- It's been a season of many embarrassments for American Idol, but the finale (2.6) brought a little redemption. (Provided you don't think it's an embarrassment that people are raving over an Idol finale rating in the mid-2's.) At least on a percentage basis, this was pretty much a vintage Idol finale spike, up by 24% from last week's final performance Wednesday and by over 50% from the deflated Tuesday performance finale. It was 28% behind last season's finale, which is one of the show's better recent year-to-year points, but last year's finale faced piles of competition (including The Big Bang Theory and the series finale of The Office).
- After finals factored in the last 13 minutes, Survivor (2.6) adjusted up to tie Idol in the reality duel. Being even week-to-week would normally be a bit disappointing, but this show typically hasn't generated much additional finale interest in recent seasons. Its audience is its audience, start to finish. This was a single tenth below last spring's finale (and tied with the fall one).
- Opposite the big reality duel, it was Modern Family (3.7) emerging as the runaway #1 program, spiking week-to-week for its wedding finale. A finals uptick made it even year-to-year, and the one-hour The Middle adjusted up to narrowly exceed last year's finale. The network launched season two of Motive (0.9) at 10/9c. It was down nearly a third from last year's series premiere but basically in line with what it did in the last two thirds of the season. Even with ABC comedy Wednesday going into repeats next week, its lead-ins probably won't be that much worse than Mixology (1.3).
- Even with no CBS procedurals in play, NBC got no real finale heat out of Revolution (1.1), Law and Order: SVU (1.6) and Chicago PD (1.6). And the CW's The 100 (0.5) held on pretty well with usual lead-in Arrow departing.
FULL TABLE:
| Info | Show | Timeslot | True | |||||||
| A18-49 | Skew | Last | LeLa | Rank | y2y | TLa | Ty2y | |||
| The Middle | 2.1 | 34% | +11% | +0.2 | n/a | 11/23 | +5% | +20% | +17% | 2.5 |
| Modern Family | 3.7 | 45% | +16% | +0.5 | +0.5 | 7/23 | +0% | +16% | +0% | 4.4 |
| Mixology | 1.3 | 41% | +0% | +0.0 | +0.5 | 7/13 | n/a | +0% | -38% | 1.1 |
| Motive | 0.9 | 26% | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1/1 | -31% | -31% | -51% | 1.2 |
| ABC: | +4% | -16% | ||||||||
| Survivor | 2.6 | 34% | +0% | +0.0 | n/a | 1/13 | -4% | -2% | +35% | 3.1 |
| Survivor (reunion) | 1.9 | 34% | -27% | -0.7 | n/a | 14/14 | -14% | +31% | -36% | 2.0 |
| CBS: | +5% | +4% | ||||||||
| Revolution | 1.1 | 34% | -8% | -0.1 | n/a | 21/22 | -42% | -4% | -19% | 1.3 |
| Law and Order: SVU | 1.6 | 32% | +0% | +0.0 | -0.1 | 12/23 | -6% | +3% | -6% | 2.0 |
| Chicago PD | 1.6 | 32% | +7% | +0.1 | +0.0 | 6/15 | n/a | +7% | -9% | 1.9 |
| NBC: | +2% | -10% | ||||||||
| American Idol Thu | 2.6 | 31% | +30% | +0.6 | n/a | 6/19 | -28% | +24% | +18% | 3.1 |
| Fox: | +24% | +18% | ||||||||
| The 100 (R) | 0.2 | 34% | -76% | -33% | 0.2 | |||||
| The 100 | 0.5 | 43% | -17% | -0.1 | -0.7 | 8/10 | n/a | -9% | +67% | 0.7 |
| CW: | -50% | +17% | ||||||||
| Big5: | +4% | +0% | ||||||||
KEY (click to expand)
A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Skew - Percentage of adults 18-49 within the show's total viewership.
Last - A18-49 difference (percent and numerical) from the show's previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes so far this season.
y2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the show's rating a year ago.
TLa - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True - A metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. PRELIMINARY CALCULATION. For finals, see SpotVault.
(R) - Repeat.
Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.
Skew - Percentage of adults 18-49 within the show's total viewership.
Last - A18-49 difference (percent and numerical) from the show's previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes so far this season.
y2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the show's rating a year ago.
TLa - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True - A metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. PRELIMINARY CALCULATION. For finals, see SpotVault.
(R) - Repeat.
Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.
More Spotted Ratings in the Index.
