Wednesday, May 20, 2026

American Idol Drops To Ratings Low–Is The Chopping Block Near?

Share

“American Idol” is in serious trouble, kids. The long time champion of the ratings fell to an all time low last night. The total audience was only 11.08 million. Of that group only 2.8 million were in the key demo of 18-49. “Idol” was second for the night to “Modern Family.” But it’s this steady slide that has producers and network execs concerned. The explanation that this is the 12th season and that shows age is not holding water. “The Voice” is booming on NBC. “X Factor” will return and be rejuvenated according to my sources. Clearly “Idol” will he shaken up if it returns at all. If the trend of prior weeks continues tonight, then this episode will be even lower– and when “Idol” hits the 10 million mark, you’re going to hear screaming from Fox. Next Wednesday May 8th, “Idol” is up against “The Voice.” They’d better have something huge planned.

 

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York 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. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. 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.

Read more

In Other News