Nielsen: Most Idol Watchers Are Over 35

Ratings Service Looks at All Things American Idol

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/15/2008 12:11:00 PM

According to Nielsen, the largest viewing audience for all of those teens and 20-somethings on American Idol this season has been over 35.

In an “all things Idol” release issued Thursday in advance of next week’s final, Nielsen said 29% of the audience is in the 35-49 demo and another 23% in the 50-64 category. And there were more viewers over 65 (11%) than in the 18-24 demo from which most of the contestants come (7%)

The most-watched episode of the show was the first episode, Nielsen said, with 33 million viewers Jan. 15.

And confirming the text and phone votes of Idol fans, the two contestants who have generated the greatest online buzz are the two Davids, finalists Cook and Archuleta, who claimed 14.3% and 12.5% of the online "buzz," respectively (Nielsen said that comes from monitoring about 70 million blogs).

For everything you wanted to know about American Idol contestants but were embarrassed to ask, click here.