ABC's "American Idol" Launch is Least-Watched in History
by Lynette Rice
March 12, 2018


It brought hype and star power to ABC but "American Idol" definitely showed it age during its 16th season debut on Sunday: the new iteration with judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie was the least-watched "Idol" among all prior debuts on Fox, according to early Nielsen results.

Though the singing competition helped ABC to win the night in viewers (8.2 million) and in the key 18-49 demographic (1.7 rating), "Idol" saw its lowest-rated season premiere ever, falling 23 percent from its prior season premiere (3.0 in January of 2016) on Fox.





It was still a plus for ABC. The network had its best Sunday in almost six years and towered over the competition by 70 percent. "AI" was Sunday’s No. 1 show among viewers (10.3 million) and adults 18-49 (2.3).

The show definitely helped to launch the new drama "Deception", which ranked No.1 in its 10 p.m. time slot in 18-49 (1.3) beating the premiere of "Timeless" on NBC by 63 percent in the demographic.

ABC says the "Deception" premiere was its best scripted bow in the time period since the beginning of "Quantico" in September of 2015.

http://ew.com/tv/2018/03/12/american-idol-premiere-abc-ratings/

Haha this is funny.

American Idol returns to solid ratings, while Fox's O.J. Simpson special tanks (http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/american-idol-abc-season-16-premiere-ratings.html)
About 10.3 million watched Sunday's two-hour Idol premiere, which is on par with The Voice's debut weeks earlier and bigger than anything ABC aired last week, including The Bachelor finale and Grey's Anatomy. The last Fox season of Idol premiered to nearly 11 million (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-american-idol-stages-a-solid-return-abc-unphazed-by-foxs-oj-simpson-special-1093478) viewers in 2016. Meanwhile, only 4.4 million watched the two-hour O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession? Still, Sunday's launch had the lowest demo rating for an American Idol debut, about 20% below the previous low in 2016.

I mean, it changed networks and timeslots. It really is quite understandable. Unless people are just DONE with the show. I didn't think it was too bad, actually. Didn't have that classic AI feel to it, but it was enjoyable.

It's a little surprising just because American Idol is a name. That alone, no matter what, should carry some weight.

American Idol's second night was no match for The Voice (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-voice-dominates-a-diminished-idol-night-2-1093938)
After premiering Sunday to a strong 10.3 million viewers, Idol fell to 8.4 million on its second night. Meanwhile, the heavyweight singing competition The Voice attracted 11.7 million viewers on Monday. ALSO: Katy Perry accidentally flashed her fellow Idol judges. (https://decider.com/2018/03/13/katy-perry-flashed-american-idol-co-stars/)

Embarrassment for ABC as 'American Idol' reboot tanks amid Katy Perry nun dispute, Ryan Seacrest sex scandal (https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/c4c9b731-d6b2-3d3c-84c5-9cf56dfff2ce/embarrassment-for-abc-as.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=2_02)