General Hospital has taken the name of the season literally by "fall"ing behind in the soap opera ratings race. The ABC daytime series began September at the bottom of the soap opera viewership list, with NBC's Days of our Lives topping it in total viewers and households.
According to Soap Opera Network, DAYS was the only daytime soap opera to increase in total viewership for the week of September 2-6. The series gained 82,000 total viewers and .04 in households week-to-week, bringing the total viewership for the week to 2,123,000. However, DAYS lost 30,000 total viewers and .01 in households compared to this same time in 2018.
As reported by Soap Central in our weekly catch-up for the week, DAYS' storylines were as follows: Jack made a deal with Rolf to help him recover his memories. Gabi stopped Stefan from shooting Kate. Julie suffered a massive heart attack, and Gabi walked away because she did not believe it was real. Lani yelled at Gabi for leaving Julie to die. Kayla announced that Julie was not eligible for a heart transplant. Vivian reached out to Stefan, and he sent Ben to pick her up in Chicago. Eric rescued Holly and Nicole. Sarah confirmed that she was pregnant. After Xander refused to murder Ben, Victor attempted to strangle Ben himself. Brady offered Ciara a job at Titan. Vivian shot Kate and buried her in a grave.
General Hospital lost 143,000 total viewers and dropped seven-hundredths in households week-to-week, with its total viewership being 2,023,000 for time period of September 2-6. Compared to last year, the ABC soap sank 297,000 viewers and .15 in households.
GH's storylines for the week were as follows: Sonny's cousin Gladys turned up in Port Charles. Carly was surprised when Sonny suggested that they adopt Dev, so she insisted that they discuss it with the family first. Jax expressed concern about Dev living under the same roof as Josslyn. Liesl blackmailed Brad into making certain that all genetic tests confirmed that Sasha was Nina's daughter. Sasha began to improve, and Finn was confident that she would make a full recovery. Andre Maddox was gravely injured in an attack, but he woke up and was able to tell his harrowing tale. Drew's plane vanished on the way from Ethiopia to Afghanistan. Alexis and Neil had an eventful first date at the Floating Rib's "Drag Bingo Night." Franco, believing that he was Drew, asked Kim to tell him about their son. Kim became caught up in the moment and shared a passionate kiss with Franco, but she pushed him away because Elizabeth was her friend -- and Kim's future was with Julian. Cameron confronted Franco about the kiss. Alexis revealed that Olivia had decided to take another route to purchase Charlie's Pub, which would delay the sale. Julian suggested that he and Kim move to Manhattan as they had planned because he didn't need to remain in Port Charles to sign the paperwork for the sale. Nelle made Shiloh an offer to reunite with his son and get his hands on Oscar's stock.
Though GH slipped to the bottom in total viewers out of all four network soap operas, CBS soaps The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless lost the most total viewers week-to-week and compared to 2018. B&B dropped 189,000 total viewers vs. the week before (with a total of 3,196,000), while The Young and the Restless plummeted 453,000 total viewers compared to 2018 (with a total of 3,616,000).
B&B's storylines for the week were: Thomas told Detective Sanchez that no one had pushed Thomas off the cliff. Ridge insisted that Brooke thank Thomas, but she persisted in her claim that it had been an accident. Liam and Brooke worried about Thomas returning to the mansion to recuperate and about how to make Thomas pay for what he'd done. Bill searched Thomas' car, to no avail, but realized that the car's GPS system might contain evidence against Thomas. Ridge prevented Sanchez from questioning Thomas but later forced Thomas to reveal to Ridge the truth about Emma's crash. Hope and Liam made love.
Y&R's highlights for the week included: Kevin sent a text message to Victoria, Jack, and Traci from Billy's phone, claiming that Billy had checked himself into rehab. Adam threatened Michael with a photo of a drug-dealing Fen. Lauren vowed that she and Michael would take Adam down. Jack decided to leave town to figure out what was missing in his life. Jack appointed Kyle as interim CEO. Chelsea and Chloe took the first step in attempting to rebuild their friendship. Billy woke up with no memory of the car accident or his attempt to mow Adam down. Devon pledged to fight whoever was challenging Katherine's will. Jill returned to town and revealed that she'd heard from Chance, who had referred to being involved in something potentially lucrative. Zoe insinuated that Phyllis could sabotage the Grand Phoenix's opening, but Phyllis wanted no part of it. Summer blew off Theo to work with Kyle on Jabot's tie-in with the hotel opening. The night before the opening, Abby and Chelsea threw a pre-party, where Abby introduced a new signature drink, the Grand Sangria. Zoe was hurt when Summer, Theo, and Kyle shunned her. Adam swiped Nate's tablet, and Phyllis agreed to hack into it. Adam obtained Victor's medical records and hired someone to create pills identical to Victor's but with double the dosage. After Victor declined Adam's attempt to forge a truce, Adam swapped out Victor's pills with the stronger version.
For the full soap opera ratings picture for the week of September 2-6, click here.
What do you think about DAYS pulling ahead of GH in the ratings race? Why do you think the numbers are what they are for each of the four soaps? 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.
