American Idol 9 Finale Lowest Rated in Idol History

Last night’s Idol finale was the lowest rated in Idol franchise history. But we knew that was coming. At least the final show cracked 20M. Sad.

via Mediaweek:

-Ratings Breakdown:
The season-finale of Fox’s American Idol stood well above the competition on the final night of both the traditional (September to May) TV season and May 2010 sweeps, with 23.15 million viewers and a 7.8 rating/23 share among adults 18-49 and growth in every half-hour as follows:

American Idol (Fox)
8:00 p.m. – Viewers: 18.41 million (#1), A18-49: 6.1/21 (#1)
8:30 p.m. – Viewers: 21.07 million (#1), A18-49: 6.9/22 (#1)
9:00 p.m. – Viewers: 24.30 million (#1), A18-49: 8.2/23 (#1)
9:30 p.m. – Viewers: 28.83 million (#1), A18-49: 10.2/27 (#1)

Compared to the year-ago season-ender (Viewers: 28.84 million; A18-49: 10.0/28 on Wednesday, May 20, 2009), however, this was down by a noticable 5.69 million viewers and 22 percent in the demo. Without Simon Cowell next season, the double-digit bleeding will likely continue.

After the jump, take an historical look at Idol finale ratings. The winner is still the Clay Aiken/Ruben Studdard showdown. 36.38M people tuned in to watch.

ETA:  Idol was lowest rated in terms of the demo number. More people watched last night’s finale than Season 1, but Season 1 had more viewers in the desirable demo.

via TVBytheNumbers

9/4/2002 American Idol 10.8 23.02
5/21/2003 American Idol 16.8 38.06
5/26/2004 American Idol 12.0 28.84
5/25/2005 American Idol 12.5 30.27
5/24/2006 American Idol 14.2 36.38
5/23/2007 American Idol 11.5 30.76
5/21/2008 American Idol 11.4 31.688
5/20/2009 American Idol 10.0 28.86
5/26/2010 American Idol 8.2 24.2

About mj santilli 34859 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!