'Idol' bigger than ever
Fox hit draws in 37.3 million viewers
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The Fox phenom opened to boffo numbers Tuesday night, with the two-hour premiere ranking as the second highest-rated episode of the series to date -- and easily topping any primetime telecast this season.
Show was the highest-rated entertainment telecast in adults 18-49 on any net since the series finale of NBC's "Friends" in May 2004 (24.9/54).
Compared with this season's previous top primetime telecasts, Tuesday's "Idol" premiere comes in 43% higher in adults 18-49 than the season premiere of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (11.0/26) and 30% bigger in total viewers than the college football BCS title game on Jan. 8 between Florida and Ohio State (28.8 million).
And this edition of "Idol" was just the first of more than 40 leading up to its May 23 finale.
"I'm just in shock," said Fox alternative topper Mike Darnell. "It just doesn't seem possible in this day and age that a show already so big can keep growing. It's unprecedented."
Darnell said Fox execs approach the show every year with the assumption that it will finally start to show some erosion. So far, that hasn't happened.
"In the history of TV, there has never been one show so dominant," Darnell said. "Particularly now with digital and Internet, I do not believe you will see this ever again. TV history professors will be talking about this show one day."
According to preliminary Nielsen estimates, the opening night of auditions on "American Idol" averaged a 15.7 rating/36 share in adults 18-49 and 37.3 million viewers overall, up 3% in the demo and 5% in total audience vs. one year ago.
The only other "Idol" telecast to rate higher was the final hour of the May 2003 season finale between Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken.
From 8 to 10, Fox's 15.7 rating/36 share in adults 18-49 more than doubled the combined ABC-CBS-NBC total (7.7/17). It also tied "The X-Files" in 1997 as Fox's highest-rated season premiere to date in the key demo.
Fox Entertainment prexy Peter Liguori is again counting on "Idol" and hot drama "24" to rally the net, which remains in fourth place for the season.
"It's a reality of how we conduct business here," he said of Fox's annual January resurgence. "How we schedule that January is when the network comes alive. We take out two of our most prominent shows, one being the biggest shows in TV."
That said, Liguori agrees that "we've got to do better in the fourth quarter. Hopefully we're taking measures to put ourselves in a better place in the fourth quarter."
"Idol," of course, has been television's No. 1 program for each of the past three seasons, becoming the first series to average more than 30 million viewers since NBC's "Seinfeld" ended in 1998.
At least some of its unparalleled rise in popularity five years into its run can be attributed to the success of its winners and other finalists -- covering a wide spectrum of music.
Kelly Clarkson has sold 8.3 million albums and was one of the most popular radio plays in 2006; Carrie Underwood was named female vocalist of the year at the CMA Awards in November and has sold 4.7 million albums; and Jennifer Hudson, a runner-up, on Monday won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in "Dreamgirls."
On the male side, both Clay Aiken and rocker Chris Daughtry (now just known as Daughtry) have enjoyed success.
Fox is certainly reaping the financial rewards for such a megahit, with a 30-second spot on the show fetching more than $600,000 this season, according to Advertising Age. Net charged a reported $1.3 million per 30-second ad for last May's finale.
Another two-hour audition seg of "Idol" aired Wednesday. Show will air regular on Tuesdays and Wednesdays through its finale, with three Thursday editions also on tap in February and March.
NBC Entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly said he's still praying for the day that "Idol" starts to falter.
"God willing, maybe they'll have a bad run," he said. "Nothing burns that bright forever. There will be a day when it's incredibly uncool to watch that show. It will start to fade. When that is, I don't know."
CBS ran second Tuesday, paced by "NCIS" (prelim 3.8/9 in 18-49, 15.9 million), the only Tuesday program to hold up well opposite "Idol." The military crime drama was within 10% of its most recent firstrun delivery.
(Michael Schneider contributed to this report.)
