For the week of July 13-17, General Hospital rose a bit from the all-time low that it hit recently.
For total viewers, the soap is #5; for households, it is tied for 3rd place with the other ABC soaps, One Life to Live and All My Children, plus Days of Our Lives. For the 18-49 demographic, GH is in second place.
I'm not certain that soaps get a fair shake in the ratings, especially those on ABC. There are two reasons for this: SoapNet ratings are not counted in, and for all the soaps, TIVO numbers are not counted. According to m.tivo.com, General Hospital is the 30th most popular show put on TIVO. If people are putting General Hospital on TIVO, then they're certainly putting it on their DVR as well.
While it's certainly true that since the '80s, soap opera viewership has gone down, it might also be true that people are now too busy to watch their favorite shows in real time any longer, and save them for the weekend or some other time.
Comments
TIVO? How can anyone tell the difference between TIVO and DVR?? How is it determined who is watching, and the age groups??
Well, the company that makes TIVO has that information on its product. I don’t know what cable companies can tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they know everything going on with your DVR, except the age of the person watching. One thing that can be assumed, however, is that the age range largely is 60 or younger. Older people find that technology very difficult.
Nobody is collecting these figures, except for TIVO, so none of it is part of the ratings. So we don’t know how many viewers are not being counted for the various soaps that would add to their ratings. Numbers are also not counted for any soap on SoapNet or for viewership of on-line episodes. So most likely, the soap audience a) isn’t as down as people might think and b) isn’t reflected in the ratings.
So if I am watching LIVE it is counted?
Is the a time frame when watching off TIVO??
(TIVO/DVR wasn’t sure how that worked)
Thanks for the information!!
According to the site howstuffworks.com, this is how the ratings work:
“Nielsen uses a technique called statistical sampling to rate the shows — the same technique that pollsters use to predict the outcome of elections. Nielsen creates a “sample audience” and then counts how many in that audience view each program. Nielsen then extrapolates from the sample and estimates the number of viewers in the entire population watching the show. That’s a simple way of explaining what is a complicated, extensive process. Nielsen relies mainly on information collected from TV set meters that it installs, and then combines this information with huge databases of the programs that appear on each TV station and cable channel.
“To find out who is watching TV and what they are watching, the company gets around 5,000 households to agree to be a part of the representative sample for the national ratings estimates. Nielsen’s statistics show that 99 million households have TVs in the United States, so Nielsen’s sample is not very large. The key, therefore, is to be sure the sample is representative. Then TVs, homes, programs, and people are measured in a variety of ways.”
So unless you’re a Nielsen home, it doesn’t matter when you watch it. If you are a Nielsen home, you would have to watch it in real time. Why? Because it’s assumed if you’ve taped it, Tivo’d it, or DVR’d it, you’re fast forwarding during the commercials. Nielsens are collected FOR ADVERTISERS. That’s also why SoapNet isn’t counted – the advertisers who support the show on the network are the people interested in the Nielsen ratings; networks are interested in them because that’s how they decide what to charge for advertising for each show.
Great explanation. I think!!!
Thanks!
So, according to the ratings I am not and have never been a GH watcher! Who’d have guessed?
Barb-how are you watching?? I DVR and watch it at night. I think GH is getting credit??
It sounds like the ratings system needs to be reinvented. I don’t know anyone who watches Soaps in real time anymore. I have been watching GH for over 15 years and I have not watched it in real time for nearly all of that time whether it was DVR or being recorded on VHS.
Geez, I’ve been taping soaps for so long I can’t remember when I started. I can’t watch and listen to the same commercials all day long. Besides who sits that long.
I’ll have to agree with J.J. and Linda. I cant stand to watch live. I FF right through the commercials. I record a week and then watch on Friday or Saturday and depending on what the storyline is I wait and watch Friday’s episode on Monday night to avoid the cliffhanger!!!
I have TRULY enjoyed the past 2-weeks. I know a lot of people don’t like the mob activity with Sonny but I enjoyed watching him chase after Olivia. I was wondering when it would finally come out. I really love Sonny’s romance scenes with his “You know you want me” attitude. But yeah he needs to stop having kids!!!
Carly’s storylines were great these past 2 weeks. Now if they can only let Claudia start being the strong woman that she is. I love Sarah Brown and I would like to see her turn Claudia around.
I was really glad to see Kate on one episode and would like to see more of her and Crimson storyline.
Keep it up GH!!! And please do not dismiss any more actors.
I’ve been watching GH for 27 years…last several years I have been taping it…still loving it!!!
I have been taping sense 1979 don’t guess I count either.
Oh come on tptb want us to belive that tivo is the real ratings, if you believe that then you need to ask, why is it that a video on youtube gets over one million hits with Maurice & Megan, now if youtube gets that where are the tivo ratings???? This is just another atemp by the idiot’s writing the current garbage to “SPIN”, well I’am one viewer not buying this. Die-Hard viewers have stopped watching GH, Guza, Frons and Phelps don’t get it BECAUSE their jobs are in jeopardy, and we can only “HOP” ABC pink-slips them soon for taking us for granted…..
I was so happy to see that AMC and OLTL had the edge on Gh the last weeks. They deserve it and GH has been nothing but dreck since they brought Claudia on. I love Bruce Weitz, but Zaccara’s offspring leave me wanting to upchuck. PLease, can we have a story that is not about Sonny?
The Ratings are down due the story lines, especially putting Jason and Sam back together.
You really want to know one reason the ratings are down, the writers putting Jason back with the woman who watched his child be kidnapped Sam.
Well this viewer stopped watching GH after the ridiculous and lazy trashing of Sam McCall’s character just to make Jason and Liz pairing work. Jason and Liz were the biggest dud I have ever seen and even though the few shows I did catch with Lucky and Sam were great and I would have liked seeing more of them. Well then they made him all untrusting and jealous of Jerry no less….just stupidity. I am watching again and I like what is happening between Jason and Sam. So I have started tuning in again full time. But I have to say that that one storyline destroyed the Elizabeth character for me…she used to be one of my favorites and even though I am liking Jason somewhat now….I am not sure I would care if he was not opposite Sam. I have watched GH since I was a child and I have never had a storyline change the way I felt about so many characters. With Greg Vaughn now leaving the only characters I am interested in are Sam, Maxie, Luke, and Helena…and probably Rebecca too.