As some of you Orgers may already know and love (or dread), American Idol makes it return to the primetime TV schedule tonight. For the past ten years, it has been a TV and pop music juggernaut, garnering huge ratings and being the talk of the entertainment media. However, the past few seasons have made the program show its age, as first the producers made a questionable decision to add a fourth judge, then Paula Abdul left, followed by Simon Cowell, who went off to host his own music competition show The X-Factor. A lot of critics and viewers thought the last season would bomb without Simon Cowell on the program, but the show did not lose a beat with new judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez.

But that was last season. Since then there's been a deluge of talent competition shows on prime time TV, including America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, The Voice, The Sing Off, The X-Factor, and Dancing With The Stars. Yet, as the number of shows increased, the ratings for all the programs which previously aired went downhill, while The X-Factor did not live up to Simon Cowell's lofty expectations. In addition, some of the winners of the previous proigrams have underwhelmed on the pop charts and had their record deals axed after only one album.

So have TV viewers and music fans reached a point of reality TV competition fatigue? Or are they just weeding out the dregs and waiting for the real deal to arrive? A lot of expectations are riding on this particular season of Idol, as the ratings may determine whether the reality TV competition show is just overloaded or on its way permanently downhill.

[Edited 1/18/12 18:36pm]

When they kicked Chris Daughtry off in Season 5 I knew my relationship with Idol would never be the same. A year later when Melinda DooLittle was booted I stopped watching the show all-together. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

In my eyes, there are only two true idols and everyone should already know who I'm talking about. Yes, the original Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. And their record sales prove it. Everybody else has been a major dissapointment.

As far as non-winners, Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson are obvious standouts --- that deserved to win their respective years.

TBH I don't get all the AI hate since it's basically a talent show, which really isn't anything new. We had everything from Star Search to the Gong Show in past years. People pan AI singers, forgetting that they're watching amateurs.

I'm not a regular viewer but I actually like Steven a lot more than Simon and JLO is a huge improvement over the endlessly annoying Paula Abdul IMO.

The problem is that when the suits in the entertainment industry find a successful formula they run it in the ground because we don't have creative people running things, so we get overkill of one type of show.

I stopped watching that show years and years ago.

BklynBabe said:

I think Jennifer Hudson is an awesome singer, and obviously Fantasia has been pissing her talents away with her country ghetto behavior....but to be honest Fantasia deserved her win and when she is truly in her zone she knocks Jenny off the block. It surprises me how bad Clay Aiken fell off though. A lot of talent was just wasted dealing with AI.

Sad but true.

the last winner i can name is what's her face.

I think the novelty has worn off. The ratings are in, and while it still spanked the competition, the news is grim.

http://insidetv.ew.com/20...e-ratings/

'American Idol' premiere ratings: Biggest drop ever

728huey said:

I think the novelty has worn off. The ratings are in, and while it still spanked the competition, the news is grim.

http://insidetv.ew.com/20...e-ratings/

'American Idol' premiere ratings: Biggest drop ever

by James Hibberd

UPDATED: The Idol has landed.

The 11th season debut of Fox’s American Idol had the biggest year-over-year ratings drop for a premiere episode in the show’s decade-long history. Idol delivered 21.9 million viewers and a 7.4 in the adult demo on Wednesday night, according to Fox’s time-zone-adjusted national ratings. That’s down 24 percent from last year.

The reality veteran still easily won the night (with Fox outperforming all its rivals combined) and the show will almost certainly rank as this week’s top-rated entertainment program. Still, the decline is a disappointment for Fox, though not entirely unexpected.

Here’s three reasons for the fall:

– Trend: After years of growth, American Idol premiere ratings peaked in 2007 with a massive 15.8 in the demo. It’s declined nearly every year since, except in 2010 when there were considerable headlines about Ellen DeGeneres joining the show, and there was a tenth of a point uptick (even though DeGeneres didn’t actually begin judging until after the show’s premiere).

– Buzz (or lack thereof): Last year, Fox shook up the Idol judging panel, adding Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. So even though it declined, additional viewers likely tuned in out of curiosity. This time, with no significant format changes or judging panel shakeups, there was little to drive non-fans to check out the show. Everybody knew what they were getting.

– Rivals: Here’s the most interesting factor: Idol used to be a true annual event. Fox wisely resisted the temptation to run Idol in the fall and spring, like ABC does with Dancing With the Stars and CBS with Survivor. Now, between NBC’s The Voice, The Sing Off, and America’s Got Talent, as well as Fox’s own The X Factor, there are singing auditions and judging all year around.

Point of interest: These Idol ratings have now come down to Earth enough to open the possibility of a ratings coup for NBC, which is launching season 2 of The Voice after the Super Bowl next month. Will the premiere of The Voice outperform this premiere of American Idol? Probably. But which show will win the weeks after the Super Bowl? Ever since Idol became Fox’s Death Star, there hasn’t been another series that’s had a more realistic shot of toppling Idol in the adult demo on a weekly basis (Dancing has occasionally beat Idol among total viewers).

Well again people dont realize how far down TV ratings are, even in this shows height it was coming close to sitcoms from the 80's and hour long shows like Dallas and Miami Vice, so while the numbers are big for now's standards, they dont have the % of the audience that those shows did.Also its not even the ratings, its no one is buying or even caring about their artists that win and put out records, when there is more of a buzz on Pia Toscano who was top 16 or whatever than the winner that no one can name, whats the point of the show? Though i despise all these shows, i almost vomitted at that scripted XFACTOR crying shit for ratings, the only show i would slightly give some cred to is the Voice because the judges arent seeing you, the whole idea of the public voting has become a joke now.

22 million people is still huge regardless of the drop.