Here are the Nielsen yearly (September-August) ratings averages, shares, and rankings for "Days of Our Lives" for 1965-1989. Weekly ratings since the fall of 1989 are available through the index page of this website. The ranking listed is "Days" place amongst the number of soaps on the air during each season. The share listed is the percentage of sets in use that were tuned to "Days."

FAQ: When was the last time "Days" ever ranked first in the Nielsen household ratings?
ANSWER: The week of July 25-July 29, 1988 (the week that Steve & Kayla Johnson's on-location wedding aired). Prior to that week, the last time "Days" ranked first in households was the week of March 11-March 15, 1974.

Year...............Rank........Rating.....Share
1965-66..........9 (of 17).......5.3..........20
1966-67.........10 (of 13)......6.9..........26
1967-68.........10 (of 12)......8.7..........31
1968-69..........5* (of 14)......9.3..........31
1969-70..........7 (of 19).......8.8..........30
1970-71..........4* (of 18)......9.5..........32
1971-72..........3 (of 17).......9.9..........34
1972-73..........2 (of 17).......9.9..........32
1973-74..........2* (of 16)......9.7..........32
1974-75..........3 (of 14).......9.6..........33
1975-76..........4* (of 14)......8.3..........30
1976-77..........7 (of 15).......7.8..........27
1977-78..........10 (of 14).....6.9..........25
1978-79..........10 (of 14).....6.8..........24
1979-80..........10 (of 13).....6.6..........23
1980-81..........9 (of 13)......5.6..........20
1981-82..........10 (of 15)....5.5..........19
1982-83..........8 (of 14)......5.7..........19
1983-84..........7 (of 13)......7.1..........22
1984-85..........6* (of 14).....7.1..........23
1985-86..........5 (of 13)......7.2..........23
1986-87..........4* (of 14).....7.0..........23
1987-88..........5 (of 12)......7.1..........NA
1988-89..........5 (of 13)......6.5..........NA