Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Tracy (Jane Elliot) finding out Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) moved back into the Quartermaine gatehouse.

Photo: JPI

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

As for the top-rated The Young and the Restless, they remained the most-watched soap opera of all losing -14,000 for the week, but still up +90,000 year-over-year and averaging 3,027,000 viewers for the ratings week.

The Y&R drama centered around stories including; Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) causing chaos by declaring that Chancellor Industries belongs to the Abbotts, while the aftermath of Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Marie (Jade Harlow) night together in a seedy hotel which landed them both in rehab continues to haunt Nick.

Photo: CBS

BEYOND THE GATES

Finally at Beyond the Gates, the newest soap in the line-up lost only -1,000 in total audience for the week, with 1,647,000 tuning in and the series is considerably up year-over-year with +132,000.

Beyond the Gates featured a series of showdowns and explosive secrets coming to light including: Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis) confronting a hospitalized Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) about his intentions toward Dani (Karla Mosley), while Andre’s (Sean Freeman) dark past with Heather Armstrong (Ashley Jones) came to light.

So, what do you think of the latest ratings picture and performance of your favorite soap? Which daytime drama from broadcast television is piquing your interest the most? Which is not? Let us know via the comment section.

The marriage of Chase (Josh Swickard) and Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) just took a nosedive on the Friday, September 4 episode of General Hospital, while Trina (Tabyana Ali) got an earful,  Anna (Finola Hughes) lured Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) into a trap in the middle of nowhere, and oh, yes! Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarksi) and Rocco (Finn Carr) shared their first kiss.

Here’s the takeaways from Cliffhanger Friday.  First, as the Quartermaines host a Labor Day weekend party, Chase’s suspicions about Brook Lynn being the other driver in Jordan’s (Tanisha Harper) car accident grew while cutting limes with Emma (Braedyn Bruner) in the kitchen. There, Emma mentioned that Brook actually arrived late to Charlie’s Pub and missed the first song of the night during Trina and Gio’s (Giovanni Mazza) performance.

Now loaded for bear, Chase sees Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) in the Quartermaine foray, and asks to speak with her in the kitchen, privately. Having put two and two together (for once! Chase can’t seem to do that where Willow’s concerned) he tells Lucy, he knows she lied in her statement to the police pointing the finger at Willow for the car accident and demanded the truth!

Courtesy/ABC

ROUTE 91

Meanwhile, Jordan is also present at the party, and Tracy (Jane Elliot) and Michael (Rory Gibson) tell her that they want her to keep a close eye on Drew (Cameron Mathison) while working at Aurora Media. Inside the living room, Lucy is making a hasty exit from the party after spilling the beans to Chase. Next, a pissed off Chase pulls Brook Lynn into the kitchen.

Then, he tells his wife his theory of what happened the night Jordan got in a car crash. Chase says Brook Lynn’s car was on Route 91 at the same time of Curtis (Donnell Turner) and Jordan’s car crash. However, Chase thinks she is covering for someone in the family. Brook Lynn promises to talk to him more about this later when they are alone, but it’s too late. Outside on the terrace, Trina heard the whole thing!

Now in the living room, and getting ready to hear Gio and Trina do a performance from their set at the club earlier in the week, Chase and Brook Lynn look upset. Trina comes into the room looking very angry and demands to know the truth from Brook Lynn! She wants to know if she was the driver of the other car who left her dad and Jordan at the side of the road.

Courtesy/ABC

ARE WE OUT OF THE WOODS?

Meanwhile, Anna who is off her rocker, has lured Britt (who stupidly went to meet her) out in the middle of the woods. Jason (Steve Burton) got wind of where Britt is, when Sonny (Maurice Benard) informed he sold some land to Anna. Jason is trying to get a hold of Britt fearing she is walking into a trap, but she is not answering her phone.

When Britt finally catches up with Anna, she asks her why did they have to meet in the middle of the boondocks? Suddenly, Anna pulls out a gun and replies, “So no one can hear you scream.” We fade to black.

courtesy/ABC

FIRST KISS

As one thing has lead to another, Scout and Rocco have found themselves leaning on each other and developing feelings for one another. In story, Rocco and Scout picked up Outback and went to the boathouse for one last swim before the summer comes to an end.

While they swam, Outback ran off and wound up back where he was earlier, in the wood,s trying to dig up Jack! Back at the boathouse following their swim, Scout and Rocco have a heart-to-heart, where Scout admits she feels the only person who truly understands her through all the turmoil she has gone through with her dad and brother is Rocco. The two share a kiss.

Now below, check out the scene between Chase and Lucy where he demands she amends her statement to the police as Brook Lynn becomes the chief suspect in running Jordan and Curtis off the road causing their car crash.

Weigh-in: When all is said and done, isn’t Jordan the person who is responsible for her own crash, by taking her eyes off the road to kiss her ex-husband, Curtis Ashford? Do you think Brook Lynn’s cover-up will send Chase running in the direction of Willow and the two will hit the sheets? Glad to see Scout and Rocco share a lip-lock? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.

This Labor Day, General Hospital will show an encore presentation of its touching tribute to the late Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer). The news came from ABC executive, Nathan Varni who shared the information across social media.

Varni expressed, “Save the date! ABC will encore our very special farewell tribute to Tony Geary this Labor Day, Monday, September 7.”

The episode was originally broadcast on February 20, 2026, and honored to the late eight-time Daytime Emmy winner, who sadly passed away on December 14, 2025 at the age of 78.

Photo: ABC

The tribute episode centered on Luke’s daughter Lulu (Alexa Havins) finally grieving the loss of her father after she had come out of a four-year long coma and never dealt with her grief on learning the news of his death.

WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE ON-SCREEN REMEMBRANCE OF LUKE SPENCER?

The other characters who remember their time with Luke who are included in the episode with many flashbacks were: Tracy (Jane Elliot), Sonny (Maurice Benard), Carly (Laura Wright), Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) and of course, Laura (Genie Francis).

Behind the scenes, General Hospital wanted to pay tribute to its most iconic star, but since the character of Luke was killed-off in 2022 off-screen, after Geary retired, there wasn’t an easy creative route to go when Geary passed away in real-life. However, the writers did a commendable job with this special episode in tying in memories and remembrances of Luke through Lulu’s grief as a starting point.

Photo: ABC

THE LAST APPEARANCE OF TONY GEARY ON GENERAL HOSPITAL

Anthony Geary exited General Hospital in 2015 after his record-setting eight Daytime Emmy Lead Actor wins for his work. He then moved to Amsterdam full-time to live with his husband, Claudio Gama.

Two years later, Geary made one final appearance on GH, when in 2017 he popped in the last scene of what was Jane Elliot’s then departure from the show when Tracy was reunited with Luke in Europe.

You can check out the original promo for the special episode “Remembering Luke Spencer” and the late Tony Geary from back in February of this year below.

Now let us know, will you be watching the Anthony Geary tribute again this coming Monday? Do you miss seeing the character of Luke Spencer in Port Charles? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.