‘American Idol’ Marks All-Time Ratings Low – Yes, Counting the Fox Years

ABC singing competition runs up against CBS’ Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday

ABC/Eric Liebowitz
American Idol

“American Idol” lost its very own sing-off in TV ratings on Sunday, and this time it wasn’t even a battle against NBC’s “The Voice.”

ABC’s revival of the long-running Fox series slipped to a new all-time ratings low against CBS’ Academy of Country Music Awards, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen. And, yeah, we’re including the Fox years here.

Two hours worth of “American Idol” starting at 8 p.m. got a 1.3 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and an average of 6.3 million viewers. The lows from the show’s Fox days were a 1.4 demo rating and 5.5 million total viewers.

Though the series made a solid return when it landed on ABC last month, these numbers are the latest in a losing streak the revival has been seeing against its Fox ratings. The Sunday night premiere was down 23 percent from the show’s “farewell” season premiere and finale on its old network in 2016, both of which earned a 3.0 rating.

“The Voice” has also been kicking its butt on Monday nights for the past 5 weeks.

For the night, ABC was second in ratings with a 1.4/5 and in viewers with 7.1 million. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” at 7 had a 1.2/5 and 6.2 million viewers. Then came “Idol,” followed by James Comey’s 10 p.m. sitdown interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, which earned a 1.7/6 and 9.8 million viewers.

While the Ryan Seacrest-hosted program saw a new demo low last night, the telecast did improve over the Disney-owned broadcaster’s time slot versus the same time last year, which included airings of “Once Upon a Time” and “Match Game.” The network saw a 152 percent lift in total viewers (6.3 million vs. 2.5 million) and a 86 percent rise in adults in the key 18-49 range (1.3/5 vs. 0.7/2). That’s progress — though expensive progress.

On average season-to-date, the revival has delivered ABC its best numbers in that two-hour time block in the last four years in total viewers and in three years among the key demo.

See how the rest of broadcast fared for the evening here.

Tony Maglio contributed to this report.

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