‘American Idol’ Ratings Continue to Tank
Idol’s ratings take a plunge on its first week; dropping 12 percent from last year
The ten-year old aging dinosaur known as ‘American Idol’ continues to point towards its demise as ratings plunge for the worst for both episodes of its season premiere, according to Nielsen Media.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the second episode of Idol averaged 22.6 million viewers with a 7.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic, down 12 percent among total viewers and 16 percent in the demo, compared to the 8-9 p.m. hour of Wednesday’s season ten premiere. In the end, ratings for Idol are down 12 percent from last year.
A bit of relief came its way when the ratings poured in on Thursday’s show premiere. It did manage to beat out their competition on all the other networks, including NBC’s “The Office ( 8.3 million viewers, 4.5 rating) and became the highest-rated night of regular programming since 1995.
Another good sign is that “Idol” outperformed CBS’ “Big Bang Theory,” one of the leading comedies on TV, which brought in 13.6 million viewers, 4.2 rating).
The show hopes to rebound as the show enters into the first week of live episodes and as the Top 15 are selected.
Reaction to new judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez have been pretty supportive from viewers and even critics. MTV’s Idol “expert” Jim Cantiello, with a Perez Hilton kind of enthusiasm, reacted to the show with raving accolades. “I liked the Thursday night New Orleans episode than the two-hour New York/New Jersey audition episode,” Cantiello responded. “The show’s not dead. I’m still diggin it.”
In Billboard’s Jan. 22, Idol’s ratings’ performance was projected on graphs and showed its peak season as being Season 5, when Taylor Hicks was crowned the season’s winner. Unfortunately, Hicks sold 0.7 million units of his debut solo album, compared to Season 4’s Carrie Underwood, who sold 7 million copies of Some Hearts. In recent seasons, Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze’s albums have sold very little. Allen’s self-titled LP sold 0.3 million and Lee DeWyze’s Live It Up sold 0.1 million. Hopefully with Tyler and Lopez on board and the show’s profile raises itself in the next couple of weeks, the ratings will rebound and maybe a winner will be crowned where the millions who actually vote for the show’s eventual winner will actually purchase their albums.
FURTHER READING >>
‘American Idol’ Ratings Down Again, But Show Still Tops the Night – MTV.com
‘American Idol’ Premiere Ratings Down Double Digits from 2010 – FOXNews.com
‘American Idol’ Ratings Drop Continues – Billboard.com
