For Rivals, American Idol is the Monster That Ate T.V. Listening to the Fox network's competitors describe what "American Idol" has done to the television landscape is not unlike listening to a group of quavering readers offer a synopsis of a Stephen King novel: Once a year an unrelenting monster invades a town, and all the townspeople, cowed by years of being crushed under its massive claws, have to pay it fealty or run off and hide until it goes back into a six-month hibernation. Kelly Kahl, the chief scheduler for CBS, summed up the "Idol" factor this way: "This is a big monolith sitting out there. It's the ultimate schoolyard bully." If any of Fox's rivals had hopes that this year might signal some hint that the monster -- NBC favors the term Death Star -- would finally betray some sign of weakness, those hopes were dispelled in just a week. Most television shows, no matter how successful, fall off sometime after their second or third season, but against all expectations, and most of the historic record of network television, "American Idol" has come back for its sixth season bigger and stronger than ever. Last year at this time, five weeks into its season, "American Idol" was roaring along as television's most-watched show, with an average of 31.7 million viewers (up substantially from its fourth season, when it averaged 28.3 million viewers over the same five weeks). Improbably, this season the show has done even better, averaging 33.5 million viewers over its first five weeks. For perspective, at this point "Idol" could lose half its audience and still rank among the top 10 shows on television. And no one dares predict when this phenomenon will fade. Unlike anything before "Idol" is creating ever more powerful shock waves. A growing number of television executives have begun to regard "American Idol" as a programming force unlike any seen before. Jeff Zucker, the new chief executive of NBC Universal, said, "I think 'Idol' is the most impactful show in the history of television." That takes in a lot of time and territory, but there is ample justification for the assessment, beginning with those raw numbers. Bringing in well over 30 million viewers for each installment in a television universe filled with hundreds of channels is an undeniable feat. Just about everything else in television loses viewers every year; not "Idol." Other top-rated shows have demonstrated similar dominance in the past. "The Cosby Show" in the 1980s, for example, regularly attracted about half of the available audience. Still, that show accounted for just one half-hour of one night every week. "American Idol" has filled up to four hours on two nights for Fox so far this season. And starting this week, it will occupy three nights a week for three weeks, expanding its reach beyond its regular Tuesday and Wednesday nights to a Thursday hour as well. There it will presumably take a serious bite out of "Survivor," "Ugly Betty," "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office." Staying out of its way That is the last thing CBS, NBC and ABC want to see happen. One fallout from the overpowering performances of "Idol" on Tuesday and Wednesday nights has been a circling of the programming wagons on Monday and Thursday nights. A collection of the strongest shows the other networks program has been piling up on those two nights, out of fear that they would be chewed up by "American Idol." The most notable recent example of a show's being rescheduled out of danger was ABC's decision to protect its own reality series "Dancing With the Stars" from having to compete directly with "Idol." Dancing" was a runaway hit last fall, when it played for 90 minutes on Tuesdays and an hour on Wednesdays. When it returns next month, it will be seen at 8 on Mondays, a night with no episodes of "Idol," and at 9 on Tuesdays -- just as "Idol" goes off the air. Similarly, last winter NBC moved its promising comedies "Earl" and "The Office" from Tuesday nights, where they had thrived, to Thursday, partly to escape the annual January "Idol" invasion. ABC and NBC have mostly backed off from any serious challenge to "Idol," relying on repeats, low-rated comedies and news magazines as cannon fodder in the hours "Idol" is on the air. Only CBS has managed to eke out respectable ratings numbers versus "American Idol," relying on a couple of its steady crime dramas: "NCIS" on Tuesday and "Criminal Minds" on Wednesday. "In a way we feel a little bit lucky to have two shows that basically hit our average ratings against it," Kahl, CBS' chief scheduler, said. "We don't feel quite the doom and gloom that the other guys feel. We're lucky. We don't get nuked." ABC, on the other hand, went into retreat this month with one of its signature hit series, "Lost," moving it from 9 p.m. on Wednesdays to 10 p.m., when it no longer has to face "Idol." One senior network executive said the shadow "American Idol" casts was so formidable that "we have 'Idol' strategy sessions." The executive asked not to be identified because the network did not want to acknowledge openly the impact "Idol" was having. "We realize we've got to be very, very practical" in dealing with the threat that "Idol" poses to new and promising shows, the executive said. This has proved especially true, the executive noted, with comedy, a genre that has become especially fragile on television. The prospect that "American Idol" will arrive every January on Tuesday and Wednesday nights means that any show introduced on those nights in September is living on borrowed time -- and ratings. That makes things especially hard for ABC, which has no half-hour comedy shows on any other night. Counting lucky stars At Fox, executives are doing no boasting at all, perhaps realizing that this kind of phenomenon cannot be planned. And, indeed, the story of Fox's initial reluctance to put "American Idol" on the air is now well known. Far from beating their chests, Fox executives seem in awe of what the show has wrought. "When you have it, you don't quite grasp it when you come in in the morning and see those ratings," said Preston Beckman, the chief scheduler for Fox. The show's impact on Fox has been disproportionate, even with all the hours that it fills between January and May every year. Fox is a network with only 15 prime-time hours, as opposed to the 22 that ABC, NBC and CBS program each week. (Fox's nightly schedule ends an hour earlier than theirs.) Adding the enormous "Idol" ratings raises its network average much more quickly. Fox has ranked fourth and last for much of this season. Now it wins most weeks, and it probably will for most of the rest of the television season. The show has also begun to extend its sphere of influence. Fox is using "American Idol" to enhance other shows around it. The already strong drama "House" has recently grown into the highest-rated scripted show on television, thanks in large part to its post-"Idol" slot on Tuesdays. A newer drama, "Bones," has seen its ratings rise in the past month because it gets some early tune-in on Wednesday nights, when it plays at 8 p.m., just before "Idol." And Fox has plans to build a new game show, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?," into a hit by placing it behind "Idol" many times in the coming weeks. American Idol Live News: |
Josh, Bucky and Phil’s 4th of July Performances Second Season’s Season 5’s Finally, Season 6’s Check out Jordin, Kat and Taylor Perform for 4th of July This year’s Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular will feature the singing talent of two American Idols: AI Season 6 winner, Meanwhile, from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, AI Season winner Check out the transformation galleries for Season 5’s Paris Bennett is pregnant with her first, according to The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Paris, who will be 20 years old when the baby arrives in October, is maintaining her privacy with details including the identity of the father. According to the Since finishing fifth place on American Idol, “Princess P” as Ryan Seacrest liked to call her, released a debut album, “Princess P” on May 8, 2007. Check out our Season 5 Who Will Be The Next Singing Superstar? Auditions for the eighth season of American Idol begin Thursday, July 17, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA, and will continue in seven other cities. Once again, auditioners will have an extraordinary opportunity to perform before millions of TV viewers and become household names, with one winning the coveted American Idol title and a major recording contract.
The official docs for the auditions are as follows:
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