Nielsen Ratings for Saturday Morning Cartoons from the 80's (ABC, NBC, CBS)

[CNNickFan]

So, I've decided to start a new project.

Per discovering Nielsen ratings, I've decided to make a compilation of broadcast airdates and ratings of pretty much all of the Saturday Morning Cartoons from the 80's.

I started with Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983-1988) because imo, that's one of the hardest to do. Due to the nature of the show, not much info is really available on the Ruby-Spears seasons (outside of that crappy syndicated package Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and FOX used in the 90's).

If you discover any Nielsen ratings for Saturday Morning Cartoons of any era, you can drop them here, as this is a thread for that. Here is what I've compiled so far. Please note that these are not total viewers, but household audiences (in millions).

 

[SpecialColorfull]

Can you give us some sort of guide as to how to interpret these ratings. Still, even if you dont I absolutely love ratings and these are juicy!

 

[TnAdct1]

When it comes to the top premieres of Season 1 of Alvin and the Chipmunks, here's my thoughts:

• I can definitely understand household viewership being high for Urban Chipmunk/The Incredible Shrinking Dave, considering how the first story guest starred Dolly Parton (who was at one of her high points during the 1980's).
• Not sure about the rise of viewers for Santa Harry. Either it's due to it being a Christmas episode (airing the first weekend after Thanksgiving) or with some families traveling for Thanksgiving, viewers in a different location may have used this weekend to sample Alvin and the Chipmunks.

 

[Edward Joseph]

The Internet Archive has an incomplete collection of Nielson Pocketpiece ratings from 1978 -1988 that contains some Saturday Morning listings: https://archive.org/details/20240530_20240530_0405/1978-01-First

According to that collection, the December 10, 1983 airing of Alvin and the Chipmunks had a 7,630 rating.

 

[Erased Paper]

The original airdates listed online for "Alvin and the Chipmunks/The Chipmunks/Chipmunks Go to the Movies" are NOT correct. In the NBC run, the segment pairings were randomized for both new and repeat airings. They also did that with "Smurfs", which is ALSO incorrect.

This is why I've been trying to ask people to send me tapes of kids cartoons taped from TV with the ads intact, so that I can untangle this mess. But, nobody cares.

 

[CNNickFan]

The original airdates listed online for "Alvin and the Chipmunks/The Chipmunks/Chipmunks Go to the Movies" are NOT correct. In the NBC run, the segment pairings were randomized for both new and repeat airings. They also did that with "Smurfs", which is ALSO incorrect.

This is why I've been trying to ask people to send me tapes of kids cartoons taped from TV with the ads intact, so that I can untangle this mess. But, nobody cares.

See, that's what I've been thinking. I've been trying to look at some archived newspaper listings to see if I could find the original premiere dates for each of the segments. I think the best bet is to go by production codes, in which they are listed on the trademark filings.

As for tapes, you might have more luck looking online (NOT on eBay, though) or joining discord servers of people with similar interests to see if they'll lend you tapes, or trade with you. Another good option is thrifting, like Goodwill, if you have any in your area.

Can you give us some sort of guide as to how to interpret these ratings. Still, even if you dont I absolutely love ratings and these are juicy!

Household ratings are NOT total viewers. This calculates the total amount of households (in millions) that were tuned into the program. I don't even think Nielsen began calculating total viewers until the late '80's.

The Internet Archive has an incomplete collection of Nielson Pocketpiece ratings from 1978 -1988 that contains some Saturday Morning listings: https://archive.org/details/20240530_20240530_0405/1978-01-First

According to that collection, the December 10, 1983 airing of Alvin and the Chipmunks had a 7,630 rating.

My God, you have no idea how much this helps me. Thank you.

 

[Erased Paper]

See, that's what I've been thinking. I've been trying to look at some archived newspaper listings to see if I could find the original premiere dates for each of the segments. I think the best bet is to go by production codes, in which they are listed on the trademark filings.

The episode info was unannounced. They were not aired in production order.

As for tapes, you might have more luck looking online (NOT on eBay, though) or joining discord servers of people with similar interests to see if they'll lend you tapes, or trade with you. Another good option is thrifting, like Goodwill, if you have any in your area.

I don't.

 

[Edward Joseph]

I have some sources that list some scattered airdates for the NBC broadcasts with the different episode pairings (not a lot of the episodes though). I don't know if I should list them here though, I think I'd be going off topic from the original point of this thread (this is supposed to be about Nielson ratings for Saturday Morning cartoons).

 

[Erased Paper]

I have some sources that list some scattered airdates for the NBC broadcasts with the different episode pairings (not a lot of the episodes though). I don't know if I should list them here though, I think I'd be going off topic from the original point of this thread (this is supposed to be about Nielson ratings for Saturday Morning cartoons).

Fine, make a separate thread.

 

[CNNickFan]

I have some sources that list some scattered airdates for the NBC broadcasts with the different episode pairings (not a lot of the episodes though). I don't know if I should list them here though, I think I'd be going off topic from the original point of this thread (this is supposed to be about Nielson ratings for Saturday Morning cartoons).

Oh, you're not going off topic. I need episode listings AND ratings to for my list to be as accurate as possible; the ratings mean nothing if we don't know which episodes actually aired. I bet those listings would help a ton.

 

[Edward Joseph]

Oh, you're not going off topic. I need episode listings AND ratings to for my list to be as accurate as possible; the ratings mean nothing if we don't know which episodes actually aired. I bet those listings would help a ton.

Alright, here's some:
January 28, 1984 - The Trouble with Nanny/Rock 'n Robot
February 4, 1984 - Baseball Heroes/The Incredibly Shrinking Dave
March? 1984 - Baseball Heroes/Incredible Shrinking Dave
April 21, 1984 - Baseball Heros/The Incredible Shrinking Dave
February 9, 1985 - A Horse, of Course/Operation: Theadore
June 15, 1985 - Hat Today, Gone Tomorrow/Snow Wrong
August 10, 1985 - Alvin On Ice/Don't Be A Vidiot
November 30, 1985 - The Gold Of My Dreams/Urban Chipmunk
May 24, 1986 - Staying Afloat/The C-Team
June 7, 1986 - The Prize Isn't Right/The Curse of Lontiki
June 21, 1986 - Film Flam/The Secret Life of David Seville
November 8, 1986 - Sweet Smell Of Success/Snow Job
November 15, 1986 -How You Gonna Keep Em Down On The Farm/Don't Be A Vidiot
September 12, 1987 - Back To Dave's Future/Tell It To The Judge/Sincerely Theodore/My Pharaoh Lady (Hour Block)
November 14, 1987 - Alvin, Alvin, Alvin/?
August ?, 1988 - Ask Alvin/Sisters
August 27, 1988 - Theodore Lucks Out/Alvin's Oldest Fan
October 22, 1988 - Going For Broke
September 16, 1989 - Nightmare on Seville Street

Some of these might not be 100% correct since I don't have the recording to double check, but it's the best I could do.

 

[CNNickFan]

Alright, here's some:
January 28, 1984 - The Trouble with Nanny/Rock 'n Robot
February 4, 1984 - Baseball Heroes/The Incredibly Shrinking Dave
March? 1984 - Baseball Heroes/Incredible Shrinking Dave
April 21, 1984 - Baseball Heros/The Incredible Shrinking Dave
February 9, 1985 - A Horse, of Course/Operation: Theadore
June 15, 1985 - Hat Today, Gone Tomorrow/Snow Wrong
August 10, 1985 - Alvin On Ice/Don't Be A Vidiot
November 30, 1985 - The Gold Of My Dreams/Urban Chipmunk
May 24, 1986 - Staying Afloat/The C-Team
June 7, 1986 - The Prize Isn't Right/The Curse of Lontiki
June 21, 1986 - Film Flam/The Secret Life of David Seville
November 8, 1986 - Sweet Smell Of Success/Snow Job
November 15, 1986 -How You Gonna Keep Em Down On The Farm/Don't Be A Vidiot
September 12, 1987 - Back To Dave's Future/Tell It To The Judge/Sincerely Theodore/My Pharaoh Lady (Hour Block)
November 14, 1987 - Alvin, Alvin, Alvin/?
August ?, 1988 - Ask Alvin/Sisters
August 27, 1988 - Theodore Lucks Out/Alvin's Oldest Fan
October 22, 1988 - Going For Broke
September 16, 1989 - Nightmare on Seville Street

Some of these might not be 100% correct since I don't have the recording to double check, but it's the best I could do.

This helps a ton. Thank you. I actually had two of these listings logged before, the ones from 1/28/84 and 4/21/84, but I could totally use the others. Now I'm able to combine the listings and the ratings so we can analyze further.

I'm also planning to do this with the other SMCs of the 80's, especially the NBC lineup (Mr. T, Snorks, Punky Brewster, Gummi Bears (which only aired for one season on NBC), Smurfs, etc.)

 

[TnAdct1]

This helps a ton. Thank you. I actually had two of these listings logged before, the ones from 1/28/84 and 4/21/84, but I could totally use the others. Now I'm able to combine the listings and the ratings so we can analyze further.

I'm also planning to do this with the other SMCs of the 80's, especially the NBC lineup (Mr. T, Snorks, Punky Brewster, Gummi Bears (which only aired for one season on NBC), Smurfs, etc.)

Gummi Bears aired for four seasons on NBC. It was ABC (during its fifth season) where it only aired one season.

 

[Erased Paper]

Alright, here's some:

There's errors here.

 

[Edward Joseph]

There's errors here.

Sorry if there are, this is just what I've gathered. If some of these are wrong, I apologize.

 

[CNNickFan]

Gummi Bears aired for four seasons on NBC. It was ABC (during its fifth season) where it only aired one season.

Ah. It's been so long, I don't even remember.