Updated Season 6 ratings chart. Just for you groovy peeps.
Tuesday’s preliminary ratings:
The placement of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” next to “American Idol” got top marks for Fox — and delivered the highest series premiere on any network in viewership in nearly nine years.
That was in addition to the 90-minute “American Idol” that averaged 30.6 million viewers and a 12.2/30 in the demo.
Things were looking good for Fox all around, with “Idol” up 1% from the same night last year and up 3% compared with last Tuesday, when there were 12 male contestants, not the 10 like last night. But the “5th Grader” premiere was the surprise, retaining 93% of its demo lead-in and 88% of the “Idol” viewership.
Yes, Tuesday’s Top 20 show ratings exceeded the same night from Season 5:
| Tue 02/28 | Top 10 Girls | 12.4/31 | 30m |
However, TPTB must be totally in love with the Antonella racy pics scandal. Compare last week’s (2/12-2/18) Top 24 ratings with the same week–Top 24–from last year:
| Tue 2/21 | Top 12 Girls | 13.0/30 | 30.2m |
| We 2/22 | Top 12 Guys | 13.5/33 | 31.7m |
| Thu 2/23 | Top 24 Results | 9.9/24 | 23.4m |
| Tue 2/21 | Top 12 Guys | 11.8/30 | 29.5m |
| Wed 2/22 | Top 12 Girls | 12.3/31 | 30.5m |
| Thu 2/23 | Top 24 Results | 9.0/23 | 24.4m |
Both Tuesday and Wednesday night’s Season 6 Top 24 shows were down from last year–by around 1 million viewers. This past Tuesday saw a bump, probably from the scandal.
Ratings for last week, 2/12-2/18, had ABC’s Road to the Oscars and Grey’s Anatomy both ahead of Tuesday (#5) and Thursday’s (#6) American Idol telecasts at #2 and #3 respectively. The Oscar Telecast was #1 for the week, with American Idol’s Wednesday telecast behind it at #2.
Wednesday’s preliminary ratings:
“Idol” averaged 29.6 million viewers and an 11.8/30 in the demo between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Season 5:
| Wed 3/1 | Top 10 Guys | 12.2/31 | 29.6m |
The 18-34 demo is higher, but the total viewers are about the same.
Thursday’s preliminary ratings:
“American Idol” averaged 27.1 million viewers and a 10.4 rating/26 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary data released Friday by Nielsen Media Research.
Season 5:
| Thu 3/2 | Top 20 Results | 10.9/27 | 27.8m |
Hmmm. Season 5’s comparable Thursday night ratings were higher.
While the first few week’s of Idol saw huge ratings increases from last year, the ratings margin between Season 5 and Season 6 appears to be narrowing as the new season progresses…
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Isn’t Grey’s Anatomy on 9pm and AI is at 8pm? I don’t think Grey’s Anatomy has anything to do with lower ratings on Thursday.
Gray’s Anatomy is getting higher ratings over all for the night.
I didn’t watch AI last season at this point. I think I watched the week that Ayla and Gedeon and 2 others went home so that would probably be like next week. I think the only reason I put it on was because some people at work were talking about someone (maybe Ace).
Even if Grey’s Anatomy is getting higher ratings since it is on a different time than AI, I still don’t see how it affects AI’s ratings.
Wow, I didn’t realize that “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” pulled in those kind of ratings from AI. I must admit, I watched it. Good comic relief while voting (since I can’t chat and vote at the same time LOL).
Squishy, Grey’s affects AI’s ratings because it’s beating AI on the overall ratings for Thursday nights. NOT the ratings for one time slot. I don’t think MJ is saying that AI’s not beating everyone else in their time slot, just that on the overall list for Thursday night ratings, Grey’s trumps AI. So, AI can’t boast about having the #1 watched show for 3 nights in a row. Boo hoo for them. LOL.
Although Grey’s was a rerun this week, so I didn’t watch it. I’d already seen that one.
Sarah,
Did the Grey’s Anatomy re-run trump AI’s Thursday night show?
I think so, squishy. I think that’s what MJ was trying to say.
The rerun this week did not trump it. But Grey’s trumped the Thursday night Idol the week before.
I haven’t enjoyed this season of AI so much. Except for a few exceptionally good performances the show, for me, hasn’t been worth watching live. I’m recording and fastforwarding through the junk
. This is the first year I haven’t voted for anyone…why bother? 
After the top 10 are selected it doesn’t really seem to make a big difference to where one places. TPTB are basically going to do what they are going to do. I personally find the updates for AI alum much more interesting.
mj, have the numbers hitting your site stayed the same, dropped, or improved this year? Your numbers should be an excellent indicator of the overall condition of this year’s Idol competion.