FOX officially lost the ability to put the blame on “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent” for last week’s disappointing “The X Factor” ratings. Even without originals of those shows in the mix, the musical competition series failed to ignite viewers.
Wednesday’s two hour episode delivered a 3.6 adults 18-49 rating with 9.5 million viewers.
Given how significantly “The Voice” theoretically could have impacted “The X Factor” last week, the fact that its ratings only improved by 6% in the adults 18-49 demo without facing a “Voice” original colors the week-to-week ratings gain with some disappointment. This week’s NBC combination of “Voice” and “Law & Order: SVU” repeats averaged only a 1.5 in the demo from 8-10PM, which represents a decline of more than 50% from the prior week’s “Voice” and “AGT” tandem.
CBS’ “Survivor” did average a solid 3.2 from 8-9:30PM, but the competitive impact from that show should not have been as strong as that of “The Voice” and “AGT.”
On the positive side, “The X Factor” easily propelled FOX to a victory in the key demographic.
As has historically been the case with “American Idol,” last season’s “X Factor” held fairly steady until the late weeks of the competition. With the early part of the season falling short of expectations, the show’s next opportunity to truly succeed will be avoiding that late-season drop-off.