Updated ratings chart here.
Tuesday’s preliminary ratings from Variety:
According to same-day Nielsen nationals for Tuesday, the performance edition of “American Idol” kicked off the night a big winner for Fox (9.3 rating/28 share in adults 18-49, 25.47 million viewers overall)…
Variety notes the ratings drop from last year:
…but came in 20% lower than its demo rating of the same night a year ago (11.3/31).
Dissatisfaction with this year’s finalists could be partly to blame, although it could be that even TV’s No. 1 show isn’t immune to the spring swoon that has seen a wide swath of hits — including “CSI,” “Heroes” and “Desperate Housewives” — lose a sizeable number of viewers since daylight-saving time started.
Last year’s viewers numbered 28.8 million for the same night.
Wednesday’s preliminary ratings:
“Idol”…ruled from 9 to 10 with its results show (10.5/27 in 18-49, 27.4 million viewers overall), roughly matching the combined demo delivery of the next four highest-rated nets.
The same night last year: 11.2/27 in 18-49, 27.8 million. A 1% drop–not so bad.
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If the Idol PTB and the judges use a little more common sense for Season 7 and come up with a group to compare with Season 5, I am sure that the ratings will go right back up. Season 6, like Season 3 has been a diva-fest and so very, very boring. I didn’t really like all of the top 10 in Season 5 but had to admit they were all talented with never a dull moment. That’s entertainment, folks.
I do think having a duller year has not helped with the ratings, and there may be an increase next year, if a more interesting, diverse group of performers can be rounded up as contestants.
I do think this year’s Idol has suffered from the overall drop in TV ratings and that is due to so many factors, it is almost impossible to pinpoint the exact cause. (Time shifting and time changes probably being a part of it).
What I am wondering about is the number of votes being touted each week by Ryan. No way to verify those but I find the numbers hard to believe in view of the lower audience numbers.
As far as the number of votes go, I think a lot of people are finally using DialIdol software. I didn’t use it until this year. Last year I’d vote about 10 times at the most because I got tired of hitting the redial. This year, thanks to DialIdol, I get in 300-400 votes a night and don’t have to dial any numbers!
Isn’t the voting window 4 hours this year instead of 2 for last year? Maybe that accounts for the higher totals since more votes are getting through albiet from a smaller base. Do I have that correct?
It was 4 hours the week of Idol Gives Back and also the week after. Otherwise, it’s been two hours every week. For the finale, of course, probably 4 hours.
Even so, if they added more phone lines at their end, more votes can get through, right?