Fans prepared to say goodbye to “American Idol” on Wednesday, when Part 1 of its farewell season premiere allowed Fox to finish in first across primetime. Unfortunately, the outgoing singing competition hit an all-time premiere low in the process, which wasn’t too surprising.
For ABC, the “American Crime” Season 2 premiere finished last among the English-language options in its new 10 p.m. time slot. NBC’s “Chicago PD” beat it out fair and square, though CBS ran the special “People’s Choice Awards” at that hour. Fox and the CW do not have national 10 o’clock programming.
Last night, the final season premiere of CBS’ “Mike & Molly” received a 1.6 rating/5 share — down 16 percent from its prior premiere in December and matching a low — in the key 18-49 demographic and had 6.7 million total viewers.
Fox was first in ratings with a 2.9 rating/9 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 10.9 million, according to preliminary numbers. The two-hour “Idol” was the only show on the network’s schedule, earning those still-strong numbers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 1.9/6 and third in viewers with 6.4 million. At 8 p.m., “The Middle” had a 2.1/7 and 7.8 million viewers. At 8:30, “The Goldbergs” got the same rating/share but with 6.6 million total viewers. “Modern Family” at 9 earned a 2.7/9 and 8.3 million viewers. At 9:30, “Black-ish” received a 2.1/6 and 6.3 million viewers. “American Crime” returned at 10 to a 1.2/4 and 4.7 million viewers.
NBC was third in ratings with a 1.6/5 and second in viewers with 7.8 million. “The Mysteries of Laura” at 8 p.m. had a 1.1/4 and 6.9 million viewers. At 9, “Law & Order: SVU” got a 1.8/5 and 7.8 million viewers. “Chicago PD” at 10 received a 1.9/6 and 8.7 million viewers.
CBS was fourth in ratings with a 1.4/5 and fourth in viewers with 6.1 million. At 8 p.m., “2 Broke Girls” had a 1.7/6 and 6.3 million viewers. “Mike & Molly” followed. “The People’s Choice Awards” at 9 got a 1.3/4 and 6 million viewers.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 0.8/3 and in viewers with 2.1 million.
Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.7/2 and in viewers with 1.8 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.3/1 and in viewers with 1 million, airing reruns.