Ratings for $ale of the Century U.S.

[BMaurice06]

As far as I know, Sale has a 6 1/4-year run on NBC despite the fact that the network was dead last in daytime.  I would have to assume that its ratings held steady against the likes of Press Your Luck, Pyramid, and Card Sharks (Eubanks version) but then was trounced by the return of Family Feud, not to mention the numerous clearance problems that NBC was suffering at the time.  Let me try and break it down:

1983:  $OTC starts out well, knocking Child's Play off the air by the end of the summer.
1984:  After the Michael Larsen moments, PYL gains ground (I heard that the Larsen shows drew twice PYL's usual audience) by attracting younger viewers.
1985:  The Whammy starts to lose ground while $OTC successfully settles into its Winner's Board format.
1986:  Card Sharks gives $OTC a little bit of a challenge in the 10:30 slot.
1987:  After a move to 10:00, $OTC is neck-and-neck with Pyramid.
1988:  Family Feud returns and destroys $OTC, leading to....
1989:  The end.

This is based on the fact that ABC's schedule did not start until 11 a.m.

Any other thoughts?

BTW, all times are EST.

[Jimmy Owen]

The only things I would add would be:

Dec 87: $ale topples Pyramid and Erin Perry is temporarily unemployed.
Jan 88: "Blackout" debuts but Goen is gone by April.
April 88: Viewer mail prompts CBS to pit the Perrys against each other once again and Pyramid is once again vanquished by $ale.
July 88: Feud begins and $ale is encounters the fine-toothed Combs.
March 89: NBC pre-empts $ale for two weeks for Rona Barrett.  Viewers somehow manage to remember to tune in for the last week; NBC News cuts in to the last show on the East Coast and obliterates the finale.  Jim never says goodbye to his Eastern time zone friends.


The End.

[tyshaun1]

As I'm sure more people have better info than myself (what else is new), I do know that PYL regularly won its slot until the 4pm move (however neither show particularly did well, they both hovered around an 18-22 share), $ale in turn regularly topped Card Sharks (in fact, the best to happen to CS, ratings wise,  was $ale's move to 10am, since it then crushed Blockbusters; a ratings report from Broadcasting magazine at the time listed CS pulling a 4.1/20, BB a 2.9/12). $ale then steadily grew versus Pyramid, eventually toppling it. And although Feud eventually did knock out $OTC, $ale was indeed beating the show for a while as viewers seemed to take a while to adjust to Ray Combs; plus Combs' Feud was nowhere near the powerhouse than Dawson's was. Hope this helps....


Tyshaun