ABC REGAINS TOP SPOT IN RECENT DAYTIME RATINGS

Despite its worst prime-time performance in 10 years last season, all is not gloomy at ABC these days: The network has edged back into first place in the daytime ratings.

During the last eight weeks, ABC has finished first six times and has tied for first once with CBS, which had been the consistent front-runner since January, 1984.

ABC’s lead is minute, but “I’ll take good news wherever I can get it,” Lewis Erlicht, president of ABC’s entertainment division, said Thursday. “This is sustained. I feel great about it.”

CBS, however, suggested that the ratings were deceptive. While it is true that ABC’s numbers are up, it’s also true that ABC programs one less hour a day than its two rivals, said Arnold Becker, vice president of research at CBS.

Becker pointed out that ABC canceled its low-rated soap opera “Edge of Night” at the end of 1984 and didn’t replace it, giving the time instead to its affiliates to program for themselves. “If we took off ‘Body Language,’ our worst-rated show, our ratings would improve too,” he said.

For the last eight weeks, ABC is averaging a 6.3 rating in daytime (representing 5.3 million households), compared to 6.1 for CBS (5.1 million households) and 5.1 for NBC (4.3 million households). Both ABC and CBS are attracting an identical 22% of the viewing audience, with NBC drawing 18%.

Erlicht attributed ABC’s stronger showing to its afternoon soap operas--”One Life to Live,” “All My Children” and “General Hospital”--which he said have “real good story lines going.”

The A. C. Nielsen Co. ratings cover the time between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the West Coast. But ABC, unlike its counterparts, does not currently program the 9-10 a.m. slot, which typically attracts fewer viewers than other time periods. Becker contended that in a comparison of ratings for only the time periods in which all three networks have programs, CBS remains the clear leader.

As a result, he said, the network does not interpret the latest figures as meaning CBS has a problem.

In addition, Becker said, ABC traditionally enjoys a ratings boost during the summer because college and high school students are home and “tend to be drawn more to ABC’s series than they do to ours.” Erlicht agreed but noted that that surge hadn’t been enough to push ABC to first place last year.

The argument is far from academic; in many respects, daytime ratings are more important than prime-time figures because the networks extract a much larger profit margin on their daytime shows.

“The success of daytime enables you to spend money in other areas,” Erlicht explained. “It may be the most vital area that we have to protect.”