Thursday saw a flurry of finales including American Idol (3.4/11) ending its 12th season with an all-time finale low and The Office closing its doors for good. Declaring a winner from the final two female contestants, the more than two-hour live Idol was down 47% in preliminary ratings from the 6.4/18 final numbers of season 11's finale on May 23, 2012. The first Idol finale to have less than 20 million viewers, season 12′s ender, which went nearly eight minutes over the hour and will likely be adjusted up in the final and fully accounted numbers, pulled in 13.61 million viewers from 8 PM to 10:07 PM last night. That’s nearly 8 million viewers less than the 21.5 million who watched last year’s season finale. It is also way down from the 6.0/16 rating and 17.93 million viewers that the show's season 12 premiere had on January 16, 2013. Thursday’s finale was up 28% among Adults 18-49 over last week’s show and saw a bounce from the 11.6 million viewers on May 9. (See complete list of American Idol finale viewerships & ratings below)
Related: Anyone Care Who Won 'American Idol'?
Like the fact that a woman was the winner for the first time in six years, Thursday's results for the Fox singing show's season finale should come as no shock. Idol was down 25% this cycle from last season and has hit a series of all-time lows of late with its ratings erosion. Thursday's preliminary ratings for the Idol finale was down from the 4.9/13 rating and 14.13 million viewers that The Voice's live season 3 ender received on December 18. It was also down from the 4.4/11 rating and 11.90 million viewers that the NBC show's second season snagged when its last spring cycle ended on May 8, 2012.
And that can't simply be blamed on this season's almost all rookie judges' panel, the friction between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, or competition this cycle from the likes of The Voice. With the exception of a rise for season 10's finale back in May 2011, Idol has been on a fairly steady downward trajectory since its season 5 ender in 2006. The 14.2/36 rating with 36.383 million viewers that Idol pulled in on a more than two-hour show on May 24, 2006 was only ever beaten by the 16.8/37 rating and 38.060 million the series got in a one-hour finale in its second season back in 2003.
American Idol Finale Viewership & Ratings Since Season 1
Wednesday-09/04/2002 8:00 PM-10:00 PM 23.021M 10.8/30
Wednesday-05/21/2003 9:00 PM-10:00 PM 38.060M 16.8/37
Wednesday-05/26/2004 8:00 PM-10:02 PM 28.839M 12.0/32
Wednesday-05/25/2005 8:00 PM-10:01 PM 30.269M 12.5/31
Wednesday-05/24/2006 8:00 PM-10:04 PM 36.383M 14.2/36
Wednesday-05/23/2007 8:00 PM-10:09 PM 30.755M 11.5/31
Wednesday-05/21/2008 8:00 PM-10:06 PM 31.688M 11.4/30
Wednesday-05/20/2009 8:00 PM-10:07 PM 28.838M 10.0/28
Wednesday-05/26/2010 8:00 PM-10:07 PM 24.215M 8.2/24
Wednesday-05/25/2011 8:00 PM-10:07 PM 29.288M 9.2/26
Wednesday-05/23/2012 8:00 PM-10:07 PM 21.5M 6.4/18
Thursday-05/16/2013 8:00 PM-10:07 PM 13.6M 3.4/11
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