Courtesy/CBS
The ratings are finally out for the week of November 12th-16th (they were delayed due to the Thanksgiving holiday) which were a key ratings week as part of this year’s November Sweeps. Two soaps told some compelling drama, and were thus rewarded for their efforts from the soap viewing public!
The big ratings winner though goes to The Bold and the Beautiful for an excellent PR push using online media, clips, and revealing slowly but surely when to tune-in to make sure fans do not miss key moments of the last several episodes of Susan Flannery as Stephanie Forrester. The ratings for this week were reflected by the heart-tugging second and third installment of Stephanie’s goodbye party. B&B added + 139,000 viewers for the week and added to their number two spot lead overall among all the remaining soaps. B&B also went up one tenth in the household ratings share and the key 18-49 female demo.
Meanwhile, as Stephanie’s sad episodes were playing out on B&B, over at General Hospital fans were dazzled by the stunning reveal that Duke’s false face belonged to the evil Faison, who is also back from the dead! And the fact that Faison has the real Duke and Robin! And if that was not enough, Tristan Rogers returned by the end of the week as Robert Scorpio, as Carly confronted another back from the dead character, A. J. Quartermaine! GH for their efforts landed a 2-year high in the key 18-34 female demo, and even though they shockingly slipped in total viewers – 17,000 for the week, they are still way up from a year ago at this time with 2,807,000 viewers.
The Young and the Restless is still holding steady at number one with4, 343,000 viewers although some fans have been critical of their not-to-exciting plots at this point under the new regime of Jill Farren Phelps and Josh Griffith. However, time will tell, as they are still putting the pieces back together after Maria Arena Bell’s tenure and plotting the new course and direction of the core characters and launching new stories. Y&R also gained in the key 18-49 female demo adding +41,000 viewers while maintaining its number one position in the slot, but watch for GH! The lone ABC show is not far behind!
Over at Days of our Lives, Kristen DiMera’s story with John, Marlena and Brady continued, as well as Gabi’s pregnancy story with baby daddy, Will. And, Eric Brady returned as a man of the cloth, but DAYS is losing viewers once again. The series lost the most viewers for the week with -134,000 and lost viewers in the key 18-34 and 18-49 female demo. You can view the entire ratings picture here courtesy of Soap Opera Network.
OK soapers, your turn! Time to be our Soap Opera Programming Executive Armchair Quarterback! What worked for you during this ratings period? What do you think the soaps need to do to perk up your interest and keep you tuning in? What adjustments would you make to DAYS, Y&R, GH, or B&B, if you think some should be made? Weigh-in!
SUSAN says: 
Ces 
margie 
RobinAshleyLove 
Mary SF 
ashlee 
susan M. 
Tsuds 
MK 
Patrick 
Mish