I'm a huge Hillbillies fan, but there's one question I've never been able to answer. Maybe someone out there can help.
If you've seen the many TV reference books that exist, you probably know the show was number one during the 1962-63 and 1963-64 seasons. It dropped to number 12 in its third season, then lingered around the Top 10 for the next three or four seasons.
By 1969-70, it was number 18. Then, in its last season, it dropped out of the Top 25. But just where did it drop? The major reference books usually don't list shows outside the Top 25, so we don't know where the show ranked when it was cancelled in the spring of '71.
Many fans of the show say it was still popular when it was cancelled. But was it? Where was "Green Acres" when it was cancelled the same year? If anyone out there has detailed Nielsen ratings for the '70-71 season, I'd love to see them. That's the year of the famed CBS "rural purge", and I'd just like to see exactly where the rural shows stood when they were axed.

I just found a site called the Past Winners Database. They only list the top 30 shows, and the Beverly Hillbillies was not one of the Top 30 shows that season. The ratings spot that the Beverly Hillbillies dropped to during its 9th season remains a mystery.

can you post a link to that site?

^The site is gone.

A new source has claimed that the rank of the ninth season of the Beverly Hillbillies in 1970-71 was #33.

A new source has claimed that the rank of the ninth season of the Beverly Hillbillies in 1970-71 was #33.
That's interesting. There were probalby 66 or so regular series in that era so the Hillbillies were ranked middle of the pack. I guess you could make a case to bring the show back, but on the other hand, it was losing audience so further erosion of popularity was likely. On top of that the actors salaries were at the high end by the 9th season, and there were plenty of episodes to sell to the rerun market where the real money is.

I thought it would have been lower than #33, because they moved from Wednesday to Tuesday and were competing with 'The Mod Squad' on ABC, but #33 doesn't seem too bad. I wonder how 'Green Acres' did that year.

The ratings didn't really matter for the Henning shows, or Ed Sullivan, or Red Skelton, or Mayberry. Silverman dropped the axe and they were gone because of the type of audiences that were their core. The rural shows were popular among small-town people in the south and midlands, and Ed and Fred appealed mainly to older audiences, as opposed to the newer Laugh In and Flip Wilson. The network wanted shows that rated highly among urban/suburban young adults, with the best ratings on both coasts.

If anyone has access to the info, what were the 2 highest rated shows that CBS canceled that year?

The ratings didn't really matter for the Henning shows, or Ed Sullivan, or Red Skelton, or Mayberry. Silverman dropped the axe and they were gone because of the type of audiences that were their core. The rural shows were popular among small-town people in the south and midlands, and Ed and Fred appealed mainly to older audiences, as opposed to the newer Laugh In and Flip Wilson. The network wanted shows that rated highly among urban/suburban young adults, with the best ratings on both coasts.

If anyone has access to the info, what were the 2 highest rated shows that CBS canceled that year?
Mayberry RFD was ranked #15 and Hee Haw was #16.

Three other long running shows that fell victim to CBS's 1971 purging:

'Lassie'
'Family Affair'
'Hogan's Heroes'

All this seems to be demonstrative of how the 60's changed America and America's tastes. The shows mentioned as those that were axed all seemed to be at least one cut below reality and said virtually nothing about the real problems facing the country. In addition, they wouldn't dare criticize American values and portrayed kids as too good to be real (Family Affair), dire situations as funny (Hogan's Heroes), or racial and sociological concerns nonexistent by their absence. As the country became more urbanized and advertisers wanted urban audiences, it became imperative to see minorities and urban problems presented, and the mainstay shows of the 60's were just not the forums for that.

The show wasn't canceled due to bad ratings. As a matter, the cast and crew expected to come back for a tenth year. The CBS brass wanted to appeal to a more sophisticated audience, so everything that was "rural" in nature was axed.

The show wasn't canceled due to bad ratings. As a matter, the cast and crew expected to come back for a tenth year. The CBS brass wanted to appeal to a more sophisticated audience, so everything that was "rural" in nature was axed.
CBS canceled all "country" shows. They got tired of being called the country network.

I thought it would have been lower than #33, because they moved from Wednesday to Tuesday and were competing with 'The Mod Squad' on ABC, but #33 doesn't seem too bad. I wonder how 'Green Acres' did that year.
Out of curiosity, what source lists the Beverly Hillbillies as the 33rd highest rated program of the 1970-71 TV season?

I ask because rankings beyond the top 30 aren’t available anywhere, and I would be curious to see that source, and if it lists any other shows rankings beyond 30th.

I encourage you to provide the source you referred to if you have an opportunity to do so.

Thank you.

Out of curiosity, what source lists the Beverly Hillbillies as the 33rd highest rated program of the 1970-71 TV season?

I ask because rankings beyond the top 30 aren’t available anywhere, and I would be curious to see that source, and if it lists any other shows rankings beyond 30th.

I encourage you to provide the source you referred to if you have an opportunity to do so.

Thank you.

A commenter over at TheTVRatingsGuide (http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1970-71-tv-ratings.html) (by the name of "Tony Fleming") stated in 2024 there was a website called Ratings Ryan and it had pictures of the actual ratings sheets for every show in every week of the 1970-71 season. He stated that from the info compiled on Ratings Ryan, he added the ratings separately for both The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, and then divided by the number of episodes to get the average. Green Acres finished with a 19.1 average rating; That would have placed it just outside the top 30 as the CBS Friday Movie is shown to be 30th with a 19.3 rating. The Beverly Hillbillies finished with an 18.0 rating, which would have put it around 40th place or maybe lower.

I think the person in charge of that site took it down around May of 2024 because it was costing him too much to do the research. Because of this, I regret to inform you there is no way for me to realistically provide the source of that information. And if any sources did exist, they would be behind a paywall. Ratings Ryan was the only hope of verifying this information. I apologize for not finding out about the Ratings Ryan site earlier (only for a short while before it shut down).

A commenter over at TheTVRatingsGuide (http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1970-71-tv-ratings.html) (by the name of "Tony Fleming") stated in 2024 there was a website called Ratings Ryan and it had pictures of the actual ratings sheets for every show in every week of the 1970-71 season. He stated that from the info compiled on Ratings Ryan, he added the ratings separately for both The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, and then divided by the number of episodes to get the average. Green Acres finished with a 19.1 average rating; That would have placed it just outside the top 30 as the CBS Friday Movie is shown to be 30th with a 19.3 rating. The Beverly Hillbillies finished with an 18.0 rating, which would have put it around 40th place or maybe lower.

I think the person in charge of that site took it down around May of 2024 because it was costing him too much to do the research. Because of this, I regret to inform you there is no way for me to realistically provide the source of that information. And if any sources did exist, they would be behind a paywall. Ratings Ryan was the only hope of verifying this information. I apologize for not finding out about the Ratings Ryan site earlier (only for a short while before it shut down).

I remember the Ratings Ryan site it was very good.

I think your calculations are pretty accurate. From what I remember Green Acres finished in 35th place for the 70-71 season which was about the same as the year before. I think the Hillbillies were in 37 place which was a big drop from a year earlier.

I've said this before I don't think the so-called rural purge effected either show. The Hillbillies had fallen off badly from two years earlier when it was number 10, Green Acres may had another year in it but the best years were in the rearview mirror.

One thing to keep in mind is that the FCC's prime time access rule also kicked in beginning in the fall of 1971. Each of the three networks had to cancel three hours of existing programming before they even considered replacing an old show with a new one.

One thing to keep in mind is that the FCC's prime time access rule also kicked in beginning in the fall of 1971. Each of the three networks had to cancel three hours of existing programming before they even considered replacing an old show with a new one.

Good point, an older series in rating decline stuck out like a sore thumb in that environment.