Speechless

I'm speechless. I've just finished watching Idol finale and for me (as Randy would say) that was the best Idol finale ever! The ratings for FOX were exceptional. Incredible 40 million viewers for the last 7 minutes. Just amazing. And the rest of the networks couldn't do anything against Idol. CBS was the only one that was not that much affected but it seems all America was watching Idol finale because Univision got the third position in the demos (yes, before NBC and ABC too!). I loved to read this article. Focus on Mike Darnell words at the end. Unbelievable O_O

Even though the overall audience is declining, “American Idol” appears to be in little danger of losing its crown as the top-rated television series. In the 2003-4 season, the first in which “Idol” was the top-rated prime-time series, its lead over the second place show was about 7 percent. That margin has grown every year since and this year is 66 percent.

Mike Darnell, the president of alternative entertainment for Fox, who oversees “Idol” and other reality shows for the network, said that “Idol” could lose 12 percent of its audience every season and still be among the top 10 shows on television in 2016 — even if every other show on television maintained all of its current audience.

Now the results :)

Scoreboard
Rating/Share: Adults 18-49	10.0	2.8/8	1.4/4	1.3/4	1.2/3	0.4/1
Rating/Share: Adults 18-34	7.6	1.7/5	1.4/4	0.9/3	1.0/3	0.4/1
Total Viewers (million)	28.84	11.06	3.52	5.32	3.42	1.27

Time	Net	Show	18-49 Rating/Share	18-34 Rating/Share	Viewers (Millons)
8:00	FOX	American Idol Finale (8pm-10:07)	10.00	7.6	28.84
	CBS	New Adventures of Old Christine (Finale)	1.6/5	1.0/4	5.65
	NBC	Law & Order: CI	1.1/3	0.6/2	4.96
	ABC	Movie: Pirates of the Carribean (Dead Man..)	1.0/3	1.0/3	3.42
	CW	Movie: Take the Lead	0.4/1	0.4/2	1.24
8:30	CBS	Gary Unmarried (Finale)	1.7/5	1.0/3	5.55
9:00	CBS	Criminal Minds (Finale)	3.1/8	1.9/6	12.40
	ABC	Movie: Pirates of the Carribean (Dead Man..)	1.2/3	1.1/3	3.27
	NBC	Law & Order: SVU (R)	1.0/3	0.7/2	4.30
	CW	Movie: Take the Lead	0.5/1	0.5/2	1.30
10:00	CBS	Criminal Minds (Finale)	3.9/10	2.2/7	15.17
	NBC	Law & Order	1.9/5	1.4/4	6.70
	ABC	Movie: Pirates of the Carribean (Dead Man..)	1.3/3	1.2/3	3.58
	8:00	American Idol Finale	7.80	6	23.22
	8:30	American Idol Finale	8.90	6.6	26.53
	9:00	American Idol Finale	10.50	7.8	30.13
	9:30	American Idol Finale	11.70	9	32.85
	10:00-10:07	American Idol Finale	14.90	11.8	40.10

Source: TV by the numbers