Guiding Light (1950–59)
The Guiding Light (known since 1975 as Guiding Light) was a long-running American television soap opera.
On June 30, 1952, "The Guiding Light" began airing on CBS television. From June 30, 1952 to June 29, 1956, "The Guiding Light" ran on both CBS television and radio, with the actors performing, the same scenes but for different audiences, live twice each weekday. The live television performances were in the morning, and then in the afternoon the actors read for the live radio show. On July 2, 1956, "The Guiding Light" became a CBS television show, only, and the show no longer was heard on radio. Episodes continued at 15 minutes in length.
Guiding Light
Overall, the first half of the 1980s saw a revival in "Guiding Light's" popularity, with a top-five placing achieved in most years and even a brief dethroning of then-powerhouse "General Hospital" from the #1 ratings spot for three consecutive weeks. However, as the decade progressed, the ratings slipped a bit, although it was still performing solidly. In 1995, beginning with CBS flagship station WCBS-TV in New York, "Guiding Light" began airing at 10 a.m. Eastern time in several markets. Its once-solid performance began to crumble by the mid-1990s, when its ratings sunk as low as ninth place out of ten. However, during the controversial clone storyline in 1998, the ratings experienced a brief resurgence, moving up to fifth for many weeks that summer. Nielsen reported "Guiding Light" had 5 million viewers in 1999.