About four years after dropping two long-running soap operas from its schedule, CBS Daytime seems to be clicking on all cylinders.
Its entire lineup — including more recent additions “The Talk” and “Let’s Make a Deal” — hit ratings milestones during the last week of January, lifting the network delivered to its largest audience for any frame in more than eight years, according to Nielsen data released Thursday.
Sudsers “The Young and the Restless” (5.73 million) and “The Bold and the Beautiful” (4.17 million) drew their largest audiences since February 2008 and April 2007, respectively — a time when the CBS Daytime lineup included soaps “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light.” Top-rated “Y&R” also posted its highest score in three years among the core daytime demo of women 25-54 (2.3 rating/12 share).
“Guiding Light” exited the airwaves in September 2009 and “World” followed a year later, paving the way for chatfest “The Talk” and gameshow “Let’s Make a Deal,” both of which have been key cogs in the ratings surge.
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Last week, “The Talk” drew its largest weekly audience yet (3.19 million) while matching its series best in women 25-54 (1.2 rating/7 share). And “Let’s Make a Deal” established highs for both its first half-hour (3.71 million) and second (4.22 million).
The longest-running CBS Daytime program, “The Price Is Right,” remains the lineup’s most popular. Its hourly average of 6.6 million viewers was the show’s most in nine years, when Bob Barker served as host.
