Maybe it's the return of sunshine, maybe it's storyline related, but something interfered with people flocking to soap operas during the week of February 29 through March 4, leaving all four soaps on the ratings decline.
According to Nielsen Live Plus Same Day ratings, The Bold and the Beautiful was down a whopping 244,000 viewers from the previous week, and an even bigger 287,000 compared to this time last year. It's total viewership still tallies a decent 3,522,000 viewers, but where the soap really got hit was in the coveted women 18-49 demographic. The CBS soap was down to just 485,000 total viewers in that category; the previous low water mark was 499,000 back in May 2011.
Meanwhile, The Young and the Restless pulled in 4,697,000 total viewers (down 270,000 compared to last week, and down 441,000 compared to this time last year. General Hospital pulled in 2,938,000 (just 30,000 compared to last week, but 304,000 compared to this time last year. And Days of our Lives pulled in 2,339,000 (off 14,000 compared to last week, and down 104,000 compared to this time last year.
For the full ratings report, check out SON.
Why do you think B&B slipped so low in the 18-49 demographic? What storyline changes would you make to improve ratings across the board? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
