ArchivesAmerican Idol 4 debuts with 33.6 million viewers, FOX’s third biggest night ever.
The third most watched evening in FOX history was Tuesday night, as the network’s debut of American Idol 4 was watched by 54 million, who tuned in at some point, and an average of 33.6 million viewers overall. That’s “only 4 million short of the most watched ‘Idol’ episode ever, the second-edition finale in May 2003, when Ruben Studdard beat Clay Aiken,” according to the Washington Post. The two-hour episode was also “the most watched TV broadcast since the ‘Friends’ finale in May and the most watched season debut since that of ‘Friends’ in 2002.” And finally, it was “Fox’s third most watched night of entertainment programming”; the only two evenings that have done better are the American Idol 2 finale and the finale of Joe Millionaire. FOX President Gail Berman, who’d previously suggested that ratings could slide again this season, as they did last season, said, “I wasn’t trying to manage expectations. No one in their right mind would have predicted a 9 percent increase. I’ve never seen numbers like this. I’m stunned—we are all stunned. I can’t process these numbers.”
American Idol 4
American Idol 4 debuts with 33.6 million viewers, FOX’s third biggest night ever.
link to this story + posted Jan. 20, 2005 at 8:00 AM by Andy Dehnart
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