Unwanted wrinkles for ‘Idol’

This week’s two-part season finale of “American Idol” offers a dramatic battle between two charismatic young singers, the soulful Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo, the Georgia-bred girl next door. But the music may be bittersweet for Fox Broadcasting Co., where “Idol,” despite its enormous popularity, is beginning to show some early signs of wear.

Controversies over the show’s phone-in vote system have reportedly irked some loyal viewers. Critics have carped that the contestants are covering too many oldies by Gloria Estefan, Barry Manilow and other baby-boomer artists. And perhaps most distressing for Fox, the audience for “Idol” is actually getting -- gulp! -- older.

The median viewer age for the Tuesday edition this season has crept up three years, to 37, compared with last year, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. The teen audience for the Wednesday “results show” has slipped 4% this season, but viewership has rocketed 61% among women 50 and older. Those figures are significant because advertisers pay premium rates to reach young people, and tend to care a whole lot less for those past their 49th birthday.

TV executives often regard an aging audience as an early indicator of a series’ decline; several years ago, for example, the audience for ABC’s game show sensation “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” grew considerably older as it began its free fall in the prime-time ratings.

But executives at Fox -- a network not usually known for its appeal to the middle-aged or senior sets -- say they are not concerned by the trends.

“You always see that the young [people are] the first part of the audience to move on,” says Preston Beckman, Fox’s executive vice president of strategic program planning. “You see a little bit of that with ‘Idol.’ ” But, he adds, “It’s actually a plus, not a minus. It allows us to talk to a broader audience.”

There’s no question “Idol” is one of the top shows on television -- and likely will remain so when the show returns for another round in January. The program is a cultural phenomenon: Fox executives boast that Ray Romano called the network for a tape of last week’s “Idol” after he missed the show due to a CBS presentation for advertisers. On Monday, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue urged citizens of his state to vote for DeGarmo.

First aired as a programming experiment during the summer of 2002, “Idol” has grown into what Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman last week called a “tent pole” for the network. In fact, the series forms the cornerstone of the network’s controversial decision to split its season into three parts, with the “Idol” portion covering a vast swath from January to May. (The other components are summer and November.)

This season, the talent contest has built its total viewership by 18% over the same season last year. For the season to date, through May 16, the Tuesday night “Idol” was the season’s most-watched show, averaging just under 26 million viewers; Wednesdays were third with 23.4 million.

The stakes for the network are huge. For the May sweep -- one of four audience-measurement periods that help set local ad rates -- Fox devoted 13.5 hours to “Idol,” including prime-time specials, compared with 9.5 hours last year. All told, nearly one-quarter of Fox’s schedule this month was “Idol”-related.

That helps explain why Fox and the producers are taking the possibility of a voting scandal seriously. Many fans were outraged when contestant Jasmine Trias made the final three over a more adept and polished performer, LaToya London. Trias appeared to have benefited from an outpouring of votes from Hawaii, her home state; many voters from other areas complained they were unable to get through on phone lines.

In a defensive maneuver, Fox announced late last week that the producers would open additional phone lines for the finale to give fans “a greater opportunity to cast their votes.”

“We are a victim of our own success,” “Idol” executive producer Simon Fuller said Monday. “We’re looking at ways to make it easier. Internet voting is something we’re looking at.”

As for the music covered by the contestants, Fuller makes no apologies. “This is a show for everyone,” he says. “If we start to get too niche or try to be too hip, we miss the point of what the show is.” One source close to the show says, however, that current acts have resisted efforts by the producers to feature newer hits on the show.

In any case, the situation isn’t likely to get easier for Fox. After spending the last two seasons getting hammered by “Idol” on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, competitors are now poised to strike back. NBC grew so tired of seeing its comedies murdered by “Idol” that the network has scheduled “The Contender,” its boxing reality series from Sylvester Stallone, in the 8 p.m. Tuesday slot. ABC is importing its stalwart sitcom “My Wife and Kids” from Wednesdays.

Even so, networks are hardly ready to dance on “Idol’s” grave. Not yet, anyway.

Alluding to “Idol’s” slight erosion among teens, one rival executive admits: “They could continue at this rate of decline for 10 years and still have a very reliable program.”