FOX, “American Idol” Boss Respond to “X Factor” Premiere Ratings

Executives from FOX and “American Idol” have weighed in on the disappointing “X Factor” ratings, with the parties largely responding as expected.

FOX is standing behind the show, which premiered to less than half the viewership of last season’s “American Idol” opener. Its research Twitter touted, “#XFactor premiered to a 4.2/12 A18-49 & 12.1m viewers; most-watched FOX fall debut in five years.”

It noted that “The X Factor” was the best Wednesday night-of-premiere week performer since “Melrose Place” in 1995; it gave the network its first premiere Wednesday win since the 1993 “Melrose” opener.

EW, meanwhile, quoted FOX’s reality chief Mike Darnell in saying “we’re happy with the numbers…the expectations were ridiculous.”

Those expectations for an “American Idol”-sized performance, however, were backed by “The X Factor”‘s Simon Cowell himself, who said he was hoping the show would do 20 million viewers.

As far as “American Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is concerned, “Factor”‘s failure to win its timeslot is worthy of a laugh.

He (@dizzyfeet) Re-Tweeted a fan’s comment, “LOL that XFactor did not even win its timeslot. I can hear @dizzyfeet cackling right now.”