It seems like it was only yesterday that we were saying goodbye to American Idol on FOX but it has resurfaced on ABC & it looks like its return was a smart move in this new ratings climate.
On one hand, Sunday’s premiere of American Idol on ABC had smaller ratings than any of the show’s 15 season debuts on FOX BUT on the other hand, the show matched expectations for the current ratings climate and gave ABC a big upgrade from 8-10 p.m. Idol’s 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 & 10.3 million viewers was on par with the show’s 2016 average on FOX and more than double what America’s Funniest Home Videos and Shark Tank averaged from 8-10 earlier in the season. This is how its success should be measured but some of the media narrative will lead some to believe this is disappointing but it really isn’t.
American Idol gave the new series Deception a decent start a thought it did drop a full point in the demo to a 1.3 demo score & 6.10 million viewers. It should be noted the network had its best Sunday with regular series programming since Sept. 30, 2012.
The Season 2 premiere of Timeless on NBC didn’t fare as well with a 0.8 demo rating & 2.96 million viewers, down a tenth of a point from its finale last season and 0.3 off its season average. Fans clamored to have this show return but perhaps a Sunday move wasn’t the best idea.
On CBS, NCIS: Los Angeles (0.9, -0.2, 7.99 million viewers) and Madam Secretary (0.6, -0.1, 6.31 million viewers) returned from six-week hiatuses to smaller numbers on the network.
