A low note for 'American Idol' ratings

calendarlive.com
By Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Have "American Idol's" ratings entered their over-the-hill, Elvis-in-Vegas phase?

Fox's hit singing competition returned for its seventh season with a two-hour Tuesday premiere that averaged 33.2 million total viewers, according to preliminary results from Nielsen Media Research. That's a huge number, by a large margin the most-watched entertainment telecast so far this season.

And needless to say, it blew away the competition: The night's next most-watched show was CBS' "NCIS," which logged 15.9 million viewers. It also stomped NBC's "The Biggest Loser" (7.2 million), which had been benefiting from a lack of competition due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

Even so, a sense of diminishment hung in the air. For the first time since it became a winter TV staple back in 2003, "Idol's" season premiere did not improve on the previous year's debut. Not only was "Idol" down 11% compared with last season's all-time high for a season opener (37.4 million), it actually delivered the lowest premiere figures, among both total viewers and the crucial demographic of adults ages 18 to 49, since 2004.

The slippage comes as "Idol" has faced criticism over its content, sometimes from people close to the show. The producers have said the sixth season spent too much time with celebrity mentors at the expense of the contestants. Critics felt last year's competition was hijacked by a distracting controversy over Sanjaya Malakar, a teenage crooner with ever-evolving hairstyles. In a Rolling Stone interview, Chris Daughtry, the fourth-place finisher in 2006 and now a popular rock musician, said "Idol" is "lacking some credibility at this point."

Even so, Tuesday's numbers are not necessarily a reliable indicator of overall waning interest in "Idol." The ratings can build as the field winnows down and viewers get engrossed in the rivalries among the contestants. And as the writers strike wears on, "Idol" may benefit from rival networks forced to rely on repeats and lesser-known unscripted shows.

The Channel Island column runs every Monday in Calendar. Contact Scott Collins at scott.collins @latimes.com

I honestly think the numbers might be down currently because not all people like to watch this audition process. However, on several sites I have also read where several people will not watch the show because of the treatment of Taylor Hicks. Others because of the Davis group not signing up Elliott Yamin on the etrainstation.

It is really too bad that the production of Season 6 kind of ruined the "idol" image due to not focusing enough on the contestants. I know the finale really was awful last year. Of course, Season 5 was just so great that this is probably another factor why viewership may not be as great.

I agree. I can tell they are trying to focus on the contestants more in the audition process whether the auditioners make it to Hollywood or not.

I know people are upset with the treatment of Taylor, but I'm so over that now. It's been almost two years since the man won and in my opinion he's been so past Idol for awhile. I don't let it bother me anymore. If it bothers Taylor he doesn't show it so I shouldn't be worried about it.

Again, I'm not the nitpicking type either. I'm not putting down others for their anger at the AI machine as that is their prerogative, but I've just learned that in the grand scheme of things and with Taylor's career I don't really need to be worried about it. Taylor can handle this business and I really don't like to know all the details on the business side of the music business because it's not so pretty.

I was unaware that they were upset about Elliott being unsigned by AI People. I think he's done quite well as an Indie artist and think it was the best thing for him.