Photo: Fox/American Idol
The King of Reality Competitions has fallen but still remains mightier than the rest.
The Season 11 premiere of American Idol, which introduced fans to a likely finalist in Philip Phillips Jr. (or Phillipx2 in Twitterspeak), drew 21.6 million total viewers and a 7.2 demo rating, dropping 18 percent in total viewers and 26 percent in the coveted 18-24 demo from last season's bow.
The numbers represent Idol's biggest between-seasons percentage decline ever.
Not surprising, of course. Idol is the senior on the block and few shows not named 60 Minutes boast ratings increases when they are this long in the tooth. South Florida DirecTV customers also had a WSVN blackout to contend with in the onging rate dispute. Plus, there is a glut of music programs on TV. People seem to have had enough if the rapidly declining ratings for scripted shows like Glee or the collective yawn that greeted the reality competition upstarts, the blatant Idol rehash X Factor and the silly The Voice, are an indication.
But for all the gloaters in the The X Factor and The Voice camps, those retread shows still can't command half of Idol's viewership or impact in the music industry. The Voice winner's debut album came and went in a week's time, for instance. South Florida X Factor winner Melanie Amaro should release her debut some time this year. Will it achieve Idol Season 10 winner Scotty McCreery's crossover popularity at retail and radio? The Magic 8 Ball here says: outlook isn't favorable.
And despite a bloated two-hour audition show Wednesday, with yet another month of tiresome audition shows to come, including two more shows tonight and Sunday, Idol still is a more watchable enterprise, with more engaging judges, than its recent competitors. Perhaps a Season 12 quick fix might be to scrap all these audition shows and condense them into one two-hour broadcast, shorten the season and get to the finalist's competition that much sooner.
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