Thursday, May 21, 2026

Ratings: “American Idol” Up A Little On Second Live Show, Handily Beating NBC Line-Up

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Here’s a thought: with mostly reruns up against it on other networks, “American Idol” went up on Wednesday from Tuesday in number of viewers. “AI” scored a meager 3.7, but it was enough to win the night. The show had 12.71 million viewers from 8 to 10pm. That’s up from the night before. It’s also more than the total viewers who watched NBC from 8 to 10pm last night. NBC only had 10.96 million viewers who enjoyed two reruns of “Whitney” and one of “Law and Order: SVU.” So good for “Idol,” which still offered a kind of perplexing show. I do think the Tues-Weds pairing is better than Weds-Thurs. People are out on Thursday nights. As for NBC, bring over some of those USA Network shows like “White Collar” and “Burn Notice.”

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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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