‘American Idol’ Viewers Are Disappearing

May 14, 2008

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David Archuleta on ‘Idol,’ 5-13-08

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE: May 14, 2008

Contestants are disappearing as the “American Idol” finale approaches. Unfortunately for Fox, so are the viewers.

The 21.8 million people who watched last week’s competition episode was the show’s smallest Tuesday audience in more than five years. The show did better the next night, with 22.9 million, but that was the smallest Wednesday audience in three years, according to Nielsen Media Research.

They were still the most popular programs in prime time last week. Even though it is the May ratings sweeps period, when the networks tend to air their most attractive projects, no other show had 20 million viewers, once considered routine for television’s top programs.

Another onetime big event, the finale of a “Survivor” season on CBS, was seen by 13 million viewers and didn’t crack Nielsen’s Top 10.

Americans also seemed to prefer to spend Mother’s Day with their own moms: NBC’s special “America’s Favorite Mom” ranked No. 107 for the week with just 2.4 million viewers.

CBS was the nation’s most popular network last week, averaging 10.6 million viewers in prime time, followed by ABC with 9.5 million. Fox won among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic but, reflecting the “American Idol” decline, slipped to third among all viewers with an 8.9 million average. NBC averaged just 6 million viewers, and the CW had 2.6 million.

ABC’s “World News” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 8 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.8 million viewers and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.6 million.

For the week, the top 10 shows, in order, were: Fox’s Wednesday and Tuesday “American Idol”; ABC’s Tuesday and Monday “Dancing With the Stars”; CBS’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”; ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives”; CBS’s “Without a Trace,” “CSI: Miami” and “NCIS.”