With no big football games to compete against, Fox’s American Idol resumed its normal position atop the ratings for the week ending Jan. 25. As usual during this time of the year, the reality-music show occupied the top two slots, with the Wednesday airing besting the Tuesday episode by 3.1 million viewers. Compared to last year during the same week, last Tuesday’s show was down by 6.5 million, or 22 percent; the Wednesday telecast wasn’t as far off — just 1.2 million, or 4 percent. Next week, however, you can bet that the Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals on CBS will best both episodes of American Idol…combined.
When DVR numbers come in, however, American Idol will likely get a huge boost in its total viewership. And the show is also boosting other programs on Fox. Namely, brand-new crime procedural Lie to Me (No. 12), which premiered to a very healthy 12.4 million in the Wednesday, post-Idol timeslot; and Fringe (No. 15), which returned in the post-Idol Tuesday timeslot with 12 million viewers, a 52 percent boost over the 7.9 million viewers it had been averaging so far this season. Remember that Fox has used Idol to juice promising shows for years — it’s a tactic the network employed to help give Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Bones, and House legs of their own.
A few specials also made their mark in the top 20 for the week. ABC’s star-studded The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration showed up at No. 11 with 12.6 million viewers, besting all the other networks’ primetime inauguration coverage. And CBS scored with its original movie Hallmark Hall of Fame Presents: Loving Leah, which clocked in at No. 16 with 11.7 million viewers.
Overall, CBS rolled in with 10 shows in the top 20; Fox surprised with six total; and ABC clocked in with four. The football-devoid NBC and the low-rated CW didn’t land anything in the top 20. Surprise, surprise. The week’s full top 20 — complete with total viewerships — is after the jump.
addCredit(“Michael Becker/Fox”)
1. American Idol | Fox | 25.9 million
2. American Idol | Fox | 22.8 million
3. CSI | CBS | 17.6 million
4. Two and a Half Men | CBS | 16.1 million
5. House | Fox | 15.0 million
6. CSI: Miami | CBS | 14.6 million
7. Grey’s Anatomy | ABC | 14.4 million
8. 60 Minutes | CBS | 14.2 million
9. Criminal Minds | CBS | 13.8 million
10. Cold Case | CBS | 13.3 million
11. The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration | ABC | 12.6 million
12. Lie to Me | Fox | 12.4 million
13. Eleventh Hour | CBS | 12.3 million
14. 24 | Fox | 12.1 million
15. Fringe | Fox | 12.0 million
16. Hallmark Hall of Fame Presents: Loving Leah | CBS | 11.7 million
NCIS (R) | CBS | 11.7 million
18. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | ABC | 11.6 million
CSI: NY | CBS | 11.6 million
20. Lost | ABC | 11.3 million
1. American Idol | Fox | 25.9 million
2. American Idol | Fox | 22.8 million
3. CSI | CBS | 17.6 million
4. Two and a Half Men | CBS | 16.1 million
5. House | Fox | 15.0 million
6. CSI: Miami | CBS | 14.6 million
7. Grey’s Anatomy | ABC | 14.4 million
8. 60 Minutes | CBS | 14.2 million
9. Criminal Minds | CBS | 13.8 million
10. Cold Case | CBS | 13.3 million
11. The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration | ABC | 12.6 million
12. Lie to Me | Fox | 12.4 million
13. Eleventh Hour | CBS | 12.3 million
14. 24 | Fox | 12.1 million
15. Fringe | Fox | 12.0 million
16. Hallmark Hall of Fame Presents: Loving Leah | CBS | 11.7 million
NCIS (R) | CBS | 11.7 million
18. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | ABC | 11.6 million
CSI: NY | CBS | 11.6 million
20. Lost | ABC | 11.3 million
The Super Bowl isn’t on CBS, it’s on NBC.
Say what you will about “American Idol” (and I know the show has its many, MANY detractors) but the bottom line is a LOT of people watch it.
More importantly, the fact that it’s the most-watched show on TV has helped shows like “House” and “Bones” become hits. I’m not saying the shows weren’t any good, I’m saying that their ratings were middling at best and probably faced cancellation if they didn’t get that “Idol” boost that helped them grow their fan base. So, for helping larger audiences find “Bones”, “House”, “Fringe”, and now “Lie to Me”, “Idol” isn’t all bad, right?
I’m hoping American Idol continues to boost Fringe. Great show, just needs more fans.
There is an error in this post: the Superbowl is on NBC this year, not CBS.
Who’s even watching that dated A Idol it’s so dull it’s not even entertaining anymore!
Bones never got an AI lead-in…it has grown on it’s own UNLIKE Idol which has lost viewers, it has grown them. AI used to be a must-watch for me but now it’s gotten pretty tired. Mindless entertainment. ’tis OK though, not like they are making us watch it.
[...] its debut in 2002, American Idol has become an institution. The ratings for the talent show have been consistently on top and it has launched the careers of such pop superstars as Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and Clay [...]