Tuesday, June 2, 2026

“American Idol” Continues Steep Decline: Thursday Results Show Loses of Wednesday Audience

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It just goes on and on. Last night’s “American Idol” results show was a ratings disaster. They scored 7.35 million viewers and a really awful 1.7 rating in the key demo 18-49. Yikes. The night before, Wednesday, there were 8.9 million viewers and the show had a 2.0.  That means more than a million people who watched Wednesday’s show didn’t come back the next night to see what happened. Maybe they tie the singers to a moving conveyor belt with a large saw buzzing at the end. “Tune in tomorrow, Bat Fans!” At this rate, the May finale is going to go with quite the whimper.

Meanwhile, much talk about “Law & Order: SVU” renewal and Dick Wolf negotiating with NBC. Let’s hope this can be finalized soon. “SVU” had a great year, and its ratings have been very healthy. It would be a shame not to have it on the schedule. And really, NBC doesn’t anything better, or with this much loyalty. NBC, pay whatever they want. It’s quality programming. And no Mariska Hargitay on the schedule is very depressing to think about!

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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.

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