(Studio Briefing) Lakisha Jones wasn't the only one who departed from American Idol Wednesday night. So did nearly nearly four and a half million viewers compared with audience figures for the comparable broadcast a year ago. According to Nielsen data, Idol drew 24.49 million viewers versus 28.85 million last year. Nevertheless, the show continued to whip the competition as it posted a 17.0 rating and a 26 share in the 9:00 p.m. hour. Fox's lead-in show, Bones, also performed strongly, scoring a 7.4 rating and a 12 share at 8:00, well ahead of the series finale of CBS's Jericho, which posted a 5.0/8. CBS took over first place at 10:00, however, with CSI: NY posting a 9.0/14, just ahead of ABC's Lost's 8.0/13.

24 million is pretty awful for AI. of course it's still very high ratings, but when some of the shows last season went over 30 million...something is wrong.

hopefully things can improve next year, this season was horrendous...plus Sanjaya/Antonella probably had them lose a lot of credibility. i have a feeling Season 5 was probably the peak and Season 6 is the start of it's downfall. of course it all depends on Season 7..hopefully it's good.

Well who wouldn't see that coming? Let's be honest here, this season is pretty terrible haha

I think for some reason everyone got really really into last year and people are now realizing it's basically the same format every year and for some reason are tuning out, but it's always been the same way

In my opinion, this is the first year that the top 4 was actually the 4 most talented people

I think for some reason everyone got really really into last year and people are now realizing it's basically the same format every year and for some reason are tuning out, but it's always been the same way

In my opinion, this is the first year that the top 4 was actually the 4 most talented people
i thought last year's top 4 was the 4 most talented people.

i was into AI4 too, i just think this season is boring and the talent is dry. i do like the top 4 and top 3 though.

i thought last year's top 4 was the 4 most talented people.

i was into AI4 too, i just think this season is boring and the talent is dry. i do like the top 4 and top 3 though.

I would have said that if Taylor Hicks wasn't in the top 4 haha