A star-studded judge’s panel and a new friendly attitude don’t seem to be enough to pull American Idol out of its four-season ratings decline, with viewership for its 10th season premiere falling short of every other Idol premiere apart from the first episode in 2002.
While the 26.1 million people who tuned in to watch the season premiere on Jan. 19 still put the show at No.1 in the ratings, they made up 13 percent fewer people than watched last year’s premiere according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that the following night, the show lost another 4 million viewers, with the biggest losses in the young adult demographic of 18-49, which is the most prized by advertisers.
“I haven’t watched the show in a long time — not since it was a major fad and everyone was like oh my god you have to watch it,” said freshman geography major Jordan Tessler.
Indeed, even if you spent the week before the spring semester glued to Testudo searching for those few classes with open seats to fill your schedule, you were probably unable to avoid hearing some of the hype surrounding Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler’s addition to the show.
What you didn’t see were the 30-second promos showcasing the juiciest rejects that usually populate Fox’s commercial breaks in the weeks leading up to a new season of American Idol. This is because Simon Cowell, arguably the face of the show, has left, and taken with him the harsh ridicule that used to be a hallmark of the series.
The focus has now been placed on the successful auditions, with commercials that show Jennifer Lopez wiping away tears while talented singers tell inspiring stories, and the slogan “every voice deserves to be heard” flashing across the screen.
Sophomore microbiology major Katrina Pama says she watched one episode of the new season and didn’t care for it.
“I liked it better with Simon,” she said; a sentiment Freshman Anna Kim agreed with.
“I just thought it was more interesting with Simon,” Kim said.
However, the drop in ratings may not necessarily mean that Jennifer Lopez’s tears are less captivating than Simon Cowell’s venom, considering that the third episode of the 10th season saw a climb in the ratings compared to the second episode. Zap2it contributing editor Andrea Reiher speculates that this could mean some of Idol’s lost ratings are because of its switch to Wednesday and Thursday nights from its traditional time of Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Thursdays are not a traditional ‘Idol‘ night,” wrote Reiher on the Zap2it blog.
Whether or not the singing competition will remain the ratings powerhouse that it has been in the past remains to be seen. So far, the show is still drawing massive audiences compared to other shows in the same time slot, and Fox Executives told Reuters that the first two episodes combined were only down 12 percent compared to last year’s two-night premiere, which they said is great for a show in its 10th season.