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Rating the decade (1980-89)

 

Over the 80s, some soaps inched they way to the top of the ratingsheap, and others sank slowly to the bottom, eventually disappering altogether.
Chart the progress of your favorite shows in this list of the decade's Nielsen ranking.

(Note : the ratings season is from Oct. to Sept of the next year)

Soap operas list:

 

1980 :

1. GH
2. AMC
3. OLTL
4. Y&R
5. GL
6. ATWT
7. SFT
8. RH
9. AW
10. DAYS
11. THE DOCTORS
12. EON
13. TEXAS
14. LOL (LOVE OF LIFE;
ends Feb. '80)

1981 :

1. GH
2. AMC
2. OLTL (tie)
4. GL
5. Y&R
6. ATWT
7. RH
8. SFT
9. DAYS
10. AW
10. EON (tie)
12. TEXAS
13. THE DOCTORS

1982:

1. GH
2. AMC
3. OLTL
4. GL
5. Y&R
6. ATWT
7. RH
8. DAYS
9. CAPITOL
10. SFT
11. EON
12. AW
13. TEXAS (ends Dec. 1982),
14. THE DOCTORS (ends Dec. 1982)

1983:

1. GH
2. AMC
3. Y&R
4. OLTL
5. ATWT
6. GL
7. CAPITOL
7. DAYS (tie)
9. RH
10. AW
11. LOVING
12. EON
13. SFT

1984:

1. GH
2. AMC
3. Y&R
4. GL
5. OLTL
6. ATWT
7. DAYS
8. CAPITOL
9. AW
10. RH
11. LOVING
12. SANTA BARBARA
13. SFT 
13. EON (tie, ends Dec. 1984)

1985:

1. GH
2. AMC
3. Y&R
4. OLTL
5. GL 
5. LOVING (tie)
7. DAYS
8. ATWT
9. CAPITOL
10. SFT
10. AW (tie)
12. SB
13. RH

1986:

1. GH
2. Y&R
3. AMC
4. OLTL
5. DAYS
6. ATWT
7. GL
8. AW
9. CAPITOL (ends March 1987)
10. SB
11. LOVING
12. RH
13. SFT (ends Dec. 1986)

1987:

1. GH
2. Y&R
3. OLTL
4. AMC
5. DAYS 
5. ATWT (tie)
7. GL
8. B&B
9. AW
10. SB
11. LOVING
12. RH

1988:

1. Y&R
2. GH
3. OLTL
4. AMC
5. DAYS
6. ATWT
7. GL
8. B&B
9. AW
10. SB
11. LOVING
12. RH

1989:

1. Y&R
2. GH
3. OLTL
4. AMC
5. ATWT
6. DAYS
7. GL
8. B&B
9. AW
10. SB
11. LOVING
12. GENERATIONS
13. RH (ends Feb. 1989)

 

 



1981/1982
General Hospital 11.2 All my children 9.4 One life to live 9.3 Guiding light 8.0 The young & the restless 7.4 As the world turns 7.4 Ryan’s hope 6.9 Search for tomorrow (Jan-Mar CBS) 6.8 Capitol 5.8 Days of our lives 5.5 The edge of  night 5.0 Another world 4.7 Texas 3.6 Search for tomorrow (Mar-Dec NBC) 3.4  The doctors 3.3

1982/1983
General Hospital 9.8 All my children 9.4 One life to live 8.1 The young & the restless 8.0 As the world turns 7.6 The guiding light 7.4 Capitol 6.0 Days of our lives 5.7 Ryan’s hope 5.6 Another world 4.8 The edge of night 3.8 Texas 2.7 Search for tomorrow (Nbc) 2.7 The doctors 1.6

1983/1984
General Hospital 10.0 All my children 9.1 The young & the restless 8.8 One live to live 8.2 The guiding light 8.1 As the world turns 7.9 Days of our lives 7.1 Capitol 6.4 Another world 5.6 Ryan’s hope 5.0 Loving 3.9 The edge of night 3.5 Search for tomorrow (Nbc) 3.2

1984/1985
General Hospital 9.1 All my children 8.2 The young & the restless 8.1 Guiding light 7.5 One live to live 7.3 Days of our lives 7.1 As the world turns 7.1 Capitol 5.8 Another world 5.5 Loving 4.1 Ryan’s hope 3.4 Santa Barbara 3.4 Search for tomorrow (Nbc) 3.3 The edge of night 2.6

1985/1986
General Hospital 9.2 The young & the restless 8.3 All my children 8.0 One live to live 7.8 Days of our lives 7.2 Guiding light 6.8 As the world turns 6.7 Capitol 5.1 Another world 5.1 Loving 4.2 Santa Barbara 4.2 Ryan’s hope 3.2 Search for tomorrow 2.9

1986/1987
General Hospital 8.3 The young & the restless 8.0 One live to live 7.2 All my children 7.0 Days of our lives 7.0 As the world turns 7.0 Guiding light 6.3 The bold & the beautiful 5.6 Capitol 5.2 Another world 5.1 Santa Barbara 4.3 Loving 3.9 Ryan’s hope 2.7 Search for tomorrow 2.5

 

Soap Opera

80's CBS stars were gathered together in 1983 (L-R): Charita Bauer (Bert, GL), Elvera Roussel (Hope, GL), Robert Newman (Josh, GL), Beth Maitland (Traci, Y&R), Eileen Davidson (Ashley, Y&R), Todd Curtis (Jordy, Capitol). 2nd row: Hugo Napier (Gunnar, ATWT), David Forsyth (Burke, ATWT), Jerry verDorn (Ross, GL), Lisa Brown (Nola, GL), Nicholas Walker (Trey, Capitol), Debrah Farentino (Sloane, Capitol), Kimberly Beck (Julie, Capitol), Melody Thomas (Nikki, Y&R). 3rd row: Michael Tylo (Quint, GL), Tom Nielsen (Floyd, GL) and David Mason Daniels (Tyler, Capitol).

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