An ‘Idol’ slips but doesn’t fall

Fantasia Barrino sang through tears of joy as she won Fox’s “American Idol,” but ratings for the Wednesday finale -- like those for the 2003-04 TV season in general -- weren’t quite as triumphant.

An average of 31.4 million viewers tuned in to see Barrino outlast rival Diana DeGarmo, an 18% drop compared with last year’s “Idol” faceoff between Clay Aiken and winner Ruben Studdard, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research.

Fox executives noted that the “Idol” wrap-up came nearly a week later this season than last. That could partly explain the lower ratings, because TV viewership declines as the weather gets warmer and people prepare for the summer holidays.

Even so, “Idol’s” Tuesday editions -- featuring performances from a winnowing band of young hopefuls -- wound up as this season’s No. 1 series among all viewers as well as the young adults targeted by advertisers. It’s the first time that youth-skewing Fox has had the year’s most-watched regular program, a honor usually reserved for mass-appeal sitcoms and dramas such as NBC’s “Friends” and “ER” and CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

The official television season, which started Sept. 22, ended Wednesday night, as did the May ratings sweeps. The notion of a nine-month season is becoming increasingly antiquated as networks such as NBC and Fox move toward year-round programming.

Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman, speaking to reporters hours before the “Idol” finale, called the season “tremendously successful.”

“It puts us closer to our nearest competitor [NBC] than ever before in the history of our network,” Berman said. “We are more competitive than ever.”

Another milestone: For the first time ever, more than half of the top 10 among viewers 18 to 49 years old were reality series (the Tuesday and Wednesday versions of “Idol,” CBS’ “Survivor: All Stars” and “Survivor: Pearl Islands,” NBC’s “The Apprentice” and Fox’s short-run “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance”). Last season, just five unscripted series cracked the top 10, including Fox’s smash “Joe Millionaire.”

In some ways, Wednesday’s “Idol” numbers, big as they were, offered a fittingly anticlimactic end to another frustrating season for the big networks. Except for CBS, which enjoyed a strong season, every network posted declines in total viewers, and young adults in particular.

Amid the rising tide of reality shows, many established scripted series faced viewership declines, including “Law & Order” (down 18%), “Will & Grace” (7%) and “Everybody Loves Raymond” (6%).

After a bruising fall, some network executives had expected to finish off the season with a bang. In March, NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker told advertisers that broadcast viewership was essentially the same as last year. The end-of-season figures show ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox off a combined 3%, according to Nielsen.

In a sign of how cable is looking to trumpet its growth at the expense of the six broadcasters, Turner Broadcasting rushed out a release Thursday trumpeting that the basic-cable network TNT beat UPN in the May sweeps among the key 18-49 demographic.

Still, there were some bright spots beyond reality, with encouraging growth for NBC’s drama “Crossing Jordan” and CBS’ “CSI: Miami” and strong starts for NBC’s “Las Vegas” and the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men.”

By switching to year-round schedules, Fox and NBC particularly hope to gain an advantage over rivals.

As Zucker told reporters this week, “We’re going out of this season with a great feeling, with total momentum heading into the summer and next season.”

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The new reality in television viewing

NBC’s “The Apprentice” was the most watched freshman show in the television season that ended Wednesday, but for the first time ever, more than half of the top 10 shows favored by viewers 18 to 49 years old were unscripted shows. Viewers are in millions; episodes aired include reruns.

Top 10 shows, total viewers

*--* Rank Show Network Viewers Episodes aired 1 “American Idol” (Tue.) Fox 25.8 17 2 “CSI” CBS 25.6 30 3 “American Idol” (Wed.) Fox 23.6 17 4 “Survivor: All-Stars” CBS 21.5 13 5 “Friends” NBC 21.4 31 6 “Survivor: Pearl Islands” CBS 20.7 11 7 “The Apprentice” NBC 20.7 14 8 “ER” NBC 19.5 28 9 “CSI: Miami” CBS 18.0 34 10 “Everybody Loves Raymond” CBS 17.4 33

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Top 10 shows, viewers 18-49

*--* Rank Show Network Viewers 1 “American Idol”(Tue.) Fox 14.1 2 “American Idol” (Wed.) Fox 13.2 3 “The Apprentice” NBC 13.0 4 “Friends” NBC 12.6 5 “ER” NBC 11.8 6 “CSI” CBS 11.4 7 “Survivor: All-Stars” CBS 10.4 8 “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance” Fox 10.1 9 “Survivor: Pearl Islands” CBS 9.9 10 “Will & Grace” NBC 9.8

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Source: Nielsen Media Research