In its second week since returning to originals following its two-week hiatus due to NBC’s coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, “Days of our Lives” seems to be settling into the 1.7 million viewer range as 1.705 million people tuned into the daytime drama series during the week of August 16-20, 2021, according to newly released Nielsen Media Research ratings data. Last week 1.753 million viewers tuned in for the reunion between Ben (Robert Scott Wilson) and Ciara (Victoria Konefal) and the breakup of Sami (Alison Sweeney) and EJ (Dan Feuerriegel).
In the all-important Women 25-54 and Women 18-49 sales demos, “DAYS” also held up pretty well week-to-week. The soap was down -0.03 in Women 25-54 rating (0.41 vs 0.44) and -0.01 in Women 18-49 rating (0.28 vs 0.29). The soap had its best performance in the demos on Tuesday, August 17 when it averaged a 0.47 rating in Women 25-54 and a 0.32 rating in Women 18-49.
“The Young and the Restless” was up across the board compared to its performance one week earlier. The soap attracted 3.442 million viewers (+1,000) and was up +0.04 in Women 25-54 rating (0.74 vs 0.70) and +0.03 in Women 18-49 rating (0.45 vs 0.42). It was daytime broadcast’s highest-rated show in Women 25-54, and a solid second in Women 18-49. The soap also had the highest single-episode rating for the week during its Tuesday, August 17 broadcast. In the demos, the episode averaged a 0.81 in Women 25-54 rating and a 0.49 in Women 18-49 rating.
Marking its third consecutive week above three million viewers, “The Bold and the Beautiful” continues to shine this season. The soap attracted 3.020 million viewers (-24,000 week-to-week) and a 0.68 rating in Women 25-54 (-0.01). In Women 18-49 rating, the soap averaged a 0.38 rating for the week (-0.01). The show’s best-performing episodes were its Friday, August 20 broadcast where it averaged a 0.72 rating in Women 25-54 and a tie between its Monday, August 16 and its Thursday, August 19 episodes which each averaged a 0.41 demo in Women 18-49.
Averaging 2.177 million viewers, “General Hospital” saw a decline of just 33,000 viewers compared to its week-ago performance and a decrease of just 0.02 in Women 25-54 rating (0.57 vs 0.59). In Women 18-49, the soap improved +0.01 to average a 0.35 rating. The soap’s best performance was on Tuesday, August 17 when it averaged a 0.60 rating in Women 25-54 (tie with Friday, August 20) and a 0.41 rating in Women 18-49.
“The Price is Right,” “Let’s Make a Deal,” “The View” and “The Talk” were all in reruns for the week.
What follows is a breakdown of how the daytime shows performed for the week of August 16-20, 2021, sorted by Women 25-54 rating. A closer look at the daytime soaps, including their daily performance in the demos, will be posted soon.
Week of August 16-20, 2021 Rankers
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Note: The numbers above are calculated using Live+Same Day viewing and DVR playback, defined as 3:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m, and are courtesy of Nielsen. Household ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television.
*Notable Preemptions/Schedule Changes
- “The Bold and the Beautiful” aired for just 19 minutes on Friday, August 20.
- “Days of our Lives” aired for just 27 minutes on Monday, August 13 and just 49 minutes on Friday, August 20.
- “General Hospital” aired for just 27 minutes on Friday, August 20.
- “GMA3: What You Need to Know” aired for just 48 minutes on Friday, August 20.
- “Let’s Make a Deal” aired reruns all week.
- “The Price is Right” aired reruns all week. The second half-hour of the show aired for just 19 minutes on Friday, August 20.
- “The Talk” aired reruns all week. Unrounded figures for the show were unavailable. Therefore, we are publishing the available rounded figures in its place.
- In reruns, “The View” was retitled to “VIEW-ALT” which does not factor into the show’s season average. On Friday, August 20, the show aired for just 48 minutes.
- “The Young and the Restless” aired for just 43 minutes on Friday, August 20.