Against repeat competition from CBS, FOX’s Miley Cyrus-mentored edition of “American Idol” made a slight gain in the ratings.
The show averaged 23.84 million viewers with an 8.3 in the adults 18-49 demo, marking a gain of about 4% from last week. As with last week, the show’s average was weighed down by a rather weak opening half hour–the show kicked things off with a 7.2 rating and 20.99 million viewers before closing the night with an 8.9 and 25.08 million viewers for 9:30-10PM.
Because “Idol” is a tentpole event that usually takes viewership priority for its fans anyway, the fact that CBS’ “NCIS” and “NCIS: LA” were in re-runs should not have yielded expectations of a massive increase for “Idol.” That noted, unless the show was otherwise set to embark on a ratings decline this week, the buzz and intrigue behind Miley’s mentoring appearance produced, at best, only a minor increase.
Elsewhere, NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” rose a bit to a 3.0 with 8.02 million viewers. It led into “Parenthood,” which averaged a 2.7 rating and 7.07 million watchers; both shows grew from last week, with “Parenthood” adding 17%.
ABC’s “Lost” posted at least a 3.8 with 8.99 million viewers. Its final national number will likely improve slightly due to the fact that the final six minutes aired as an overrun into “V: The Arrival” (5.15 million, 1.9). For the exact same reason, the “V” recap series should drop in the nationals, as it is clear millions of “Lost” viewers were present for that 10-10:06 overrun. The second half hour of “V” did only a 1.4 with 4.04 million viewers.
Despite less competition, the CW’s typically-terrible Tuesday lineup was worse than usual–“90210” hit another low with a 0.7 adults 18-49 rating and 1.59 million viewers; “Melrose Place” offered just a 0.5 with 1 million viewers.
Ratings Sources: Media Week, THR