Primetime Ratings: ABC Wins With Potent ‘Idol’ Finale

ABC rode the American Idol finale to the primetime win Monday, posting a 1.5 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 6 share. In second was NBC at 1.2/5.

ABC had the Dancing with the Stars: Athletes finale up 10% at 1.1 as Adam Rippon took top prize, then the Idol closer at 1.6, up 23% from what it did the night before.

The Idol finale on Fox in 2016, which at the time appeared to be the series finale, did a 3.0. The previous season finale did a 1.6.

NBC won the Monday race a week before. This time, The Voice was good for a 1.5 from 8 to 10 p.m. Running Wild With Bear Grylls scored a 0.7. Both shows were down a tenth of a point from last week.

Next was CBS at 0.8/3. A Big Bang Theory repeat led into the Man With a Plan finale up 11% to 1.0, then repeats of Big Bang and Mom. Drama Elementary fell 17% to a 0.5.

Fox scored a 0.6/3. The 2018 Miss USA pageant took up Fox’s prime. Last year’s Miss USA scored a 0.8 and 2016’s a 1.2.

The CW was good for a 0.4/2, with Supergirl at 0.5 and iZombie at 0.3, both shows flat.

Telemundo and Univision both did a 0.4/2 as well.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.