The “American Idol” ratings nosedive continued Thursday, with the second part of the semifinalist reveal sinking to an alarming 4.4 adults 18-49 rating with 15.4 million viewers.
Even if adjusted up slightly in the finals, this is a decidedly “normal” number for a show that once dominated everything else on television. It is also down significantly from last year’s comparable episode, which scored a 7.2 adults 18-49 rating for a two-hour broadcast (in the comparable 8PM hour, it averaged a 7.0).
While a spike for next week’s semifinals might be in the cards, “Idol” historically trends downward as the live competition progresses. Given it is already at just a 4.4 for the Thursday episodes, we could easily be looking at the low-to-mid 3s for results shows come April and May.
True, the much-anticipated game between the Jeremy Lin-fueled Knicks and the star-studded Miami Heat likely attracted some eyeballs away from the major broadcast networks, but the overall audience for cable basketball is small in the grand scheme of things and cannot explain the entirety of “Idol”‘s drop.
“The Big Bang Theory” obliterated “Idol”‘s 8-8:30PM portion, scoring a 5.2 to “Idol”‘s 4.0. “Big Bang Theory” averaged 16.1 million viewers.
Over on NBC, “30 Rock” and “Parks and Recreation” remained in-line (and weak), with a 1.5/3.7 million and a 1.7/3.5 million, respectively. Without facing “Idol,” “The Office” rebounded, however, advancing to a more-respectable but still quite low 2.6 and 5.0 million.
“Up All Night” followed with a 1.8 and 3.5 million.
