At first, viewers were not excited about it, but ratings picked up in its second year, and reached the top spot in the daytime Nielsen Ratings by the fall of 1958. "As the World Turns" was the most-watched daytime drama from 1958 until 1978, with ten million people watching each day. At its height, the main actors such as Helen Wagner, Don MacLaughlin, Don Hastings, and Eileen Fulton became very well known in the United States.