UPDATED: "American Idol" had its lowest-rated, in-season premiere to date.
The eighth season debut of the massively popular singing competition lost about 10% of its audience this year and a bit more (-15%) in the adult demo.
“Idol” was seen by 30.1 million viewers, with an 11.7 national rating among adults 18-49 and 28 share. That's the lowest since the show's non-comparable series debut in the summer of 2002. Among total viewers, it's the lowest since a special Monday start in 2004 (30.0 million).
Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori said the network is feeling mixed about the numbers -- "relieved," "optimistic," and yet "not satisfied."
Relieved because the expected "Idol" erosion wasn't worse.
"Not satisfied" because, even though "Idol" is a ratings behemoth, it's still incumbent upon the network to somehow maintain the show's popularity.
And "optimistic" because critic and fan reaction to last night's episode was generally positive, and Liguori hopes that "word-of-mouth" and this round's ongoing format tweaks will improve the show's typically predictable performance trajectory over the course of the season.
"We've pulled back on the number of audition weeks, [new judge] Kara [DioGuardi] hit it out of the park, she felt very authentic," Liguori said. "I'm hoping that the ratings will not be the same as in year's past, that the sag in the middle of the season won't be as severe."
Last year the "Idol" premiere was down double digits, yet improved year-over-year as the season progressed. Liguori said Fox hopes the second episode tonight is down less than last year, which will give the network confidence the changes are working.
There's been plenty of critics second guessing the "Idol" format changes this year. But tweaks such as adding a fourth judge and fewer flop auditions represent the tried and true way of freshening reality hits -- heavily promoted minor variations that don't alter the show's core format. If anything, “Idol” was at a greater risk of decline if Fox had left the show untouched.
And despite its overall drop, the "Idol" premiere widened the gap between itself and the second-highest-rated entertainment telecast this season: "Idol" was 57% higher than "Grey's Anatomy" premiere, compared to 55% higher than the ABC soap last year.
CBS came in second place, NBC third and ABC fourth. CBS dramas “NCIS” (18.6 million, 3.7/9) and “The Mentalist” (18.1 million, 3.8/9) held up very well against “Idol,” both drawing ratings on par with their other performances this season and each retained more than 95% of their ratings from last week.
NBC was the hardest hit by the return of Fox's juggernaut. The second week of “The Biggest Loser” (8.9 million, 3.3/8) was down 27% from its premiere, yet up 10% in the slot compared to last year. The second week of ABC’s “Homeland Security” (6.0 million, 1.8/5, down 22%) and “Scrubs” (4.5 million, 2.2/5, down a disappointing 29%) also dropped. Though the network came in fourth, ABC points out its lineup is up 64% compared to the same night last year, the biggest gain of any network.
The 10 p.m. dramas, CBS' "Without a Trace" made gains (12.4 million, 2.9/7) while NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" (9.8 million, 3.6/9) won the hour. ABC aired "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (7.3 million, 2.8/7).