Week 23: ‘American Idol’ against ‘Olympics’ still #1

AMERICAN IDOL FREEZES OUT OLYMPICS IN HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPETITION

Three winning nights of AMERICAN IDOL and an impressive turnout for KITCHEN NIGHTMARES delivered a strong weekly finish (4.1/11) for FOX among Adults 18-49.  All three AMERICAN IDOL telecasts trounced Vancouver Olympics coverage, dominating across Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34, Teens and virtually all key demos.  In fact, with eight hours of head-to-head competition over the past two weeks, AMERICAN IDOL outperformed the Vancouver Games by +55% among Adults 18-49, +87% among Adults 18-34, +99% among Teens and +6% in Total Viewers.

FOX continues to reign as the No. 1 network of the season with a +12% advantage over its nearest competitor. 

For the second week in a row, FOX’s Tuesday AMERICAN IDOL telecast outperformed NBC’s Olympics coverage with a rating of 9.0/22 and advantages of +64% among Adults 18-49, +95% among Adults 18-34, +119% among Teens and +14% in Total Viewers.  FOX won the night among Adults 18-49, Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Teens and all key demos.

On Wednesday night, AMERICAN IDOL continued to dominate the competition with an impressive 8.7/23 among Adults 18-49, and advantages of +58% among Adults 18-49, +95% among Adults 18-34, +120% among Teens and +13% in Total Viewers versus the next highest-rated competitor.  FOX won the night among Adults 18-49, Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Teens and all key demos.
AMERICAN IDOL showed substantial growth compared to the previous Wednesday’s episode, making gains of +24% among Adults 18-49, +30% among Adults 18-34, +12% among Teens and +24% in Total Viewers. 

FOX’s special Thursday lineup of AMERICAN IDOL and KITCHEN NIGHTMARES delivered FOX’s highest rated Thursday night in almost one year among Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers (both since 3/26/09, excluding sports).
The AMERICAN IDOL results show at 8p posted a 6.5/17 and outperformed NBC’s Olympics coverage in the 8p hour by +48% among Adults 18-49, +77% among Adults 18-34, and +100% among Teens.  FOX won the hour among Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34, Teens and virtually all key demos.
At 9p a special KITCHEN NIGHTMARES delivered a 3.4/9 among Adults 18-49, which marked its second highest delivery ever among Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers. 

09/10 FOX Dramas: Live + 7 in Adults 18-49
Comparing Live+Same Day vs. Live + 7 ratings (now available through 2/14/10), FOX’s dramas have shown significant increases among Adults 18-49 including:

09/10 Season thru 2/14      Live+Same Day Adults 18-49      Live + 7 Adults 18-49   % Change
24                                                      3.5/8                                        4.2/10                         +20%
Human Target                                   2.8/8                                         3.3/9                          +18%
House                                               4.7/12                                       5.7/14                         +21%         
Lie to Me                                           2.5/6                                          2.9/7                          +16%
Glee                                                  2.9/8                                          3.6/9                          +24%
Bones                                                2.8/8                                         3.4/9                          +21%   
Fringe                                                2.2/6                                         3.0/7                           +36%
Dollhouse                                          0.8/3                                         1.2/4                           +50%         

09/10 FOX Dramas: Live +7 in Total Viewers
Comparing Live+ Same Day vs. Live + 7 ratings (now available through 2/14/10), FOX’s dramas have shown significant increases among Total Viewers including:

09/10 Season thru 2/14     Live+Same Day P2+ (Mil.)      Live + 7 P2+ (Mil.)        % Change
24                                                    10.9                                      12.6                         +16%
Human Target                                  9.3                                       10.6                         +14%
House                                             12.3                                       14.4                         +17%
Lie to Me                                          6.9                                         8.0                          +16%
Glee                                                 6.6                                         7.9                          +20%
Bones                                               9.8                                       11.3                         +15%
Fringe                                               6.1                                        7.8                          +28%
Dollhouse                                    2.2                                     3.0                        +36%

Weekly Program Rankers
FOX had 4 of the Top 20 programs among Adults 18-49:  AMERICAN IDOL TUESDAY (No. 1), AMERICAN IDOL WEDNESDAY (No. 2), AMERICAN IDOL THURSDAY (No. 3) and KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (No. 18).
FOX had 7 of the Top 20 programs among Adults 18-34:  AMERICAN IDOL TUESDAY (No. 1), AMERICAN IDOL WEDNESDAY (No. 2), AMERICAN IDOL THURSDAY (No. 3), FAMILY GUY (No. 14), KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (No. 16), AMERICAN DAD (No. 19 tie) and THE CLEVELAND SHOW (No. 19 tie).
FOX had 7 of the Top 20 programs among Teens: AMERICAN IDOL TUESDAY (No. 1), AMERICAN IDOL WEDNESDAY (No. 2), AMERICAN IDOL THURSDAY (No. 3), FAMILY GUY (No. 4), AMERICAN DAD (No. 8), THE CLEVELAND SHOW (No. 11) and THE SIMPSONS (No. 16).
FOX had 3 of the Top 20 programs in Total Viewers:  AMERICAN IDOL TUESDAY (No. 2), AMERICAN IDOL WEDNESDAY (No. 3) and AMERICAN IDOL THURSDAY (No. 10).

Week 2/08-2/14/10: Live+7

NIGHTLY AND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS –  FEBRUARY 22 – 28, 2010
MONDAY
8:00-9:00 HOUSE (R): (A1849: 2.1/6, 6.1 Mil Total Viewers)
9:00-10:00 24: (A1849: 2.8/7, 8.8 Mil Total Viewers)
8:00-10:00 FOX PRIME: (A1849: 2.5/6, 7.5 Mil Total Viewers)

At 8p an encore HOUSE posted a 2.1/6 among Adults 18-49 and ranked No. 3 in its hour among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.

Airing against the Olympics on NBC and following an encore HOUSE, drama ‘24’ posted a 2.8/7 among Adults 18-49, same as last week.  ‘24’ ranked No. 4 in the 9p hour among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.

FOX ranked No. 3 for the night among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.

TUESDAY
8:00-10:00 AMERICAN IDOL: (A1849: 9.0/22, 24.2 Mil Total Viewers)

For the second week in a row FOX’s AMERICAN IDOL-TUE dominated NBC’s Olympics for the night showing an advantage of +64% among Adults 18-49 (9.0/22 vs. 5.5/14), +95% among Adults 18-34 (7.6/21 vs. 3.9/11), +119% among Teens (5.9/19 vs. 2.7/9) and +14% in Total Viewers (24.2 vs. 21.3 Mil.)  FOX won the night among Adults 18-49, Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Teens and all key demos.

Despite airing against the Olympics, AMERICAN IDOL retained 94% of the equivalent episode last year when the first set of 12 Semifinalists performed on 2/17/09 among Adults 18-49 (9.0/22 vs. 9.6/24), 95% among Adults 18-34 (7.6/21 vs. 8.0/22) and 95% in Total Viewers (24.2 vs. 25.4 Mil.)

Compared to last week’s performance on Tuesday, AMERICAN IDOL retained an impressive 98% among Adults 18-49 (9.0/22 vs. 9.2/23) and gained +1% in Total Viewers (24.2 vs. 23.9 Mil.)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-10:00 AMERICAN IDOL: (A1849: 8.7/23, 23.0 Mil Total Viewers)

FOX’s AMERICAN IDOL-WED dominated NBC’s Olympics for the night showing an advantage of +58% among Adults 18-49 (8.7/23 vs. 5.5/15), +95% among Adults 18-34 (7.4/22 vs. 3.8/11), +120% among Teens (5.5/18 vs. 2.5/9) and +13% in Total Viewers (23.0 vs. 20.3 Mil.)  FOX won the night among Adults 18-49, Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Teens and all key demos.

AMERICAN IDOL showed substantial gains compared to last Wednesday and grew +24% among Adults 18-49 (8.7/23 vs. 7.0/17), +30% among Adults 18-34 (7.4/22 vs. 5.7/16), +12% among Teens (5.5/18 vs. 4.9/15) and +24% in Total Viewers (23.0 vs. 18.6 Mil.)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 AMERICAN IDOL (S): (A1849: 6.5/17, 18.0 Mil Total Viewers)
9:00-10:00 KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (S): (A1849: 3.4/9, 7.4 Mil Total Viewers)
8:00-10:00 FOX PRIME: (A1849: 4.9/13, 12.8 Mil Total Viewers)
 
FOX’s special Thursday AMERICAN IDOL results show posted a 6.5/17 and dominated NBC’s Olympics in head-to-head competition in the 8p hour showing an advantage of +48% among Adults 18-49 (6.5/17 vs. 4.4/12), +77% among Adults 18-34 (5.3/16 vs. 3.0/9) and +100% among Teens (4.8/16 vs. 2.4/8).  FOX won the hour among Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34, Teens and virtually all key demos.

Through eight hours in head-to-head competition AMERICAN IDOL bests NBC’s Olympics by a substantial +55% among Adults 18-49 (8.4/21 vs. 5.4/14), +87% among Adults 18-34 (7.1/20 vs. 3.8/11), +99% among Teens (5.7/18 vs. 2.9/9) and +6% in Total Viewers (22.3 vs. 21.1 Mil.)

So far this season, AMERICAN IDOL’s average is on par with the same weeks last year with Most Current ratings vs. comparable Most Current, showing 97% retention among Adults 18-49 (9.8/25 vs. 10.5/26), 94% among Adults 18-34 (8.5/24 vs. 9.0/25), 96% among Teens (7.5/24 vs. 7.8/24) and 94% in Total Viewers (25.8 vs. 27.4 Mil.)

A special KITCHEN NIGHTMARES at 9p posted a 3.4/9 among Adults 18-49 and posted its second highest Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers ever.  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES ranked No. 2 in the hour among Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Teens.

FOX delivered its highest rated Thursday night in almost one year among Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers (both since 3/26/09, excluding sports).

FOX ranked No. 2 for the night in Adults 18-49 and No. 1 in Adults 18-34 and Teens.

FRIDAY
8:00-10:00 NAACP IMAGE AWARDS (S): (A1849: 0.8/3, 2.9 Mil Total Viewers)

The NAACP IMAGE AWARDS posted a 0.8/3 and ranked No. 5 in its time period among Adults 18-49 and No. 4 among Adults 18-34.

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 COPS: (A1849: 1.8/6, 5.4 Mil Total Viewers)
8:30-9:00 COPS 2 (R): (A1849: 1.9/6, 6.0 Mil Total Viewers)
9:00-10:00 AMW: (A1849: 1.8/6, 5.6 Mil Total Viewers)
8:00-10:00 FOX PRIME: (A1849: 1.8/6, 5.6 Mil Total Viewers)

Due to Olympic coverage being sustained from 8-830p, COPS at 8p ranked No. 1 in its half hour among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34. COPS 2 at 830p ranked No. 2 in its respective half hour among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.

At 9p, AMERICA’S MOST WANTED ranked No. 2 in its hour among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.      

FOX ranked No. 2 for the night on a total primetime basis among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34.

      
SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 TIL DEATH: (A1849: 1.0/3, 2.5 Mil Total Viewers)
7:30-7:59 TIL DEATH: (A1849: 1.2/3, 3.0 Mil Total Viewers)
7:59-8:30 SIMPSONS (R): (A1849: 2.3/6, 5.3 Mil Total Viewers)
8:30-9:00 CLEVELAND SHOW (R): (A1849: 2.3/6, 5.0 Mil Total Viewers)
9:00-9:31 FAMILY GUY (R): (A1849: 2.8/7, 5.8 Mil Total Viewers)
9:31-10:00 AMERICAN DAD (R): (A1849: 2.2/5, 4.7 Mil Total Viewers)
7:00-10:00 FOX PRIME: (A1849: 2.0/5, 4.4 Mil Total Viewers)

From 8-10p FOX aired encores of THE SIMPSONS (2.3/6), CLEVELAND (2.3/6), FAMILY GUY (2.8/7) and AMERICAN DAD (2.2/5).  TIL DEATH posted a 1.0/3 at 7p and 1.2/3 at 7:30p.

FOX ranked No. 4 for the night among Adults 18-49, No. 3 among Adults 18-34 and No. 2 in Teens.

FEBRUARY 22 – 28, 2010

TOTAL PRIMETIME
ADULTS 1849 ADULTS 1834 VIEWERS (Mil)
FOX   4.1/11  FOX 3.5/11  FOX  11.0
ABC   1.9/5  ABC 1.6/5   ABC      5.7
CBS   2.0/5  CBS 1.3/4  CBS  7.8
NBC   5.5/15   NBC 3.7/12  NBC  21.3

NATIONAL NIELSEN RATINGS FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 22 – 28, 2010

(source: information provided by FOX)