14 DAY TRIAL // In a field in which it’s hard to attain longevity because audiences are fickle, one of the longest running soap operas ever, “The Young and the Restless,” is setting record after record: it’s just recorded its 24th year in a row at number 1 in the ratings.
The people of the fictional Genoa City must be popping champagne as we speak.
Considering it’s been on air for 40 years, more than half of which it took home the crown for the most watched daytime soap opera, this is no small achievement.
CBS and the show’s producers have women to thank for that, since it’s a known fact that the target audience for it is primarily female.
About 3.9 million viewers on average tune in weekly for the show, season to date.
“The Young and the Restless, nearing its 40th year on television early next year, just hit another type of milestone: The CBS soap opera has topped all other daytime scripted programming in the US for 24 years in a row,” The Hollywood Reporter informs, citing Nielsen figures.
“It's not so surprising, given its wide margin of victory (typically at least 1 million viewers) over its closest competition, but Nielsen's live- plus-same-day returns for last week mark the series' 1,248th consecutive week on top,” adds the same report.
The only other soap operas still airing right now are the “Bold and the Beautiful,” also on CBS, “Days of Our Lives” on NBC and “General Hospital” on ABC, so one could argue that the lack of fierce competition is also helping with those numbers.
When it first aired on TV, there were no fewer than 13 other soap operas airing on rival networks.
“Among daytime's coveted female demographics, the series is maintaining similar (if shorter) streaks. It has only failed to top in women 25-to-54 once in the past 303 weeks and women 18-to-49 once in the past 298 weeks,” THR further writes.