Primetime Ratings: ‘American Idol’ Down From Last Year’s Debut

ABC won the Sunday ratings race, as the American Idol premiere led the network to a 1.4 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 6 share. CBS and NBC tied for second at 0.8/3.

America’s Funniest Home Videos started off ABC prime up 38% at 1.1 and the season premiere of American Idol, the competition series’ second season on ABC, did a 1.7. That was off 26% from last year’s premiere.

On CBS, 60 Minutes grew 25% to 1.0 and God Friended Me went up 17% to 0.7. NCIS: Los Angeles went north 29% to 0.9 and Madam Secretary grew 50% to 0.6.

On NBC, a World of Dance recap episode led into a new show at 1.0 from 8 to 10 p.m., down 29% from its Feb. 26 debut. The Good Girls season starter did a 0.7, off 53% from last season’s premiere.

Fox did a 0.7/3. Comedy reruns led into The Simpsons at a flat 0.9 and Bob’s Burgers down 11% at 0.8. Family Guy lost 11% for a 0.8 and led into a repeat.

Telemundo scored a 0.5/2 as La Voz got a 0.5 from 9 to 11. Univision did a 0.3/1.

The CW too did a 0.3/1. Supergirl rated a 0.4 and Charmed a 0.3, both up a tenth.

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.