For the first time in six years, “American Idol” lost a head-to-head ratings race. And the battle was not even close.
After dominating the 2010 Winter Olympics Tuesday, “Idol” was the dominated party Wednesday. The Top 24 revelation show posted a mere 6.9 adults 18-49 rating with 18.4 million viewers, far and away the lowest tally of the season (even lower than a poorly-rated “Road to Hollywood” episode).
The Olympics, meanwhile, road appearances from standouts like Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White to an 8.9 with 29.3 million viewers, the highest total of the 2010 games.
For the 9PM hour, the broadcast did even better, averaging a 9.0 with 30.1 million.
While the top 24 announcement episode would not intuitively be a top-drawing episode for “Idol,” the magnitude of the show’s defeat suggests that almost any type of “Idol” episode would have struggled against the heavy Olympics competition.
FOX’s “Human Target,” the only other original program, averaged a 2.1 with 7.1 million viewers. While it has become clear that “Target” is not breaking out as a major player, for an unestablished series going head-to-head with the Olympics, it performed acceptably Wednesday.
