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

[Miguel]

...what about all these cute boys? Where is their overabundance of luck coming from?... when texting broke 178 million per season during Season 8 – the year of Kris Allen’s surprise victory – it still only accounted for a small fraction of the total votes. Myth of the Tweeny Texter Tyrants: Busted!

So where is the trend coming from if not thanks to squealing, bright-eyed teens? The answer likely lies with their mothers. In its 11 seasons, Idol’s median viewership has aged 14 years, from 34 to 48 and while it hasn’t lost its teens altogether, is has lost its formerly strong grip on them. In fact, that would explain why in recent seasons, Idol producers have scrambled to find ways to bring the young audience back: Introducing MySpace auditions, lowering the minimum age for contestants to 15, and most recently adding the ability to vote on Facebook. Yet, the median age is still on rise and we’re poised to see another cute southern young man take the title while talented folks like Skylar Laine and Joshua Ledet join the list of unappreciated Idol contestants like past cast-offs Blake Lewis, Haley Reinhart, and Elliott Yamin, all of whom are missing check marks in either the “cute,” “boy,” or “Southern” check boxes.

...Still, what can we do? Idol doesn’t collect data on its voters and its process allows for multiple votes – just ask Arkansas, who reportedly turned into 34 million votes from a state of 2.8 million people to crown Kris Allen Season 8’s Idol – so perhaps it’s time for a new order. Either limit voters to one vote a piece (or perhaps three for voters wily enough to know they can vote once by text, once by phone, and once by web) or start up some sort of American Idol Electoral College.That way, we aren’t subjected to the will of the mega voters as we watch our perfectly reasonable single votes crushed under their weight of the Cute Boy Army, whatever age and gender they may actually be.

http://www.hollywood.com/news/American_I...r/28394260