Ratings: 'American Idol' sheds 8 million since premiere

Barack Obama’s inauguration may be good for America, but it wasn’t good for American Idol. Tuesday night’s audition installment was still the No. 1 prime-time program with 22.4 million viewers, according to overnight ratings — but that’s eight million fewer than what tuned in for last week’s Idol premiere. ABC’s two-hour coverage of the Neighborhood Ball was the second most-watched program of the evening, averaging 12.6 million viewers. Meanwhile, Fox’s Fringe returned with a bang, averaging 12.1 million viewers, a 42 percent increase from its last original airing on Dec. 2. While that’s good news for the freshman drama, it should also be noted that its audience dropped 20 percent from its first half hour to its second. Doing the reverse was NBC’s Biggest Loser: Couples, which grew its crowd as usual hour-to-hour, averaging 8.4 million viewers from 8 to 9 p.m., and 12 million from 9 to 10 p.m. Rounding out the Tuesday night regulars, CBS powerhouses NCIS and The Mentalist took the expected hits airing repeats, while The CW’s 90210 and Privileged recovered from last week’s double-digit ratings dips with double-digit increases (10 percent and 48 percent, respectively).

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