Daytime drama ratings skyrocket due to self sheltering

The coronavirus is one of the most dreadful things to hit this earth and is impacting people around the world. The loss of life and businesses shutting down. and soaring unemployment have impacted every person on the globe. With all due respect to each and every victim, and their loved ones, there is a positive side to this horrific pandemic. There has actually been an up swing in viewership of afternoon television programming because of those who are self isolating. According to TVline. sheltering in place is having an enormous effect on the four remaining daytime drama’s. Ratings have gone through the roof for the soaps and in the midst some scheduling adjustments have been made, so viewers need to be mindful.

General Hospital will will begin having “Flashback Friday” episodes. This is being done in order to not run out of new episodes as the ABC sudser stopped producing new programming in early March. The change begins Friday April 3 and will continue through May 22. Each encore episode will be introduced by a different General Hospital cast member who will give highlights for that particular day’s show. On this first Flasback Friday, Laura Wright who portrays Carly Corinthos will announce the ABC daytime drama’s 56th anniversary episode from 2019. This was a great episode and now those who missed it have a chance to see it.

Airing flash back episodes Is currently scheduled to continue through May 22. It will be fun watching each encore performance feature an introduction from a current General Hospital cast member, who is highlighting the episode. Remember that from Monday through Thursday GH will continue to air new programs. NBC’s Days of Our Lives will not be immediately affected as they shoot episodes eight months in advance. They should have enough programs taped to last through the fall. The popular soap opera could, however, experience preemptions, should local, state, or national news broadcasts related to the coronavirus be aired. Over at CBS, The Bold and The Bold and the Beautiful has shut down production but there has been no news of how they will proceed in the future.

The Young and the Restless on the other hand, recently announced how they are handling the hiatus from taping. The number one daytime drama will begin airing new episodes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday according to Soap Dirt, and will run classic past episodes on Thursday and Friday until further notice. No date has been given for when this will start so watch your local listings closely. Initially Y&R prepaid for two weeks of down time, but the coronavirus has caused them to extend the deadline until sheltering in place is lifted.

In the midst of the devastation from the coronavirus, and all the various adjustments, there is a bright spot for daytime drama’s. Now that a majority of the nation is self sheltering inside their homes, the four remaining soap operas are enjoying seeing their ratings skyrocket. This indicates the viewers still love these programs in spite of having other options and perhaps the powers that be will keep them around for a while. Decades ago there were only the three major networks, but now we have cable and satilite with hundreds of stations to choose from. At one point soap ratings were plummeting and eventually all but the remaining four were taken off the air. It’s good to know that soap fans are still loyal. It’s good to know that daytime programming is available to give fans a break from the bleak outlook on life at this point.

During the week of March 23, which is when much of the U.S. first went into quarantine, The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital each posted their best numbers in two years. DAys of Our Lives, enjoyed its highest ratings in for the past twelve months and The ratings for The Young and the Restless went to an impressive 11-month high. The Bold and the Beautiful averaged 3.66 million viewers, making it the best week in two years, since March 23, 2018. General Hospital also had an increase with 2.57 million viewers, representing its strongest week since March 19, 2018. With 2.24 million viewers, Days of Our Lives enjoyed its highest-rated week since Feb. 18. 2019. Y&R drew an impressive 4.21 viewers, its best number since April 26, 2019. Prime time television has also noticed their ratings improving but that’s another story for another day.