The departures of “The Young and the Restless” cast members Michael Muhney and Billy Miller — and showdown between their characters Billy Abbott and Adam Newman — helped drive the soap to its best ratings week since 2008, and contributed to an eight-year high for CBS’s daytime slate overall.
For the week ending Feb. 2, “The Young and the Restless” averaged 5.73 million total viewers — its strongest showing since the week ending Feb. 29, 2008. (In the women 25-54 demographic, “Y&R” scored a 2.3 rating/12 share, its best weekly perfornance since Feb. 2011.)
Also read: ‘Young & the Restless’ Star Michael Muhney Fired for Allegedly Groping Co-Star
The network’s other daytime drama, “The Bold and the Beautiful,” also scored big, averaging 4.17 million total viewers, making it the show’s most-watched week since the week ending April 13, 2007.
CBS’s daytime yakker “The Talk” and game show “Let’s Make a Deal” had their own reason to celebrate, with both series hitting series highs with total viewers and matching their highs in the women 25-54 demo. For the week, “The Talk” averaged 3.19 million total viewers, with a 1.2/07 in the demo. The earlier installment of “Let’s Make a Deal” averaged 3.71 million total viewers, while the later edition averaged 4.22 million total viewers.
Also read: Daytime TV Ratings Resurgence: If Soaps Are ‘Dead,’ Why Are Their Audiences Growing?
“The Price Is Right,” meanwhile, posted its largest audiences in nearly a decade, with the earlier edition averaging 6.08 million total viewers — its best since the week ending Dec. 31, 2004 — and the later edition enjoying its most-watched week since the week ending Jan. 1, 2005 with 7.12 million total viewers.
Overall, CBS’s daytime slate averaged 4.79 million total viewers for the week — the highest total viewership since the week ending Dec. 30, 2005.
Muhney was terminated from “The Young and the Restless” after allegedly fondling the breasts of co-star Hunter King.