'American Idol' Season 11 on FOX HD - Page 2

Modern Family was only down 2% in the pre-adjusted number. NCIS was a repeat.

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)
'American Idol' debut drops 27 percent
Hit show's season 11 debut averages a 7.2 in 18-49s
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Jan. 19, 2012

Fox's "American Idol" was still an easy No. 1 last night, but it returned to much lower ratings than last year's season premiere.

The season 11 debut averaged a 7.2 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, down a considerable 27 percent from last year's bow, which averaged a 9.7.

"Idol" still won every half hour and finished 44 percent ahead of the night's No. 2 show, "Modern Family," which averaged a 5.0.

But clearly the juggernaut is slowing down. The show averaged 21.6 million total viewers, its least-watched premiere since season one and down 20 percent from last year's 26.2 million.

The dip is not unexpected. The past three years there were new judging panels to draw people's interest, unlike this year, when the panel stayed the same. Still only one of those years saw ratings rise.

The show is in season 11, a point when most programs are in decline, and rival singing competitions "The X Factor" and "The Voice," though they're not currently on the air, have sapped some of the appetite for singing shows.

Bottom line, "Idol" is still strong but it's nowhere near as strong as it once was.

But even a weaker "Idol's" return hurt the competition. Every show that aired opposite "Idol" saw declines from its most recent episode, most notably NBC's revamped Wednesday comedy block, which had an okay premiere last week.

Last night "Whitney" and "Are You There, Chelsea" fell 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively, versus last week, to a 1.6 and a 1.8 in the 8 p.m. hour.

"Family" was off the least, only 2 percent, and it had a stronger rating than last year when it faced the "Idol" premiere, which speaks to the comedy's momentum this year. It's seeing ratings gains over season three and is one of the top shows on broadcast this season.

Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 7.2 average overnight rating and an 18 share, topping the other Big Four networks combined.

ABC was second at 3.0/8, CBS third at 2.5/6, NBC fourth at 1.5/4, Univision fifth at 1.3/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.6/2 and CW seventh at 0.5/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-three percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 6.9 for "Idol," followed by ABC with a 2.5 for "The Middle" (2.6) and "Suburgatory" (2.5). NBC was third with a 1.7 for "Whitney" (1.6) and "Chelsea" (1.8). CBS and Univision tied for fourth at 1.5, CBS for a repeat of "NCIS" and Univision for "Una Familia con Suerte." CW was sixth with a 0.7 for "One Tree Hill" and Telemundo seventh with a 0.6 for "Una Maid en Manhattan."

Fox was first again at 9 p.m. with a 7.5 for more "Idol," while ABC remained second with a 4.0 for "Family" (5.0) and "Happy Endings" (2.9). CBS was third with a 3.2 for "Criminal Minds," Univision fourth with a 1.6 for "La Que No Podia Amar," NBC fifth with a 1.1 for "Harry's Law," Telemundo sixth with a 0.5 for "Flor Salvaje" and CW seventh with a 0.3 for a repeat of "Remodeled," which tied the show's record-low debut on Tuesday.

CBS took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.8 for "CSI," with ABC second with a 2.5 for "Revenge." NBC was third with a 1.8 for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Univision fourth with a 0.8 for "Dale con Ganas" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.7 for "La Casa de al Lado."

Fox also led the night among households with a 12.2 average overnight rating and a 19 share. CBS was second at 7.1/11, ABC third at 5.0/8, NBC fourth at 3.8/6, Univision fifth at 1.6/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.8/1 and CW seventh at 0.7/1.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...27-percent.asp

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Nielsen Notes
Historical data for the American Idol season premieres
By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline.com - Jan. 19, 2012

(This year’s ratings are fast nationals, all others are Live+Same Day):

1/18/12 21.6 million 7.2/18 in adults 18-49

1/19/11 26.3 million 9.8/26

1/12/10 29.95 million 11.8/29

1/13/09 30.45 million 11.7/28

1/15/08 33.48 million 13.8/32

1/16/07 37.44 million 15.8/36

1/17/06 35.53 million 15.3/34

1/18/05 33.58 million 14.0/33

1/19/04 28.96 million 12.9/30

1/21/03 26.50 million 12.4/30

6/11/02 9.85 million 4.8/14

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/amer...t/#more-217038

Yeah, that's true. Idol does do that. I guess the big difference for me then is how intimate the setting for auditions is during Idol. I prefer not having backing vocals/music while someone auditions. While watching last night I was just happy that I wasn't watching X Factor. I still hate Randy though. He's awful.

Somewhere out there Cowell is wishing his show could fail as well as Idol.

It might not be just an overload of singing shows that is doing it. Dances with the Stars (which airs more than once a year) has also fallen a lot. Some of these shows are getting long in the tooth.

At least Cowell isn't paying Ryan Seacrest 15 million dollars a year. And I shudder to think what Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are getting paid for doing nothing.

Yes they still had huge numbers, 7.X is still great, and they were still the number one show.

And that means what? Bragging rights? A show like this is very expensive to produce. When you hear that Ryan Seacrest, yes Ryan Seacrest, is making 15 million a year, it really illustrates how a long running show can lead to bloated salaries-sometimes deserved, sometimes not. The only people not making a lot of money off this show are the contestants, including the winner.

Advertisers prepay for their commercials to run on these shows. If the show doesn't deliver a guaranteed number in the ratings, Fox has to pay some of this money back. It's not a good situation.

It wouldn't surprise me if Fox cuts the budget on the show next year. Seacrest might really be OUT, and the ridiculous salaries for Tyler and J-Lo might finally be seen as unwarranted.

If you enjoyed watching the show at the time, then the hours weren't wasted. If you watched it but never enjoyed it, well then I have little sympathy for you.

I'm betting Cowell wishes he had Ryan for X Factor. Or anyone not named Steve Jones for that matter.

Not for 15 million dollars a year. How much do you think Seacrest is worth?

Modern Family adjusted up a tenth. The Middle and Are You There, Chelsea? were each adjusted down a tenth.

A lot of people THINK they are enjoying a marriage/relationship too, but wish they had that time back after the fact. Can anyone say that they enjoyed Lee Dewyze? Anyone? Some people liked Nashville Star last year. I didn't, nor did I realize the show was going to be geared in that direction after nine years. The judging became nonexistent. And it was completely lacking in drama. What a waste. I might keep a few shows on my DVR just in case the show improves. But if the last two seasons are any indication, it is just going to get worse thanks to the shallower pool of singers. And what really good singer would go on AI anyway, when X Factor offers $5 million to the winner?

Wouldn't it be funny if that Seacrest clone shows up on Simon's show . . .

You act like that's a ton in relation to how much the show makes. They make enough to cover all the host/judge salaries on finale night.

That would be funny. But I'm still holding out hope Fox cancels X Factor. These Idol auditions are OK, but I still prefer The Voice's.

Do you have a number, or are you going to be intentionally vague?

If Seacrest is making 15 million, then it wouldn't be surprising if Tyler and J-Lo are making 20 million each. That is 55 million. Jimmy Iovine didn't work for cheap-add on another 15 million. That is 70 million dollars without even including Randy Jackson. I don't even want to think about what he makes. What do you think the ad rates are for 30 seconds on that final show?

Plenty of shows have made budget cuts in the last year as ratings have fallen. There isn't as much money being made by the broadcast networks as there used to be as viewership has defected to cable networks, Netflix, etc.

Another consideration is the syndication money, or lack thereof for reality shows. Less revenue there.

You can Google some of these questions and get more informed answers than just making up numbers and assuming stuff.



Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler each get between $5-10 million per season. J-Lo gets $12-20 million per season.

The show is rebroadcast in over 100 countries around the world.

The Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola sponsorship deal was around $10 million in season one, rising to $35 million by season 7, and between $50 to $60 million in season 10.

Huge money from Coke, Ford, and they get a nice chunk of change from every single song that gets sold on iTunes. They're not coming close to losing any money.

That was for 2010. We don't know how much they are receiving for 2012. We also know that the average was 620,000 in season 6 and even higher in season 7, though that was aided by a writer's strike. That is already quite a drop, and it is probably even lower for season 11.

J-Lo received 12 million last season. This season all the articles say that she received a raise to 20 million. No one has said anything specific about Tyler's salary, but reports claimed he wanted a big raise for this year. Again, I can't imagine that he's making much less than J-Lo. If he's only making Randy Jackson money (and far less than Seacrest!), then he has a fool for a negotiator.

I am sure The X Factor is too.

And X Factor had a $60 million deal with Pepsi. That doesn't mean it will continue.

Why would you care if those 12.4 million people watch the show?

The tally easily bested NBC's finale for "The Voice," which drew 11 million. "The Voice" will return to NBC's schedule early next year.

Overall, Simon Cowell's "X Factor" is the No. 1 new unscripted show on TV so far this season.

How big of an impact has the show had? It has boosted Fox's Wednesday ratings by 48% -- and on Thursdays, its numbers have zoomed by 46%. Fox was No. 1 on Thursdays in the key category of adults age 18 to 49 for the first time in its history.

I missed the opening of Idol last night; somewhat on purpose. Can someone tell me if Tyler made it through the whole show without being censored? If so, maybe I'll watch. Thanks.

So started to watch tonight five minutes into the program...four minutes later Tyler asks Lopez if his ASS looks good. Why was this bleeeeeeeped on air but not in close captioning? I have taken to watching in close captioning when TYler speaks and then if censor free I turn on the audio. Now I cannot even do this? Why would there be this disparity? I recall where deaf individuals have claimed in the past where the close captioning has been censored where the spoken word was not. You cannot say ASS on network television? Really? But you can put in close captioning. Turning the channel on the New AI....again.

Tyler is a freaking moron. Simon Cowell, the "mean" judge, never swore ONCE!

Wow how do you watch cable if your so turned off by cursing? Do you plug your ears in public?

I'm enjoying this season so far because we get to hear talented singers, but where is the humor of the bad audition? Most of the people not getting tickets to Hollywood shown on the broadcasts aren't even totally horrible. Part of the draw was that you didn't know if you were gonna see someone really great or a great trainwreck. Now you know that they are either really good or simply not good enough.

Hate that new aspect of it, I can see why ratings are dismal. The casual non-hardcore AI fan is tuning out because of the lack of bad humorous auditions.

P.S. There is a school of thought that you can't have bad auditions without Simon to totally rip them. I think there is some logic to that, but in that case, AI should have folded up shop once Simon left.

It's about time they did a season of all stars culled from people who didn't win, but came close.

To each their own, I guess. We have always found the trainwreck auditions to be the absolute worst parts of the show. I have never understood the appeal of watching an idiot act foolish merely for camera time.

Cursing is fine. I don't like the irritating bleeeeeeeeep. Annoying to my ears with receiver turned up. I think if cursing is allowed it should not be censored, and if prohibited it should just be edited out rather than making a freaking irritating display of it. And Tyler has turned AI into an obscene freak show, bleeeping his way through every episode. Simon with all his wrath did not do that once.....in nine years. It's a mark of limited talent as well to resort to it.

Oh, sorry I misread. I completely agree with you. They should just make it silent instead of that annoying "bleep". And excessive cursing shows a limited vocabulary to express one's self.

I disagree at times... especially with Sid the Cussing Rabbit and Craig Ferguson.