Shift to Idol, put ratings in high gear
03/27/07 03:30 PM
By ED BARK
Fall into a ratings grave, spring back to life.
It's happened again for Fox, which now is the uncatchable leader among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds. This time it took American Idol and its supporting players less than three months to turn Fox's profit picture from a still-life bowl of fruit to The Return of the King in IMAX.
The latest Nielsen Media Research numbers (March 19-25) show Fox averaging 5.17 million 18-to-49-year-olds for the first 27 weeks of the 2006-'07 season, which still has two months to go. That vaults the network past CBS, which had been clinging to first place with a big boost in February from Super XLI.
Idol is no mere Super Bowl, though. It's the gift that keeps on giving, week after week. Consider where Fox found itself after the first 15 weeks of the season (Sept. 18 to Dec. 31). It had just a 2.9 rating among 18-to-49-year-olds, averaging 3.81 million a week. CBS and ABC were tied for first (4.80 million viewers) and a resurgent NBC was right behind (4.68 million).
Fox's road back to the top started with its exclusive telecasts of the four college football championship series games. But CBS countered with the Super Bowl and ABC had the Oscars. The great equalizer is Idol, which returned for a sixth season on Jan. 16 and instantly topped all of its previous ratings highs.
Week by week, Idol has eaten away at competing networks' will to live. Fox has increased its average haul of 18-to-49-year-olds by 1.36 million per week since the end of last year. The additions of 24 and the new Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? also have helped, but Idol is the uncontested difference-maker.
Assured of a third straight full-season victory among 18-to-49-year-olds, Fox will pile on by padding Wednesday's Idol results editions to one-hour on April 11, April 18 and May 2.
ABC likewise is inflating its Dancing with the Stars running times, but the show is no match for Idol with 18-to-49-year-olds. Last week's two-hour premiere of Dancing drew 8.4 million of 'em. The Tuesday and Wednesday editions of Idol respectively had hauls of 15.4 million and 13.6 million 18-to-49-year-olds.
One network's merry melody is still the others' funeral dirge.
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