Idol viewers a Mixed Bag: Down But Better Than Anyone Else
The good news for the Fox network is that American Idol's debut Tuesday once again obliterated the competition, drawing an average 33.2-million viewers over two hours and 13 percent of all TV viewers aged 18 to 49.
The bad news: That's the show's lowest performance in four years, down 13 percent from last year and down 10 percent from 2006.
Locally, Idol performed similar magic, attracting an average 539,025 total viewers in
Tampa Bay from 8-10pm last night. That was 29 percent of all area people watching TV and 36 percent of all area TV viewers aged 18 to 49. The closest competition was WTSP-Ch. 10, which drew 13 percent of all TV viewers to a combo of NCIS and the first hour of the Comanche Moon miniseries. And it seems Idol drew more ratings than all the other network affiliates combined.
Nationally, Idol performed similarly, drawing more viewers aged 18 to 49 than all competitors put together, offering the highest-rated night of the 2007-08 season.
But with the ratings lower than previous years -- for a debut which came during a writer's strike, when so many hit shows are in reruns -- the viewership results hint at dark clouds on the horizon of a show struggling mightily to win the nation's heart once again.
Check out the weird stalker dude from Tuesday, if you missed it:
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The Feed is a blog on TV, media and modern life by St. Petersburg Times TV/media critic Eric Deggans. Possibly the most critical guy at the Times, he has served as music, media and TV critic at various times over 10 years.
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