‘American Idol’ falls 13 percent against Games

Fox is still daring to schedule original content opposite the Olympics, unlike ABC and CBS, which are largely relying on reruns.

Fox once again saw its schedule decline Wednesday against the Games.

Fox’s “American Idol” averaged a 3.4 adults 18-49 rating from 8 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to Nielsen overnights, easily the top non-Olympic show of the night. (The overnights were delayed by about four hours today by Nielsen server issues.)

That was off 13 percent from last week’s edition of “Idol,” before the Olympics began.

During the last Winter Olympics, “Idol” took a much bigger dip the first time it faced the Games, off 26 percent. But back then there were also a lot more people watching “Idol.”

The only other original show on the Big Four Wednesday night, ABC’s “Super Fun Night,” also saw a 13 percent week-to-week decline, falling to a 1.3. But last week “Fun” also had an original “Modern Family” lead-in; last night “Family” was a repeat.

NBC finished first for the night among 18-49s with a 5.6 average overnight rating and a 16 share. Fox was second at 3.4/10, ABC third at 1.2/3, Univision fourth at 1.1/3, CBS fifth at 0.9/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.5/1 and CW seventh at 0.3/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-nine percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

Also, ratings for the Olympics are not accurate. Overnight ratings reflect only primetime timeslot data and not actual program data, and the Games ran past 11 p.m. Plus they do not account for time zone differences.

Accurate numbers for the Games will be posted later today on Media Life when they are released.

NBC was first at 8 p.m. with a 4.7 for the Olympics, with Fox second with a 3.3 for “American Idol.” ABC was third with a 1.3 for reruns of “The Middle” and “Suburgatory.” CBS and Univision tied for fourth at 0.8, CBS for a repeat of “Mike & Molly” and a rerun of its Beatles Grammys special and Univision for “Por Siempre Mi Amor.” The CW and Telemundo tied for sixth at 0.3, CW for the movie “Best in Show” and Telemundo for “La Impostora.”

At 9 p.m. NBC led with a 6.0 for the Olympics, followed again by Fox with a 3.5 for more “Idol.” ABC and Univision tied for third at 1.4, ABC for a repeat of “Family” (1.6) and a new “Fun” (1.3) and Univision for “Lo Que La Vida Me Robo.” CBS was fifth with a 1.0 for more Beatles, Telemundo sixth with a 0.7 for “La Reina del Sur” and CW seventh with a 0.3 for its movie.

NBC finished first again with a 6.0 for more Olympics at 10 p.m., while Univision moved to second with a 1.2 for “Que Pobres Tan Ricos.” CBS was third with a 1.0 for the end of its Beatles special, ABC fourth with a 0.7 for a rerun of “Nashville” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.5 for “Santa Diabla.”

Among households, NBC was first for the night with a 12.1 average overnight rating and a 19 share. Fox was second at 6.7/10, CBS third at 3.1/5, ABC fourth at 2.4/4, Univision fifth at 1.6/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.7/1 and CW seventh at 0.6/1.

Tags: american idol, olympics, overnight ratings, overnights, super fun night, wednesday overnights