‘General Hospital’ News: ‘GH’ Dominates Soap Opera Ratings Thanks To The Steve Burton Effect

Daytime drama ratings for the week of September 18 to September 22, 2017, by Soap Opera Network, reveal that ABC’s General Hospital (GH ) is dominating, and it seems clear that GH has only Steve Burton to thank for it.

Days of Our Lives

Ratings for the week of September 18 through September 22 by Soap Opera Network show that NBC’s Days of Our Lives dropped significantly in total viewership by 66,000. Days of Our Lives was the only daytime drama that posted a drop in viewership among women in the age range 18-49. The daytime drama lost 16,000 women viewers in the age range 18-49 and ended the week with 326,000 women viewers in the key age range and a total of 2,087,000 viewers.

Observers have attributed the drop in the viewership of DOOL to several factors, including certain elements of the storyline that some viewers might have objected to. For instance, some fans might have been put off by Brady Black’s (Eric Martsolf) outrageous behavior due to his jealousy of Eric Brady’s (Greg Vaughan) relationship with Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker). Some viewers might have reacted negatively to the unfamiliar side of Brady’s character revealed in the plot.

Of course, not all fans share this view.

However, it is possible that daytime drama’s ratings could pick up due to the highly anticipated return of Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) and Will Horton (Chandler Massey).

The Bold and the Beautiful

Although CBS’ Bold and the Beautiful increased its ratings among women in the key 18-49 age range, adding 10,000 viewers relative to the previous week, the daytime drama dropped in total viewership by 5,000. This is slight compared with Days of Our Lives’ drop in total viewership in the same period.

B&B ended the week with a viewership of 387,000 in the key 18-49 age range, and a grand total of 3,577, 000 viewers.

Is the slight drop in the B&B’s total viewership a subtle message that viewers are upset about the impact of Bill Spencer’s (Don Diamont) outrageous actions? The show, however, saw some interesting action during the week, including the confrontation between Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown) and Quinn Fuller (Rena Sherel Sofer), and Liam Spencer (Scott Clifton) taking over affairs at Spencer Publications.

The Young and the Restless

CBS’ The Young and the Restless, with a total viewership of 4,412,000, increased its total viewership by 58,000 during the week of September 18. The TV show gained 7,000 female viewers in the 18-49 age range, ending the week with 481,000 viewers in the key age range.

Many viewers could have become weary of the ongoing farcical conflict between Victor (Eric Braeden) and Nick (Joshua Morrow). Viewers were also relieved to see the happy ending of the sex ring drama when Crystal (Morgan Obenreder) finally reunited with her sister Tessa (Cait Fairbanks).

Some viewers also recently complained that they were bored with the daytime drama’s long-drawn mystery over Graham’s (Max Shippee) identity.

Friday on @generalhospital: Patient 6 escapes. Read the #GH entire recap https://t.co/q5GcgpbmHS pic.twitter.com/Wgi81pb5tg

— Soap Central (@soapcentral) September 30, 2017

General Hospital

General Hospital (GH ) topped the ratings with an increase of 109,000 in total viewership in the week of September 18 to September 22, 2017. GH increased its viewership by 25,000 women in the age bracket 18-49. The daytime drama ended the week with a total of 412,000 women in the key 18-49 age range and a total viewership of 2,538,000 viewers.

An increase in the ratings for General Hospital was observed in the weeks before Steve Burton’s return to the cast of the daytime drama. The storyline preparing the ground for the return of Burton’s character to Port Charles generated a lot of interest. Franco’s search for the identity of his “imaginary” childhood friend, Sam’s anguish over Jason Morgan’s condition, and Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Carly’s (Laura Wright) struggle with their feelings of guilt over their involvement in Jason’s near-fatal accident generated a lot of interest.

Viewership increased further in the week of September 18 as the excitement over Burton’s return reached fever pitch.

It remains to be seen whether fans find the plot of the subsequent storyline sufficiently riveting to sustain the daytime drama’s impressive ratings gain.