Monday, June 22, 2026

“American Idol” Thursday Ratings Slip More, with Fewer Viewers

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Thursday night’s “American Idol”  ratings fell from 3.9 to 3.8 from last Thursday. It’s not a lot but it’s worth noting that on Wednesday, “AI” had 13.3 million viewers, and the next night they were down to 12.47 million. Why aren’t people coming back the second night? Do they need to tie Nicki Minaj to a treadmill heading toward a buzz saw? “AI” still takes the night by miles, but that doesn’t matter. They’re “Chasing Ice,” to borrow a phrase from the award winning documentary. Time lapse photography may reveal the erosion. “AI” actually benefited last night from “Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men” being reruns. Otherwise, the “AI” number would have been lower.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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