Thursday, May 21, 2026

“American Idol” Wednesday Woes: Down Again in Ratings Decline

Share

“American Idol” is still a powerhouse, winning its timeslot on Wednesday with a 3.8 rating and 13.5 million viewers. But for the night it was beaten by “Modern Family.” And for some reason, “AI” continues a downward trend week-by-week. Last Wednesday, it had a 4.1 rating. Where did everyone go? As the show moves into real competitions, the rating should be going up, not down. If the trend continues, tonight’s “AI” could be around 3.5. Someone had better do something quickly!

But TV is suffering. No one in America really watched anything on the broadcast networks last night at 10pm. “CSI,” “Chicago Fire,” and “Nashville” all came in with 1.6 ratings respectively for CBS, NBC, and ABC. A test pattern or shopping show could have done better.

My money is still on Zoanette Johnson:

 

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