MUMBAI: Fox has announced that last Tuesday night the 5th season kickoff of the music based reality show American Idol delivered it’s best premiere ratings ever among adults 18 to 49 (15.3/34), adults 18 to 34 (14.7/36) and total viewers (35.5 Mil). Over 55.3 million viewers watched all or part of the show.
Compared to last year’s premiere the show is up by nine per cent among adults 18 to 49, three per cent among adults 18 to 34 and six per cent in total viewers. In India the show airs on Star World.
The premiere of American Idol gave Fox its highest rated night ever with entertainment programming among total viewers and its second highest rated night among adults 18 to 49 (behind only the Joe Millionaire finale on 2/17/03). In addition, the premiere episode was the most-watched entertainment program of the 2005-2006 season to date.
Fox Entertainment president Peter Liguori says, “To say we are surprised and pleased by these numbers would be a major understatement. The fact that American Idol is seeing its biggest premiere numbers ever, especially considering it’s in its fifth season, is nothing less than astounding. Everyone at Fox is incredibly proud of this success and we want to congratulate the entire production team, Ryan, Paula, Randy and Simon on yet another amazing performance."