American Idol Finale Ratings Down More than 10% in Demos Vs. Last Year

Have these ratings been adjusted for the overrun?

Interesting and Lost was finished last week.

I’m confused, does the overrun raise or lower the ratings? I don’t even care why, just read something that confused me with how that part of it works.

Just as expected.

All I know is I watched Norman again and its even funnier the 2nd time around.

Hillarious. I couldnt love him anymore than I do. I love that Simon, in spite of himself, likes Norman alot too.

C’mon, who couldnt love Norman?!

Yay for Criminal Minds raising its raitings…. it was an awesome finale… great climb hangger

‘American Idol’ Ratings: Lambert/Allen can’t compete with Archuleta/Cook

The season 8 finale of American Idol, which saw the crowning of a stunned Kris Allen over judges’ favorite Adam Lambert, was down 12 percent from the May 2008 showdown between David Archuleta and David Cook. Although 32.5 million viewers tuned in for the last half hour of Wednesday’s Idol finale, the average for Fox’s two-hour extravaganza (27.7 million) was down nearly 4 million viewers from season 7′s last show.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m confused, does the overrun raise or lower the ratings?

Not sure how it works technically, either, but I’ve seen articles that including the extra few minutes usually raises AI’s ratings…

thanks, sma11ie. I was rather confused. I don’t know how 3 or 5 minutes raises a rating unless people are tuning in for the next show. Not that I even really care. American Idol still has the highest rating. It’s not going anywhere for a while. Oh, and I’m looking forward to SYTYCD tonight.

Cà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢mon, who couldnt love Norman?!

Me. His schtick was funny the first few times, but couldn’t he at least learn a new song for the Finale? The whole Golden Idols thing was predictable and boring, and probably cost them viewers. Why tune in to see the same thing we saw in auditions and Hollywood? Not to mention, do they really think people want to watch KISS and Rod Stewart? Just when I thought David Cook might help them earn another Emmy, they screw it up again.

I could care less about any ratings algorithm. Those numbers don’t include viewers like me (who never watched a single episode of Seasons 1-7) and who do NOT own a television. I have so enjoyed watching the show week in and week out via the web (Thanks – MJ and Rickey TV!!). Some percentage report or media headline about ratings mean nothing to me. I LOVED the show, the finale (except for the black eye peas garbage – ugh! and the R. Stewart solo?! He’s always been a favorite of mine, but where were the top 13 in that??) and I can’t wait for the summer concert! And to think that thousands of people will be lining up for auditions in just a few weeks for AI 2010?? Bring it on! : )

PS
Kara rocked! I just laughed and laughed…

The Davids rule.

David squared 4 ever!!

I imagine the ratings are going down for the same reason I wont watch next year, they really suck at pickin idols, Adam was obviously the best, so I guess its a package competition, with a little dull thrown in :thumbdown_tb:

Yes, I’m another viewer that they have abused enough and I will not be back. But I am officially an Adam fan, and there’s always dancing. So life is still good.

The Davids rule.

David squared 4 ever!!

I concur. There is no comparison between last year and this year’s finale. David and David were both terrific from day 1 and all the way thru to the finale. Those two guys were way more appealing and the finale was much more compelling.

I’m curious about the hourly breakdown. My guess is the second hour was much higher as it was a good finale (unlike Season 6′s finale, that one really sucked). The lower ratings can be attributed to a mostly bad season.

I think the ratings decline partially has to do with the fact people have gotten more tech-savvy over the years. A lot of people start DVRing at the beginning of the show and begin watching 30 minutes in so they can fast-forward through commercials. I’m not saying that’s the main reason, but I think it contributes.

Also, I love Kris and Adam, but no one will ever beat the Davids in their combined awesomeness for me, for you, dawg.

I concur. There is no comparison between last year and this yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s finale. David and David were both terrific from day 1 and all the way thru to the finale. Those two guys were way more appealing and the finale was much more compelling.

Also, I love Kris and Adam, but no one will ever beat the Davids in their combined awesomeness for me, for you, dawg.

The Davids rule.

David squared 4 ever!!

I agree with all of you, the Davids were amazing in their season, and I actualluy though there was a competition going on, like they were giving it their all, a sense that I never got from this season… the finale on tuesday was boring, of course the raitings will go down for the results night if everyone though that the results were totally predictible and the both guys in question,Kris & Adam, weren ´t even giving a fight for the tittle…

All is not lost. One commentator said that despite an Allen win, the focus is still on Adam. It’s still Adam who is being talked about. Whether it’s good or bad publicity, it only shows the he’s off to a good start.

I actually don’t think I’ve enjoyed a finale this much since Season 2. I understand why people like David Archuleta but I never did and still don’t. Plus, I felt near 100% sure that Cook was going to win, so that kind of threw out the element of suspense for me. Add that to the fact that my favorite was already gone and you get a “meh” finale, IMO.

And then we have this year’s finale, which contained my 1st (Kris) and 3rd (Adam) favorites from the season. And, I wasn’t sure who would win. Both of their duets were amazing, and we got some Cook thrown in there too for good measure. This year’s finale gets 2 huge thumbs up from me!

Dont know where to post this but..

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/station-retracts-claim-arkansas-cast-38-million-american-idol-votes-9016.php

So now we have fewer viewers registering record numbers of votes. How much sense does that make?

more power voters… lol

I also don’t buy the “good buddy” blue nail polish hype put out by the top 2 this year. Not that I think Kris and Adam are unfriendly–but this purported closeness seems more manufactured than real. Last year’s top 2 had a genuine bond that was apparent before they emerged as final rivals. This year it seems more contrived.

Yeah, I’m convinced that after last year everyone who cared to got an education in powervoting

Well, I’m not surprised about the ratings slip, there was not the suspense like last year with the Davids, blame the show for making it seem like a lopsided competition (when it even turned out it was not!) Plus ratings are just on the decline overall.

I also donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t buy the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“good buddyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  blue nail polish hype put out by the top 2 this year. Not that I think Kris and Adam are unfriendlyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’but this purported closeness seems more manufactured than real. Last yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s top 2 had a genuine bond that was apparent before they emerged as final rivals. This year it seems more contrived.

I agree with this. They seem genuinely close and all, but it does seem somewhat deliberate rather than organic, the way it’s been played. I think Kris and Adam might have wanted to diffuse the religious/gay discussion.

I also donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t buy the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“good buddyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  blue nail polish hype put out by the top 2 this year. Not that I think Kris and Adam are unfriendlyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’but this purported closeness seems more manufactured than real. Last yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s top 2 had a genuine bond that was apparent before they emerged as final rivals. This year it seems more contrived.

That’s awfully cynical of you. The first words out of Kris’ mouth after he heard his name announced were” Adam deserves this” You can’t fake that reaction. Not at that moment. It was spontaneous and involuntary, not to mention impolitic in a public relation’s way.
I don’t doubt the friendship or the true respect that they hold for each other, there have been too many spontaneous moments for that (e.g. Adam kissing kris in the paula video, The way Kris almost mimics Adam’s movements in interviews, and the look in their eyes when they look at each other). No, I don’t doubt the mutual respect and affection.

There is nothing about Kris that seems fake to me. In fact, there is no way you could fake the kind of comfort level he has with Adam. Two open minded men that respect each other as people and as musicians.

Sunn and Weese, ITA. You’d have to be really calculating to pipe up with “the other guy deserved it” at that highly emotional and surprising moment. I think it was truly a blur to him and the truth came out. Which was no more than, he really recognized and respected Adam’s talent.

I kind of wish he’d had the presence of mind to say “deserves it as much as me.” That’s the real truth. Everything else is subjective to him, me, God and everyone.

Not only the ratings were down but the voting also didn’t beat last year’s votes. Which is a strange thing to me, considering that the season was getting a lot more votes in general.
Doesn’t every season finale always get more votes than the season before?

I can’t even buy the fans being complacent idea because there was a tie, and after that top 2 it was impossible to get complacent.

I think the performance episode was really boring and underwhelming, but last night’s episode was great. I really enjoyed it a lot. As much as I liked last year’s. The only difference is that David’s winning moment was more beautiful, emotional and overall better than Kris winning moment.

Kradam is real in the “kick-awesome” bromance way. Not everything is about Archie and Cook. There is a season 8 and my boys rocked.

My Adam may not have won the title, but his bff did and Adam wins at life.

Kradam is made of win.

Till next year, but I rather doubt it, as no one will ever top, for me…The Fierce and Fabulous Adam and Pocket Idol.

as Normund said – Peace Out.

I actually donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve enjoyed a finale this much since Season 2. I understand why people like David Archuleta but I never did and still donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t. Plus, I felt near 100% sure that Cook was going to win, so that kind of threw out the element of suspense for me. Add that to the fact that my favorite was already gone and you get a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“mehà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  finale, IMO.

Totally agree. Not everyone was gaga about david squared. That finale was background noise for me.

I think the problem wasn’t necessarily Kris and Adam, but the rest of the “cast.” Kris and Adam (with an assist from Allison) both did their best to bring some excitement to an otherwise boring, ill-produced season. Last year, (and season 5) I thought you could make a good argument for about half of the finalist to win depending on your taste. Really only Ramielle was not that great last year. This year IMO it isn’t necessarily that Kris and Adam weren’t as good as the Davids, it’s that the rest of the cast (minus Allison) were lacking.

I disagree that this group isn’t as good as last years. I had more favorites this season overall and liked Anoop, Alexis, Allison, Matt, and Danny (liked Michael Johns, Carly, and DC last season). I cared a bit more about the finale last season because of DC being in the f2 and seeing Michael whereas this one was more about the non f2 for me. It’s really hard to compare seasons anyway because things always seem to look better in retrospect.

Adam Lambert’s Rock Star Offer
May 21, 2009

Adam Lambert might have come in second to Kris Allen on American Idol last night, but he shouldn’t feel too bad: Rock legend Gene Simmons is a big fan of his already!

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Adam was fantastic,” the KISS frontmant tells Extra. “What a powerful and attractive man he is.”

But beyond his vocal talents, Gene thinks Adam has what it takes to rock out with the rest of his band.

“He can come on tour whenever heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d like,” offered Gene. “Of course heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d have to put his armor on because the fans, especially the KISS fans, take no prisoners. You gotta go big. Gotta be strong. You gotta be a rock, baby!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

So is Adam down for joining KISS on the road?

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“That would be amazingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ I would love that,” he tells Extra’s Mario Lopez. “Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d be such an honor. I had so much fun. To perform with KISS, I would love that. What a wonderful compliment. Thank you, Gene. That was very, very nice of him.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

Doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t every season finale always get more votes than the season before?

I think so, yeah. Last night was nearly 100 million votes. Last year it was 90 million something wasn’t it?

“Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s awfully cynical of you. The first words out of Krisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ mouth after he heard his name announced wereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Adam deserves thisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  You canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t fake that reaction.”

I might have said the same thing–and I don’t even know Adam or particularly like him. Kris is addressing a totally different issue. The comment was a value judgment about Adam’s superior talent and had nothing to do with their being good friends. But real guy-friends don’t go around wearing the same nail polish to illustrate how genuine their friendship is–unless they want to plant a story for the media in order to influence gullible fans. And yes, I’m cynical.

think the ratings decline partially has to do with the fact people have gotten more tech-savvy over the years. A lot of people start DVRing at the beginning of the show and begin watching 30 minutes in so they can fast-forward through commercials. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not saying thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the main reason, but I think it contributes.

Indeed, Victoria, I wonder how TIVO and DVRs factor in -
Idol has been on against another favourite show both nights and I would end up taping one or the other. And TIVO has pretty good records on all that – is that included in the Neilsen ratings.

Along with ck2 who only watches Idol online.

I also have to say when I tuned out of AI from Seasons 3 – 6, I used to tune it into the last five minutes of Idol finale to just see who won and how shlocky the coronation song was.

Season 7 brought me back, only because a friend was raving about one of the contestants and it was a fun ride, I tuned in for Season 8 hoping for more of the same and really Season 8 format changes hurt the show, it took too long to really get a sense of who the contestants were and crap like praising the blind guy when he was so out of his league whilst dissing someone who performed well in my mind just made it a frustrating season to watch overall. I think Season 9, I’ll wait until I get an endorsement from friends with equivalent tastes.

“I think the problem wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t necessarily Kris and Adam, but the rest of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“cast.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Kris and Adam (with an assist from Allison) both did their best to bring some excitement to an otherwise boring, ill-produced season.”

This season was bland, even with Adam. There were too few songs and too many judges. Lots and lots of filler. Seacrest was not at his best either.

I kind of wish heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d had the presence of mind to say à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“deserves it as much as me.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

You know, I kind of thought the same thing as I sat back somewhat removed from it all in my recliner in the living room. I did appreciate the spontaneous uttering Kris made about Adam deserving the win. That’s honesty and integrity. Kudos to Kris for that.

I was thinking that I would have loved to see him pull Adam alongside and say something like, “hey everyone, we share this award.” But you know if he had done that alot of people (voters) would have been really pissed off. Plus…with all the noise, and he had to sing that silly song, yada yada yada, who would’ve had time to think. I’m sure it was a big blur and he was trying to take in what had just happened.

Anyway, Adam, Allison and Kris were my favs all along. I did like Anoop and Alex too but the others….bleah. Last year had more of a talented crop.

Oh yeah, and many nights I had TIVO’d or watched online… (thanks MJ for posting videos!) except for the finale.

Seacrest was not at his best either.

That’s true. Ryan was surprisingly meh this year. I mean, he would never really be as witty and poised as like, Tom Bergeron but he was very competent and wonderful last year (and no, this isn’t a “Season 7 is the best evah!!1!1!” post).

Exactly with MJ here who needs a TV? Need to add this site to Neilsen bwah.

So now we have fewer viewers registering record numbers of votes. How much sense does that make?

Absolutely none. LOL

I’ve always said they should release the official vote totals. I want proof!!

Season 7 brought me back, only because a friend was raving about one of the contestants and it was a fun ride, I tuned in for Season 8 hoping for more of the same and really Season 8 format changes hurt the show, it took too long to really get a sense of who the contestants were …

Ditto.

It is time for TPTB to sit down and review the mistakes they made this year. This was one of the less enjoyable seasons with the one exception in the terrific Final Results show!

Without Adam, it would have been boring. I absolutely hated the treatment towards Anoop and Allison.

If there is a “Judges Save” next year, I will NOT cast one vote.

So now we have fewer viewers registering record numbers of votes. How much sense does that make?

I have this theory that AI/AT&T opened up more circuits for each line, somehow, so more calls got through– which also screwed with DialIdol.

all iwill say is thisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦if you are a person who mentions david (and i do not care which one) allt he time, in every postà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.YOU HAVE A FRIGGIN PROBLEM!!!! SERIOUSLY!! GET A LIFE!

LOL, how do you really feel? I mean, c’mon, we’re at the end of the latest season, so naturally discussions about how it stacks up to past season will crop up. I don’t see a problem with bringing up the Davids as long as it’s relevant to the post– for example, this post is about the ratings declining 10% from last year, sp a lot of fans naturally will tie that to last year’s top 2. Doesn’t mean they need to get a life. It’s just how these Idol discussions go, no need to get so worked up.

Many people that I know didn’t watch the final show because they thought that it was a done deal. They thought that with all the hype and the adulation by the judges for Adam , it was pointless to tune in.
The whole point is whoever recieves the most votes wins and Kris got the most votes so he won.
Perhaps Adams fans were so sure he had it in the bag that they didn’t bother to vote.

Changes I would like to see for next year :
No “save” .
No crappy song for the winner to have to sing.
No extra judge, it takes up too much time.
No guest celebrities pushing the new cd or trying a comeback , they have had their day so let the contenders have the facetime.
One thing that I would do if I were producing the show is have an idol reunion show bringing back former idol performers and let the public know how the idol show has launched many careers even if they don’t take the idol title. Idol fans would love it and it would be great fun to see favorites from past years.

An online entertainments show just went ape over Adam and completely dissing Kris, like a lot of others. I guess they just can’t get that some prefer Kris’ style, even while they liked Adams showmanship. A Kris cd would get a lot of replay from me but I would probalby like Adams concert better. I think its totally inappropriate to comment to the effect Kris is undeserving and not talented, etc. I was afraid he would get the Taylor Hicks treatment and its started, beginning with Simon not standing. Its hard to go anywhere when the judges and media are batting you down all the time. The difference in first and second is the song material they are given. Carrie had a special retreat with songwriters brought in to write FOR her, Bo was given reject material from other artists. The press appears to be the same, but the runner up has never gotten anywhere much except for 2 seasons. The Idol has to be the BIG star for the show to feel validated. Im wondering howthey are gonna work this with Adam. Forego their pride and pull out all stops for him and give Kris crumbs? I know all the kids want a record deal, but I would be very wary about signing with the same record company as first and second. Less money for promotion, etc. and again, THE idol needs to be the star.

Ratings are down all around, so a decline per se is not unexpected, but this show is the architect of its own decline.

Two hours of bloat with every random unrelated guest star they can think of. Rod Stewart croaking a 40 year old song? Steve Martin on banjo? Are you kidding me? Totally unfair allocation of singing time? I’m not even very fond of Matt or Anoop, but that absolutely awful tool Sarver and Megan Caw-caw get featured instead of them?

Did we really need 15 minutes worth of the horribly-unfunny-the-first-time-around psychos and their “awards?” Remember, these are the people that got screen time instead of Allison and Kris. What makes the producers think we want to see them now? Wouldn’t it have been nice to have an acoustic duet with Adam and Kris instead?

Ratings are down because the producers and the director suffered from incredible hubris (and incompetence) the entire season, and the chickens are coming home to roost. They’re just lucky the decline wasn’t worse. They need to get back to basics. It’s about the singing, right?

It’s kind of sad to me that so many people that loved season7 of American Idol kind of forgot their guys once the show ended. I think it’s terrific that Cook has sold a million plus albums and that David A has sold some 700,000 but based on all the “love” that has and still is shown them I find it hard to equate 30 million viewers and compare that with the album sales. I wish the people that watched American Idol would support their favs a bit better. This is a tough market right now and every idol needs a bit of help.

I find it interesting, if true, that 4 finalists from Season 8 have ostensibly been given recording contracts when the interest in the season seems to be measurably smaller than last year.

I also have no faith in the Nielsen ratings…having been a survey participant. I have numerous TVs in my house and only one was monitored. How does that work?

Just a couple of thoughts–first, the *shares* were the same as last year, which indicates that less people overall were watching TV.

And Tess, ALL TVs should be monitored if you’re a Nielsen participant. Were you a diary participant or a meter? If you’re a diary, they send you the number of diaries to match the number of TVs indicated during the phone call. If you’re metered, they meter everything. Not sure what happened there.

It’s a struggle in media research to get a wholly accurate number because of the TV and internet convergence. There are services that measure online video but the measurement of both at the same time is in its infancy. It’s a tough sell to people to ask them to allow a company to come in and measure their online behavior and their TV behavior at the same time, and there are methodological kinks that are still being worked out.

We all watch the videos that MJ and others post, but Fox doesn’t care anyway because they aren’t monetizing videos they aren’t placing themselves. (In fact, if they found them I imagine they would take them down, although they don’t seem to be terribly aggressive about that.) No ads, no revenue, no interest. What TV companies want is a way to marry full episode ratings for shows they place online with traditional TV ratings. I think Nielsen is doing this to some degree but there is still a lot of work to be done.

Because AT&T does not disclose stats we are only left to speculate. They should release stats! I have to assume they maxed at 100M because that was the capacity of the wats lines they allocated. I am left questioning with this 4 hour voting window, how did this disadvantange west coast voters? From blogs, posts, etc., I am reading they had far more busy signals than I did on the east coast. I got a busy 1 out of 8 average calls. I read so many, many posts where west coast never could get through at all–not once. This certainly can bias the outcome.

Dial Idol (ruled legal) takes a wats line and occupies that line for the entire time. East coast advantage, with the limitation of the wat lines. There are other speed dialing programs and phreakers that are also used. AT&T does not release information how these are routed and disqualified.

This year it becomes clear that if one wants to REALLY support their contestant they will have to invest in a GoPhone or another type that can speed text. I personally have no desire to speed text for 4 hours. Not in my wildest dream will I ever give 4 hours of my life for this. Which brings me to not being very interested in the next Idol season. I probably will be one of those that props up the last show ratings just to see the big name entertainers.

If they adopt a voting system like “Dancing With The Star” then I will watch the entire series of shows. But, if repeated–no, I won’t. Just the finale.