Watch for updates to this post…
UPDATE: From TV Line:
This… is American Idol‘s first ratings report for Season 12, which opened to 17.81 million total viewers and a 6.0 rating, per fast overnights.
That marks a year-to-year decline of 19 percent, which is slightly better than the Season 11 premiere’s 24 percent drop-off and more on par with the Season 10 opener’s 17 percent differential.
That’s more than halves the number of viewers that tuned in for the Season 6 premiere–the apex of American Idol ratings. But I suppose it could be worse.
Marc Berman reports that the American Idol 12 premiere was down 13 percent Year to year. I’ll be updating this post with more information, so stay tuned.
The two-hour season-premiere of American Idol with new judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban led Fox to Wednesday overnight victory, as expected, with an 11.7 rating/18 share from 8-10 p.m. But compared to the year-ago season-opener (13.5/21 on Wednesday 1/18/12), this was a decrease of 13 percent. And that 13.5 rating one year earlier was actually down by 18 percent from the 16.4/24 in the overnights for the 2011 season-premiere (on 1/19/11). So, the slow erosion is expected to continue this season despite the new panel of judges.
Keep in mind that the year-ago American Idol season-opener averaged 21.93 million viewers and a 7.4 rating/19 share among adults 18-49 (according to the fast affiliate results from Nielsen).
Ratings Chart from TVByTheNumbers:
8:00PM
FOX American Idol -P 6.0 16 17.81
ABC The Middle 2.3 7 8.201
CBS NCIS -R 1.1 3 8.375
CW Arrow 1.1 3 3.127
NBC Whitney -R 0.8 2 2.6638:30PM
ABC The Neighbors 1.9 5 6.166
NBC Guys With Kids -R 0.8 2 2.3559:00 PM
ABC Modern Family 4.3 11 11.019
CBS Criminal Minds 2.8 7 12.532
CW Supernatural 0.9 2 2.071
NBC Law & Order: SVU -R 0.6 2 2.739:30PM
ABC Suburgatory 2.4 6 6.351
10:00PM
CBS CSI 2.3 6 11.100
ABC Nashville 2.2 6 6.541
NBC Chicago Fire -R 1.0 3 3.447
Half Hour Breakdown from Marc Berman:
8:00 p.m.
ABC – The Middle
Viewers: 8.20 million (#2), A18-49: 2.3/ 7 (#2)CBS – NCIS (R)
Viewers: 7.92 million (#3), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#4)NBC – Whitney (R)
Viewers: 2.66 million (#5), A18-49: 0.8/ 2 (#5)Fox – American Idol (season premiere)
Viewers: 16.36 million (#1), A18-49: 5.2/15 (#1)CW – Arrow
Viewers: 3.16 million (#4), A18-49: 1.1/ 3 (#3)———-
8:30 p.m.
ABC – The Neighbors
Viewers: 6.17 million (#3), A18-49: 1.9/ 5 (#2)CBS – NCIS (R)
Viewers: 8.83 million (#2), A18-49: 1.2/ 3 (#3)NBC – Guyz With Kids (R)
Viewers: 2.35 million (#5), A18-49: 0.8/ 2 (#5)Fox – American Idol (season premiere)
Viewers: 18.81 million (#1), A18-49: 6.2/17 (#1)CW – Arrow
Viewers: 3.09 million (#4), A18-49: 1.1/ 3 (#4)———-
9:00 p.m.
ABC – Modern Family
Viewers: 11.02 million (#3), A18-49: 4.3/11 (#2)CBS – Criminal Minds
Viewers: 12.34 million (#2), A18-49: 2.7/ 7 (#3)NBC – Law & Order: SVU (R)
Viewers: 2.58 million (#4), A18-49: 0.6/ 2 (#5)Fox – American Idol (season premiere)
Viewers: 17.81 million (#1), A18-49: 6.0/15 (#1)CW – Supernatural
Viewers: 2.16 million (#5), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#5)———-
9:30 p.m.
ABC – Suburgatory
Viewers: 6.35 million (#3), A18-49: 2.4/ 6 (#3)CBS – Criminal Minds
Viewers: 12.73 million (#2), A18-49: 2.9/ 7 (#3)NBC – Law & Order: SVU (R)
Viewers: 2.88 million (#4), A18-49: 0.7/ 2 (#5)Fox – American Idol (season premiere)
Viewers: 18.26 million (#1), A18-49: 6.5/16 (#1)CW – Supernatural
Viewers: 1.99 million (#5), A18-49: 0.9/ 2 (#5)———-
10:00 p.m.
ABC – Nashville
Viewers: 6.61 million (#2), A18-49: 2.3/ 6 (#2)CBS – CSI
Viewers: 11.37 million (#1), A18-49: 2.4/ 6 (#1)NBC – Chicago Fire (R)
Viewers: 3.53 million (#3), A18-49: 1.1/ 3 (#3)———-
10:30 p.m.
ABC – Nashville
Viewers: 6.48 million (#2), A18-49: 2.2/ 6 (#3)CBS – CSI
Viewers: 10.83 million (#1), A18-49: 2.3/ 6 (#1)NBC – Chicago Fire (R)
Viewers: 3.36 million (#3), A18-49: 1.0/ 3 (#3)Source: Nielsen Media Research data