Fox’s flagship singing competition saw its ratings head south again Thursday night, as “American Idol” lost to a rerun in the key 18-49 demo, based on Nielsen overnights.
TVbytheNumbers.com reports that “Idol” delivered a 2.9 average in 18-49, shedding 9% of its audience from a week ago. Airing opposite “Idol” at 8 p.m., a repeat episode of CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” eclipsed that number with a 3.0.
The CBS audience dwindled to a 2.3 in the second half of the hour for “Two and a Half Men,” as CBS aired an all-repeat lineup in prime time.
Fox still managed to eke out a win for prime time overall, even with “Glee” slipping 8% from last week to a 2.2 average in adults 18-49. Fox won the night with a 2.5 average, topping CBS’s 2.3 for its repeat programming. Univision checked in with a 1.5 average, followed by NBC with a 1.4 and ABC, which aired mostly repeats, with a 1.2.
CBS inched ahead in total viewers for prime time as a whole, averaging 9.2 million to Fox’s 9.1 million, followed by ABC with 4.0 million, Univision with 3.8 million and NBC with 3.2 million.
ABC’s only fresh program, “Wife Swap,” ticked up 7% in the 18-49 demo to a 1.5 average rating.
NBC had mostly fresh episodes, with two episodes of “Parks and Recreation” each delivering a 1.7 average in 18-49, both rising 13% from last week. “Community” also saw improvement, rising 8% to a 1.3, but “Hannibal” lost 18% to record a 1.4.
Idol is losing viewers for two reasons. First and foremost the judges seem to have lost their hearing with talent selection. Past two years talent slection has been inferior. Second, Fox has a stigma that implies cheating and the votes seem to be scewed. It is obvious they cater to a certain gunra each show to keep those viewers. The president election was lost because of some of FOX being dishonest. Folks are sick of that crap and have gotten smarter. Inless instant change in next year IDOL is dead and will be cancelled.