Days Of Our Lives
RATINGS: All Soaps Down, But Y&R and DAYS Show Uptick In 18-49 Key Demo!
The ratings are out for the week of October 31st through November 4th, and overall it was not a good week for your favorite network daytime drama series. All four came up with losses in the total viewer column led by The Young and the Restless with -32,000.
ABC’s General Hospital lost the least with -3,000 average total viewers. All soaps are well-behind where they were last week at that time a year ago, except The Bold and the Beautiful who while losing -29,000 for this ratings period is still up +168,000 from this same time last year.
Days of our Lives is down from this year at this year overall, but last year at this time was the series 50th anniversary storylines centering around the return of Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) and his subsequent death.
The good news for DAYS is that it gained (+8,000) in the all important 18-49 womens demo for this ratings period. Only one other soap, Y&R also showed gains in the demo (+22,000). Y&R also gained across the board in all key demos as well, the only soap to do so, adding 18-34 and 25-54 viewers.
Unfortunately, General Hospital was down in all key demos. It was the only soap to do so for the ratings week. You can view the entire ratings picture via SON here.
Total Viewers (versus previous week/versus same week last year)
1. The Young and the Restless 4,594,000 (-32,000/-265,000)
2. The Bold and the Beautiful 3,688,000 (-29,000/+168,000)
3. General Hospital 2,638,000 (-3,000/-239,000)
4. Days of our Lives 2,172,000 (-10,000/-549,000)
Women 18-49 Viewers
1. The Young and the Restless 596,000 (+22,000/-197,000)
2. The Bold and the Beautiful 491,000 (-10,000/-57,000)
3. General Hospital 450,000 (-2,000/-109,000)
4. Days of our Lives 379,000 (+8,000/-176,000)
So, it’s time for you to be our Soap Opera Executive Armchair Quarterback: Which soap opera do you think is working? Which soap opera needs the most help? What constructive ways would you attempt to fix it if you were in charge? Share your thoughts and plans in the comment section below!
Days Of Our Lives is not working. It’s like a ship adrift at sea. The show has abused the good will of its audience repeatedly. The Bold And The Beautiful is working, mainly because it sets its bar so low that it is successful in achieving what it sets out to do – which isn’t much. The Young And The Restless is working best of all at the moment. It has great dialogue and some really committed actors. Finally, my soap, General Hospital. GH has the best cast in daytime but it has not been working for quite a while. The reasons are quite obvious to most readers of this site – a bloated cast, plot driven storytelling, characters sidelined and story lines abandoned and left unresolved. My biggest problem with GH is the way it is edited. All the quick cuts from scene to scene destroy the momentum and undercut the drama. It needs longer scenes with better dialogue that actually move the story along. It needs to focus on a limited number of stories which actually have a beginning, a middle and a resolution before appearing on screen. It should stop re-writing its own history and utilize its rich history in a more compelling way. I watch the show out of loyalty and because of the amazing actors, but I do not enjoy it that much. It’s frustrating – all of the elements for a great soap are there but the powers that be are either unwilling or unable to produce a show of substance. I’ll keep watching in the hope that it will get it better. Long live GH!
I agree with you on most points Mister Media when critiquing GH. I’d like to add that most all stories have been pretty depressive starting mainly with Fluke. Most recently there’s Sabrina, Morgan, and Nicholas dying in unpleasant ways followed by mourning/funerals; GH’s serial killer; Tracy, Monica, Finn, almost dying; GH shutting down for a while; Alexis/Julian/slit throat/ court case/, etc….Whew! I have to come up for air. Where is love, adventure, happiness/weddings, longer-term marriages, fun? It’s not to say there can’t be a little of the “depressive” kind of story, just not a diet of it.
Dragging out Morgans death showcasing too much Sonny and Carly plus Finns disease and connecting Hayden to it(two characters i find pointless) is a major problem here and all that other gloominess you mentioned is a real turn off-barely watched this week!!!
I want the Sonny pity party to end. GH should not be this depressing. GH is just plain awful right now.
It is depressing…im battling my own depression as it is-why i rarely watch anymore!!!
The Mourning Morgan show has gone on way too long and it’s just a drag. This has been arguably the worse November for Americans of all time–we could use some good old fashioned escapism served up with side of levity. I mean, really, can GH please stop indulging Maurice Benard’s desire to win that Emmy? His ego is hurting the show and henceforth, causing the ratings to plummet.
Days need s too get out of that dark tunnel its trapped in…nothing but unhappy people week after week…they need to find some light at the end of the tunnel before it ends in permanent darknes scalled cancelation!!!
Days has become a total embarrassment and deserves these awful ratings. It is downright shameful what Ken Corday, the producers, and the inept revolving door of hack writers have allowed this once iconic show to become. They have disgusted and alienated so many longtime fans. Besides myself, a good number of people I personally know who watched the show regularly for decades tuned out for good earlier this year and honestly don’t even care if/when it gets cancelled (probably within the next few months). I’m sure there are plenty more who feel that way. Very, very sad.
Amen to everything said above.
Ditto!
Enjoying both DAYS and GH right now! CBS soaps annoy me ever since the Procter and Gamble shows were cancelled! Especially miss GL!
I have officially given up on GH.
A soap should offer an escape from the horrors of the real world. I don’t find it a “break” to watch a show that does nothing but endlessly glorify a career criminal who murdered an innocent man and beat the rap.
I agree ! Plus, the writing is uneven; it seems that everyone hates the same bad guys except Sonny . For example , Anna is stopping the Casadine guy from taking his daughter with him because he’s a bad guy and nobody likes him; yet, everyone loves Sonny who’s killed everyone except his mother.
It seems, to me;
the soaps are being written for people in nursing and retirement homes, and that’s none of us..
Well, you are mostly correct. The formulas that were used 20 and 30 years ago are still being used. The problem is trying to attract young viewers and not alienating older folks.
Still shocks me that days has 2.1 and GH 2.6 million viewers and they are still on tv but sooo many soaps that died before has more viewers and still canned.
I’m reminded of Another World being canceled over Sunset beachwhole AW had more viewers than either current BOTTOM 2 soaps. AMC n OLTL I believe had 2.6 millimion viewers the months leading up to going off the air.
Sad really that soaps haven’t learned anything in 3 – 4 years!
Just wanted to correct your statement. AW was canceled in favor of Passions, not Sunset Beach.
After being a 30 year viewer of the soaps The Young and Restless and The Bold and Beautiful. I notice with The Young and the Restless the writters are tring to write the show like a night time drama. The storylines are to long and most of the time the writters seem to forget what they wrote previouly, causing confusion we as views are very detailed when it comes to your storyline we since when the storyline has gone too long and see’s where the storyline seems to unravel. The Bold and Beautiful on the other hand what happened to the other characters what happened to the core essense of the show about fashion. The storylines I know them by hard they have become so predictable because the storylines are all the same. Please, stop this Brook and Ridge storyline it’s 2016 . No, one seems to care about morals and respect for each ones family. The Bold and Beautiful has lost alot of their viewers because the writers think we are dumb and can just write about anything just to get a rating. I love the soaps but the standard they once lived by has disappeared. Just utter mess!!
I think Steve Burton, should come back and shake things up on GH,because I haven’t been watching it’s to boring right now,let the real jason and sam be together, and give the story line a shocking twist, I have some ideas like Billy miller isn’t really jason and Helena did some a crazy twist to make the people think that Billy miller is really jason, but he is really jason twin brother,I think that plot just might work and get the fans on the edge of their feet!!!!!!
As a newcomer to Bold & Beautiful I have to say it grabbed me from the beginning, I love the way it’s filmed; the sets are stunning and I like characters, relationships, rivalries, ties, romance, dialog. I’ve followed just a bit of the boards here on this show since I’ve only been down to GH after OLTL left the house…so I know a bit about the dynamics, triangles ( of which there seems to be several) do it might get old fast but for now it’s a go for me.
Ditto for Y&R in terms of being a new viewer and I can take it or leave it. I think if zi allowed myself to get immersed in it Ri’d enjoy it…but I don’t find any of it compelling…and I don’t feel a pull toward any of the characters…save for Travis and the currently but soon to be resurrected Billy.
GH. I’ll hang with GH, but after watching Stone and Barbara Jean’s death scenes from days of yore that MF posted the other day…the contrast from the deep, deep connections between the characters and the emotionally compelling drama of those stories to the current relationships and drama is striking. People complain that GH is too dark, too depressing now, but it was beyond so back then with those stories sired. Stone’s illness and death gutted me, more so than any GH current stories even with the rash of recent deaths. The older GH stories were so gut-wrenching…even in rewatching those clips. And the ties between the characters were so strong..you FELT their connection to each other….The writers need to go back and take notes as to what made those friends and families so compelling, so vital…that it was hard to separate fantasy from reality.
I have watched soaps for a very long time, and I loved the genre, but even this vet of soap watching has thrown in the towel– I stopped watching Days daily a while back, I might flip to it during a commercial but rarely remember– as for GH it is on the fast track on being next on my list— there is not one story on GH that has my attention– and this is supposed to be November sweeps– this is supposed to be their A game— if this is their best stuff heaven help us when the Christmas doldrums hit— B&B is okay but I can only take that show in small doses so I was never a daily follower of that soap– And like others I am hanging in for Y&R– hoping the new direction will make this soap must watch t.v. again— otherwise I would be flipping stations to find something more interesting to watch, which happens a lot more than I would like with Y&R.
Bold,/Beautiful: I love the changed Quinn, her and Eric make a good couple, please dont insert Katy to change her back to the crazy Quinn, I want Ridge Steffy Pam Rick have to apoligize to Eric and Quinn, DONT MESS THIS COUPLE UP THEY ARE GOOD TOGETHER.
Gh is gold in terms of acting. The Morgan storyline proves it. However, the focus needs to change a bit. Maybe a natural disaster story the night of the next Nurses ball could serve as a reset. Some new characters are working but some are clearly not. Valery : needs to be gone. Ditto for Dillon and Kiki. We dont need them anymore. Nina is a keeper and so is Franco and the priest. A reset could fix things and set the focus to new stories.
Y&R bring Adam back and let him and Chelsea. Be happy for a change . Days of our lives give Teresa and Brady a chance and it’s time for Chad and his wife return and be together my 2 favourite shows
“Days of our Lives is down from this year at this year overall, but last year at this time was the series 50th anniversary storylines centering around the return of Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) and his subsequent death.”
Did you seriously just write that Mr. Fairman?
Days is down from 2015
…and 2014
… and 2013
… and 2012
… and 2011
… and every other year!
Days has just had its worst October ever, and is on course for its worst November sweeps ever. They are SUBSTANTIALLY down from all preceding years.
All they have to do is get a new Thressa why do that story with the sum bag from her past I still love days its like a dear old friend young and restless too
So sick of Y & R’s writers selective memory. Why are they NOT bringing up the issue that Chelsea knew that Connor was not Dylon’s son and lied about it to him . Sharon was a victim in this baby scam. Sharon, unlike Chelsea, did not know that Christian was not theirs. When is Nick, finally, going to take responsibility for this whole mess and what he did to Dr Addison ? Can’t wait until Christian’s true paternity surfaces and Nick and Chelsea get what they deserve for being so hateful !!
Days Of Our Lives
Kristian Alfonso Returns to Days of our Lives for Tribute to The Late Bill Hayes
After a few weeks of Days of our Lives fans being upset that Kristian Alfonso (Hope Williams) was not on the first list of initial returns for Doug Williams’ funeral and episodes honoring his portrayer, the late Bill Hayes, comes word that the popular star is back and taping scenes.
Kristian reported to work on the Peacock streaming soap opera on Monday, April 22nd. She shared how important it is for her to be back for this particular return to the show that made her a household name.
“My return is very bittersweet,” Alfonso told TV Insider, “because it is the end of an era with Bill gone. So to return to Days is very sad. I am appreciative that they came to me to include me in their series of shows honoring Doug and I’m very happy to see everyone, but I’m entering the studio with a heavy heart.”
Photo: JPI
It was back in 1983 that Kristian first debuted as Doug’s daughter, and now 41 years later looking back at it, and her time with Bill Hayes is very emotional for her.
“I remember my first scenes with him/ He was very loving, very welcoming. That he was very talented and an incredible actor and an icon, that all goes without saying, but my personal relationship and my working relationship with Bill, it was home,” expressed Alfonso. “Doing the scenes with Bill, I felt like I was with my dad because there was so much warmth and reality.”
Photo: JPI
Alfonso did express some deep regret, in that she had wanted to work with Bill Hayes during her last appearance on the soap back in 2023, but according to the iconic actress, there was something in the works but it never materialized. “I’m sad that I did not get the opportunity to do the storyline that Ron (Carlivati, head writer) had planned/ It was great; we returned to Salem to reunite with our families and I would have had father/daughter scenes with Billy. What Ron had written was beautiful and emotional and it was a fantastic story. I was 100 percent for it and the fans would have loved it.”
Photo: JPI
As for if Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope will be back on-screen together anytime soon, Kristian would only say, “What I will say is don’t give up hope.” Doug’s passing and memorial episodes will stream later this year come late November into December.
So, are you happy to learn that Kristian Alfonso is back taping episodes surrounding Doug’s memorial episodes? Comment below.
Breaking News
Steve Kent Reportedly OUT as Sony Pictures Television VP in Charge of DAYS and Y&R
On Friday, reports surfaced that Steve Kent, Senior Executive Vice President of Programming at Sony Pictures Television, is no longer with the company and overseeing the Sony soap operas, Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless.
According to Soap Opera Digest, a set side source reported that Kent’s last day was last Friday, April 12th, which was one day after what would have been his final appearance in his Sony VP role at the Days of our Lives 15,000th episode on set celebration.
During that ceremony, Kent gave a brief speech giving kudos to DAYS for its incredible milestone. Days is a co-production of Sony Pictures Television and Corday Productions, while Y&R is produced by Bell Dramatic Serial Company in association with Sony Pictures Television.
Photo: JPI
Kent started his soap opera career as a producer for CBS’ defunct Capitol and then as the supervising producer of NBC’s Santa Barbara from1984 to 1993.
Photo: JPI
At Sony, before his role overseeing the soaps, Kent was Senior Executive Vice President of International Productions for Sony Pictures Television International department.
If reports are true, the question becomes who has taken over his position, and would oversee DAYS and Y&R from the Sony side? Share your thoughts on this developing story via the comment section below.
Breaking News
(WATCH) 2024 Daytime Emmy Nominations Special Live!
After exciting morning for your favorite daytime stars when they were revealed to be nominees for the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards comes tonight 10th annual Daytime Emmy Nominations Special.
Beginning at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT, several of the nominees will talk with Michael Fairman on their reactions to the news they have been nominated for a Daytime Emmy, share what scenes they submitted that landed in the top five or six in their respective performer acting categories and much more.
Scheduled to appear are: Days of our Lives nominees, Tamara Braun (Ava), Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Linsey Godfrey (Sarah), The Young and the Restless nominees: Allison Lanier (Summer), Michelle Stafford (Phyllis), Courtney Hope (Sally), Bryton James (Devon), The Bold and the Beautiful’s John McCook (Eric), General Hospital nominees, Finola Hughes (Anna) and Alley Mills (Heather), and The Bay’s Mike Manning (Caleb).
Photo: JPI
The 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ on Friday night, June 7th and emanating, once again this year from the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Photo: JPI
For a full list of this year’s nominations click here.
Now, watch below as the stars chat it up as we celebrate their Daytime Emmy Nominations. If you have a potential question you might want posed to any of our guests, drop it in the comment section below and we just might ask it on air.
Sean Kanan’s Stepdaughter, Juliet Vega, to Appear on The Bold and the Beautiful
Cameron Mathison Previews New Game Show ‘Beat The Bridge’ (Promo)
Y&R’s Michelle Stafford Talks on Her Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Nomination, Allison Lanier, and ‘Pacific Palisades’ with Finola Hughes
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Nina Confronts Ava for Sabotaging Her Relationship With Sonny and Signs the Divorce Papers
Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts and Marlene King Land ‘Calabasas’, a Soap in the Vein of the ‘O.C’ and ‘Beverly Hills 90210’, at Netflix
‘Knots Landing’s’ Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark Reunite for Los Angeles Ballet Season 18 Gala
The Young and the Restless Preview: Ashley’s New Alter Emerges
Stephen Schnetzer Talks On His Return to Days of our Lives and Working with Susan Seaforth Hayes In Emotional Episodes
(WATCH) 2024 Daytime Emmy Nominations Special Live!
51st Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations: CBS Soaps Score Most, Eric Braeden, Dick Van Dyke, Guy Pearce Receive Nods
Cameron Mathison Previews New Game Show ‘Beat The Bridge’ (Promo)
Y&R’s Michelle Stafford Talks on Her Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Nomination, Allison Lanier, and ‘Pacific Palisades’ with Finola Hughes
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Nina Confronts Ava for Sabotaging Her Relationship With Sonny and Signs the Divorce Papers
AEW Dynasty: Swerve Strickland Becomes AEW World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Perry Returns, Will Ospreay Retires Move After Scary Finish
GH’s Finola Hughes Chats on Her Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Nomination, New Directions for Characters in Port Charles, and Anna’s Love Life
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General HospitalApril 21, 2024‘Knots Landing’s’ Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark Reunite for Los Angeles Ballet Season 18 Gala
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General HospitalApril 15, 2024General Hospital’s Steve Burton Reveals the Emotional Scene He Almost Could Not Get Through
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NewsApril 20, 2024The Young and the Restless Preview: Ashley’s New Alter Emerges
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RecapsApril 14, 2024Y&R’s Eileen Davidson Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’
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Days Of Our LivesApril 19, 2024Stephen Schnetzer Talks On His Return to Days of our Lives and Working with Susan Seaforth Hayes In Emotional Episodes
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Days Of Our LivesApril 14, 2024Days of our Lives wins WGA Award for Daytime Drama Series