Idol ratings drop -- Did they shoot themselves in the foot in shooting down Haley?

[Miguel]

The slow and depressing decline of ‘American Idol’

It may still be dominating the ratings, but the shadow cast by "American Idol" is nowhere near as long as it once was. While this isn't exactly news - "Idol" has been losing viewers for years now - there was a ratings uptick during last season, mostly thanks to renewed interest in the show due to strong contestants (like winner Scotty McCreery and third-place finalist Haley Reinhart), as well as a new judging panel that included Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Jenny From The Block herself, Jennifer Lopez.

However, the ratings were apparently too good to last. According to Entertainment Weekly, in its season premiere last Wednesday night, "Idol" was down 24 percent from last season's premiere to just a little over 21 million viewers - still an impressive figure, but poor compared to past seasons. There are plenty of excuses to be made: shows like "The X Factor" and "The Voice" dilute the brand, television ratings are down across the board, etc. But none of them strike quite to the heart of what's wrong in Idolville.

According to a post written by Josef Adalian in New York Magazine's online pop culture blog Vulture, the executive producers of "American Idol" tried purposefully after the derided ninth season to replace outgoing judges Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara Dioguardi with bigger names who wouldn't be nearly as critical. Cowell, of course, was the king of the harsh critique and introduced blunt honesty into American television following the success of "American Idol" predecessor "Pop Idol" in the United Kingdom. Too many reality shows had become known for having "the Simon" or "the mean Brit" on their judging panels, so it was a conscious effort on the producers' part not to cast such a stereotype.

In casting Lopez and Tyler, the producers only succeeded in turning "American Idol" into something of a dog-and-pony show. While both judges showed promise in the early rounds of season 10, soon enough they descended into strongly praising every single performance of every contestant. When the media backlash against this "nice is the new mean" judging philosophy began, Lopez and longtime judge Randy Jackson started doling out harsher critiques - against third-place finisher Reinhart. All other contestants were immune.

The nicer judgment style became a trend, with judges on "The Voice" left to playfully bicker with each other and ignore any bum notes the contestants might have sung, while a defanged Simon Cowell soon appeared on "The X Factor." Since then, all three shows have begun to look very similar - so much so that with "The Voice" coming back soon and "The X Factor" having just crowned Melanie Amaro as the first season winner, viewers have plenty of chances to see the same old, same old.

"American Idol" is no longer event television - it's simply a popular television show that peaked awfully early and is living far beyond its expiration date. The winners in recent seasons haven't been able to live up to the reputation that Kelly Clarkson built. While Reinhart managed to capture the zeitgeist once or twice with inspired renditions of songs like "The House of the Rising Sun" and "I (Who Have Nothing)," most performances barely make a dent in the greater pop culture landscape. Coming from a time when "Idol" was pop culture, it is now a footnote.

The ratings for "Idol" will continue to stay strong for a while, perhaps supported by those fans that want to see another Jennifer Hudson or Carrie Underwood in the making. But FOX would do well to realize that the show is far beyond its prime. They have "The X Factor," which they could easily make into a hit if they would just stop acting like it already is one. "American Idol" is done. The days of Clarkson, Underwood and Chris Daughtry are long gone, and when it's finally laid to rest, few will show up for the funeral.

"This is the opinion of Kevin O'Keeffe, a sophomore screenwriting major from Austin, Texas. Please send comments to..."

http://www.laloyolan.com/arts_and_entert...0f31a.html

He makes an interesting observation about the judging landscape but I think he misstates the reason for Jennifer and Randy's "harsher critiques" of Haley. Still, it's always good to see the unbalanced judging noted and Haley lauded for her performances.

---

Sunday night ratings per TV by the Numbers:

Fox dominated the night with over 3.5 hours of the NFC Championship taking place in Sunday primetime as the game went deep into an overtime period. To double disclaim, the numbers below are not time zone adjusted, do not include the 6:30-7p ET portion of the game and will be adjusted up. Post game coverage ran nearly until 11pm ET so the special telecast of American Idol didn't begin until 10:57p on the east coast but still scored a 7.9 adults 18-49 rating and 19.8 million viewers in time zone adjusted numbers from Fox. On a household ratings basis in the local metered markets, the game was the highest-rated NFC Championship in 17 years with a 33.4/48 rating share, peaking during the overtime with a 39.3/55.