FOX aired a two-hour AMERICAN IDOL last night and posted the highest-rated Thursday night (excluding sports) on any network in three years among A18-49 (since 2/28/08) and in four years in Total Viewers (since 3/8/07).
FOX outperformed the next highest rated network last night by +140% in A18-49 (7.2 vs. CBS’ 3.0) and +70% in Total Viewers (21.6 vs. CBS’ 12.7 Mil.), and has now won six consecutive in-season Thursday nights.
AMERICAN IDOL: 7.2/20, up +11% vs. the comparable date last year (7.2/20 vs. 6.5/17 on 2/25/10)
IDOL is also up +19% in Total Viewers (21.6 vs. 18.1 Mil.) vs, the comparable date last year.
AMERICAN IDOL retained 95% of last Thursday’s performance in the adult demo and 97% of last Thursday’s Total Viewers (21.6 vs. 22.2 Mil.)
AMERICAN IDOL was the highest rated program of the night in key demos and beat the next highest rated programs in Adults 18-49 (Big Bang Theory) by +89% and in Total Viewers (The Mentalist) by +47%.
This season, IDOL is heading into the voting stage of the competition in better shape than it was in last year in Total Viewers. Season to date, IDOL Season 10 is down only -4% in viewers (versus being down -5% at this point last season).**
Competition
Following Winter Wipeout (2.2/6, up +16%), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (3.3/9) posted its lowest original rating ever, falling -11% from last week’s episode. At 10p, Private Practice (2.4/7) gained +4% but season to date is down -22% versus its original performance last year (2.8/8 vs. 3.6/10).
CBS’s Big Bang Theory (3.8/11) was up +3% week over week but down -10% from its prior average with first-run episodes (4.2/13).
The time period premiere of Rules of Engagement delivered a season low 2.8/8 at 830p, down -13% from its last original. At 9p, CSI (2.7/7) fell -7% to a new series low with originals.
The Mentalist (2.8/8) dropped -7% from last week. Season to date, CSI (3.1/8) and The Mentalist (3.0/9) are both down -14% from their comparable original performances last year (3.6/9 and 3.5/10, respectively).
Week six of NBC’s all-comedy Thursday (2.1/6) was up one-tenth from last week, when the network delivered its worst performance ever with a regular lineup of in-season Thursday originals. Community (1.8/5), Perfect Couples (1.4/4) and The Office (3.3/9) were all flat with last week and matched their original season lows (excluding Perfect Couples’ preview on Monday 12/20).
Parks & Recreation (2.4/6) was up +9%, while 30 Rock (2.3/6) gained +15% from last week. Outsourced (1.5/4) closed out the night flat with last week and tied with its lowest original rating to date.
Live+Same Day Nielsen Ratings
(source: FOX)
