THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Celebrates 24 Years At #1 In Daytime

Melody Thomas Scott (left) and Eric Braeden (right) star as Nikki and
Victor Newman on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS -
Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS.

CBS's THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS this week marks its 1,248th consecutive week – or 24 years – as the #1 daytime drama, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Dec. 2.

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, currently in its 39th season with more than 10,000 episodes, began its winning streak the week of Dec. 26, 1988.

It was also the year Scattergories was the most popular Christmas gift, "The Cosby Show" was television's top-rated program, "Rain Man" was the #1 movie, Nike's "Just Do It" slogan was first introduced and Apple shipped 1.3 million computers (compared to an estimated 25 million iPads in fourth quarter 2012).

THE YOUNG AND RESTLESS has also been #1 in women 25-54 for 302 of the past 303 weeks and first in women 18-49 for 297 of the last 298 weeks.

CBS's Daytime lineup has also been #1 for 26 years, beginning with the 1986-1987 season. This season, all of the Network's daytime dramas (THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL), game shows (THE PRICE IS RIGHT, LET'S MAKE A DEAL) and THE TALK, the fastest growing network daytime program, are posting year-to-year growth in viewers and/or women 25-54.