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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Idol’ Down But Still Dominates; ‘Live To Dance’, ‘Chase’ Crushed

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday January 20, 2011 @ 9:18am PSTTags: ABC Ratings, American Idol, American Idol Judges, American Idol Ratings, CBS Ratings, Fox, Fox Ratings, Live to Dance, Modern Family, NBC Ratings, Nigel Lythgoe American Idol, Ratings Rat Race, Simon Cowell American Idol, Steven Tyler American Idol, The Middle, TV, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

A lot is riding on American Idol at Fox, which usually turns from also-ran to a ratings leader overnight when the reality juggernaut hits the air. The pressure is not as great this season and the network has the Super Bowl. But the scrutiny has never been greater because of the judge overhaul in the wake of original star Simon Cowell’s departure that played out in the blogosphere over the summer. Overall, new judge Steven Tyler is getting good grades for his debut as is new (old) showrunner Nigel Lythgoe for focusing more on the good singers and less on the sideshows. As for the ratings, the question was “How much down will the show return without Simon?” We just got that answered. In the fast nationals, the two-hour American Idol Season 10 premiere drew 26.1 million viewers and a 9.7 rating/26 share among adults 18-49. That was down 13% in viewers and 18% in the 18-49 demo from last year’s premiere and the reality veteran’s lowest-rated season opener since the show’s inauspicious debut in summer 2002. (historical data below) It also represents the show’s biggest ratings drop between seasons. The numbers are expected to get adjusted up in the finals, so the demo decline is projected to be 16%. (The decline is bigger in the demo than in the total viewership because the Idol audience skewed older this year. Hey, one of the judges, Steven Tyler, is 62.) Even with those declines, Idol is poised to remain the highest-rated non-football program on TV by a wide margin, so Fox executives are probably relieved. Last night, Fox beat the combined 4-network average in 18-49 by 47%.

ABC’s Modern Family (4.6/12, 11.1 million) proved its mettle against Idol. The hit comedy, which last night had one of its best episodes this season, was actually up in the demo 10% from last week when schedules were disrupted by the coverage of the Tucson memorial. Also holding up well was ABC’s 8PM anchor The Middle (2.7/8, 8.7 million), down 10% from last week. Both shows posted their best ratings ever against Idol. As expected, worst hit by Idol were the vulnerable shows, CBS’ dancing competition Live to Dance (1.0/3, 5.2 million), which stars former Idol judge Paula Abdul. It barely registered at 8 PM against Idol. Ditto for NBC’s struggling freshman drama Chase (1.0/3, 4.3 million), which flatlined at 9 PM and was down from its Minute to Win It (1.6/4) lead-in.

It was a competitive field at 10 PM. The veteran, NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (2.3/6, 6.9 million) won the demo battle but not by much. In its second regular airing new ABC medical drama Off the Map (2.1/6, 5.8 million) was down 9% from its premiere last week, which was impacted by the scheduling disruptions. In its first tryout on Wednesdays, CBS’ Friday freshman drama Blue Blood (2.0/6, 12.2 million) didn’t pop but drew big audiences and improved The Defenders‘ demo performance in the hour (1.5/5 last week)

Here is historical data for the American Idol season premieres (this year’s ratings are fast nationals, all others are Live+same day)

1/19/11 26.1 million 9.7/26 in adults 18-49

1/12/10 29.95 million 11.8/29

1/13/09 30.45 million 11.7/28

1/15/08 33.48 million 13.8/32

1/16/07 37.44 million 15.8/36

1/17/06 35.53 million 15.3/34

1/18/05 33.58 million 14.0/33

1/19/04 28.96 million 12.9/30

1/21/03 26.50 million  12.4/30

6/11/02 9.85 million 4.8/14

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How Was ‘American Idol’ Without Simon?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday January 19, 2011 @ 11:20pm PSTTags: American Idol, American Idol Judges, American Idol Season 10, Jennifer Lopez, Simon Cowell American Idol, Simon Cowell Replacement, Steven Tyler American Idol, TV
Nellie Andreeva

For the past year, since Simon Cowell announced last January that he would leave American Idol to focus on bringing The X Factor to the U.S., there has been relentless speculation whether the veteran reality show would survive without its … Read More »

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TCA: No Villain On ‘Idol’ This Season

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday January 11, 2011 @ 12:14pm PSTTags: American Idol, American Idol Season 10, Jennifer Lopez American idol, Nigel Lythgoe, Randy Jackson American Idol, Simon Cowell American Idol, Steven Tyler, Steven Tyler American Idol, TCA, Television Critics Association, TV

From Ray Richmond, who has been contributing to Deadline Hollywood’s TCA coverage:
The hot new (read: Simon Cowell-less) American Idol got rolled out by Fox on Tuesday morning at the TCA confab in Pasadena, with new judges J-Lo and Steven … Read More »

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No Behind-the-Scenes ‘Idol’ Drama For Now

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday October 9, 2010 @ 11:12pm PDTTags: American Idol, American Idol Ryan Seacrest, American Idol Season 10, Fox, Fox American Idol, Fox Ratings, Jennifer Lopez American idol, Simon Cowell American Idol, TV, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Despite a red-hot Glee, Fox’s fall lineup is shakier than expected as the network’s new series largely underperformed. That’s why a strong American Idol is crucial for Fox’s hopes to claim another season ratings win. But the talent show juggernaut finished last season at a record low, and lost its signature star Simon Cowell, and then embarked on a judges search that became a public spectacle. But now I’m hearing that, two weeks into the audition process for Season 10, the situation on the show seems to be settling down with no major controversies on the immediate horizon. Read More »

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JENNIFER LOPEZ IS NEW ‘IDOL’ JUDGE! Closed Deal This Week; Replaces Ellen Who Wanted Out of Contract: “It’s Not Been Fun”

By NIKKI FINKE AND NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday July 29, 2010 @ 6:30pm PDTTags: American Idol, American Idol Judges, Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John, Fox American Idol, FremantleMedia, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Lopez American idol, Kara DioGuardi, Nigel Lythgoe, Nigel Lythgoe American Idol, Simon Cowell American Idol, Steven Tyler, TV, Unscripted TV

EXCLUSIVE UPDATE 6:30 PM: We’ve just learned the backstory of how Ellen DeGeneres bowed out of American Idol and who will be the new judge taking her place. It’s Jennifer Lopez, JENNIFER LOPEZ 2whose singing and acting career has been on the skids after her recent movie failed at the box office in the spring and she was dropped by her record company Sony Music Epic Records this past winter. We hear her manager Benny Medina (whom she once fired) orchestrated the meeting with the American Idol producers a month ago, and negotiations have been ongoing ever since. We’ve learned a deal was closed earlier this week under the utmost secrecy. Today’s news came shortly after Nigel Lythgoe returned to Idol as an executive producer. He has vowed to shake up the show’s team of judges in the wake of the departure of Simon Cowell, publicly stating that he always thought a panel of three and not 4 made the most sense.

Still to be decided is who will replace Simon Cowell. Everyone associated with the show wants Elton John, but we hear he’s asking for too much money and has too many touring commitments he can’t get out of. (Denials That Justin Or Elton Judging ‘Idol’) 2ND UPDATE: Tonight, unconfirmed reports say Idol has offered Cowell’s judge seat to Steven Tyler. 3RD UPDATE: And another unconfirmed report claimed judge Kara DioGuardi has been fired to bring the panel count down to just 3, not 4.

As for Ellen Degeneres, we’re told she wanted off the show two months ago and complained that Idol producers “couldn’t control Cowell”, one insider tells us. Least of all Cecile Frot-Coutaz, the CEO of FremantleMedia North America. “Cecile is doing X Factor with Simon, so she’s in his back pocket.” DeGeneres and her reps went in to to see Fox Broadcasting’s Entertainment Chairman Peter Rice and Alternative TV President Mike Darnell and asked to be let out of the year left on her contract. “She’s not comfortable. She’s not happy. It’s not been fun,” Fox was told.  But Rice and Darnell responded that, with Cowell leaving, “We can’t let you out now because it would be bad for our franchise. Give us a chance to figure out who we could get.” In the end, all the show’s producers – Fox, Fremantle, and 19 Entertainment – worked it out. “Peter Rice was awesome,” an insider tells us. “Ellen is thrilled and relieved.” We’ve learned that serious conversations took place between Idol and Jessica Simpson to replace Ellen. But once Jennifer Lopez was locked in this week, the DeGeneres announcement went out. Read More »

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Denials That Justin Or Elton Judging ‘Idol’

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday July 27, 2010 @ 8:52am PDTTags: American Idol, American Idol Judges, American Idol Rumors, Elton John, Elton John American Idol, Justin Timberlake, Simon Cowell American Idol, TV

2ND UPDATE: Deadline has learned that representatives for both Justin Timberlake and Elton John are denying there’s anything real behind that published rumor that both musicians are in talks to replace Simon Cowell as a … Read More »

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Nigel Lythgoe Returns to ‘Idol’ As EP

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday July 26, 2010 @ 5:17pm PDTTags: 19 Entertainment, American Idol, American Idol Judges, American Idol Season 10, Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe, Fox American Idol, FremantleMedia, Nigel Lythgoe, Reality TV, Simon Cowell American Idol
Nellie Andreeva

He was the first major member of the American idol team to depart the show. Now former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is finalizing a deal to return for the upcoming 10th season as the top-rated reality series is looking to … Read More »

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Reality Chief Mike Darnell Re-Ups At Fox

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday July 9, 2010 @ 3:58pm PDTTags: American Idol, Fox Reality TV, Mike Darnell, Reality, Reality TV, Simon Cowell American Idol, Unscripted TV
Nellie Andreeva

Mike_DarnellFox’s reality guru Mike Darnell is closing in on a 20-year anniversary at the network. Darnell has inked a new three-year contract to continue as president of alternative programming. That will bring his tenure at Fox to a whooping 19 years. … Read More »

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