Expected to lose some steam Thursday, “American Idol” took a fairly massive tumble for its second 2011 episode.
The show was down to a mere 7.7 adults 18-49 rating, marking a decline of 21% from Wednesday’s premiere. Viewership clocked in at just 22.63 million.
While many were expecting “The Big Bang Theory” to take a hit against FOX’s juggernaut, data indicates that the reverse might have actually been more true. “Big Bang” was fairly steady with a 4.2 rating and 13.58 million, while “Idol” posted only a 7.0 rating from 8-8:30PM.
It should be interesting to see if “Idol” can rebound next Wednesday. In previous seasons, special Thursday airings were often weaker than the respective Tuesday and Wednesday broadcasts, so it is possible the 7.7 is not the current point from which “Idol”‘s Wednesday numbers will continue to fall.