(Photo: AP)
True, Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox hardly made for must-watch TV. Two weaker American Idol finalists we've yet to see. But some might have thought the sending off of Simon Cowell, the return of Paula Abdul for a toast and the performances of a host of fossils unearthed from the Night of the Living Dead set (Chicago, Hall & Oates, Joe Cocker, Bee Gees, Alice Cooper, Michael McDonald) might have lured more viewers. ... Well, maybe not the fossils, who, one and all, sounded terrible.
But, alas, Idol's ninth season finale scored the lowest finale rating since season one's -- when season one was a mere summer replacement series. Fox lured about 24.2-million people -- 16 percent off the 28.8 million who watched Kris Allen triumph over Adam Lambert. (Maybe that's why viewers feel Idol has jumped the shark.) Even among younger viewers, coveted by networks for whatever reason, the numbers dipped. Among adults ages 18 to 49, the finale averaged an 8.2 rating, another plunge of 18 percent from last year's 10.0. A rating point in that demographic equals 1.3-million people.
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