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'Idol' down sharply in premiere
Fox show still draws 21.6 million in 11th-season kick off
Fox's "American Idol" opened its 11th season Wednesday down significantly from last year, though its delivery among young adults still narrowly topped the combined delivery of ABC, CBS and NBC in the time period.Preliminary Nielsen estimates show "Idol" averaging a 7.2 rating/18 share in adults 18-49 and 21.6 million viewers overall -- down from the 9.8 demo score and 26.3 million viewers it premiered to a year ago and well off its bow if 2010 (11.8, 29.9 million). The roughly 25% decline vs. last year's premiere marks the largest dropoff to date from the opening of one "Idol" season to the next.
Still, the only series telecast to fare better in both demos and total viewers this season was CBS' season premiere of the rebooted "Two and a Half Men" with Ashton Kutcher (10.7 demo rating, 28.7 million viewers overall).
And "Idol" still towers over other music competition series. By comparison, NBC's "The Voice" premiered last April to a 5.1/13 in 18-49 and 11.8 million viewers overall, and Fox's "The X Factor" bowed four months ago with a 4.4/12 and 12.5 million viewers overall.
The gap certainly closed between "Idol" and its competition on Wednesday, as the other major networks were all up from 8 to 10 p.m. on the night of last year's premiere. Whereas Fox led the combined ABC-CBS-NBC competition by about 55% last year, that was reduced to just 3% last night.
ABC was runner-up for the night in demos, led by "Modern Family" (5.0 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, 11.8 million viewers overall), which was on the low end of its range but still up nearly 10% year to year. Also for the net, "The Middle" placed second to "Idol" kicking off the night (2.6/7 in 18-49, 8.2 million viewers overall) and matched its year-ago score, while "Suburgatory" at 8:30 p.m. (2.5/6 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall) and "Happy Endings" at 9:30 p.m. (2.5/6 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall) were both up vs. the comedies the net was airing in these timeslots a year ago. And closing the night, "Revenge" (2.5/6 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) also gave ABC time-period gains, placing a solid second in the 10 o'clock hour; perhaps gaining some overflow "Idol" viewers, "Revenge" topped its previous five episodes among adults 18-34 (2.1/6).
CBS opened with an "NCIS" repeat (1.5/4 in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall) and then did a solid number at 9 p.m. with "Criminal Minds" (3.2/8 in 18-49, 12.8 million viewers overall), which was up 10% vs. its performance opposite "Idol's" premiere last season. "CSI" then capped things for CBS with a victory at 10 p.m. (2.8/7 in 18-49, 11.8 million viewers overall); the episode was promoted as the first of the final two episodes featuring original castmember Marg Helgenberger, and next week's hour is expected to perform even better.
NBC hung in there with its new comedy block of "Whitney" (1.5/5 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall) and "Are You There, Chelsea?" (1.8/4 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall), which did slightly better than gameshow "Minute to Win It" in the 8 o'clock hour a year ago. Similarly, "Harry's Law" was a slight improvement at 9 (1.1/3 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall), while vet "Law & Order: SVU" ran third at 10 (1.8/5 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall) and was down vs. last year.
At CW, "One Tree Hill" (0.7/2 in 18-49, 1.5 million viewers overall) was down from its season premiere of last week, and it was followed by new reality show "Remodeled" (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.6 million viewers overall for a repeat of the previous night's episode).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 7.2/18; ABC, 3.0/8; CBS, 2.5/6; NBC, 1.5/4; Univision, 1.3/3; CW, 0.5/1.
In total viewers: Fox, 21.6 million; CBS, 11.2 million; ABC, 8.1 million; NBC, 5.7 million; Univision, 3.1 million; CW, 1.1 million.
And "Idol" still towers over other music competition series. By comparison, NBC's "The Voice" premiered last April to a 5.1/13 in 18-49 and 11.8 million viewers overall, and Fox's "The X Factor" bowed four months ago with a 4.4/12 and 12.5 million viewers overall.
The gap certainly closed between "Idol" and its competition on Wednesday, as the other major networks were all up from 8 to 10 p.m. on the night of last year's premiere. Whereas Fox led the combined ABC-CBS-NBC competition by about 55% last year, that was reduced to just 3% last night.
ABC was runner-up for the night in demos, led by "Modern Family" (5.0 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, 11.8 million viewers overall), which was on the low end of its range but still up nearly 10% year to year. Also for the net, "The Middle" placed second to "Idol" kicking off the night (2.6/7 in 18-49, 8.2 million viewers overall) and matched its year-ago score, while "Suburgatory" at 8:30 p.m. (2.5/6 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall) and "Happy Endings" at 9:30 p.m. (2.5/6 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall) were both up vs. the comedies the net was airing in these timeslots a year ago. And closing the night, "Revenge" (2.5/6 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) also gave ABC time-period gains, placing a solid second in the 10 o'clock hour; perhaps gaining some overflow "Idol" viewers, "Revenge" topped its previous five episodes among adults 18-34 (2.1/6).
CBS opened with an "NCIS" repeat (1.5/4 in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall) and then did a solid number at 9 p.m. with "Criminal Minds" (3.2/8 in 18-49, 12.8 million viewers overall), which was up 10% vs. its performance opposite "Idol's" premiere last season. "CSI" then capped things for CBS with a victory at 10 p.m. (2.8/7 in 18-49, 11.8 million viewers overall); the episode was promoted as the first of the final two episodes featuring original castmember Marg Helgenberger, and next week's hour is expected to perform even better.
NBC hung in there with its new comedy block of "Whitney" (1.5/5 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall) and "Are You There, Chelsea?" (1.8/4 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall), which did slightly better than gameshow "Minute to Win It" in the 8 o'clock hour a year ago. Similarly, "Harry's Law" was a slight improvement at 9 (1.1/3 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall), while vet "Law & Order: SVU" ran third at 10 (1.8/5 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall) and was down vs. last year.
At CW, "One Tree Hill" (0.7/2 in 18-49, 1.5 million viewers overall) was down from its season premiere of last week, and it was followed by new reality show "Remodeled" (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.6 million viewers overall for a repeat of the previous night's episode).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 7.2/18; ABC, 3.0/8; CBS, 2.5/6; NBC, 1.5/4; Univision, 1.3/3; CW, 0.5/1.
In total viewers: Fox, 21.6 million; CBS, 11.2 million; ABC, 8.1 million; NBC, 5.7 million; Univision, 3.1 million; CW, 1.1 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at rick.kissell@variety.com
Brad Pitt Rescues Woman on World War Z Set
Brad Pitt
Fame
Lately he's been busy battling zombies, but on Thursday Brad Pitt stepped into the role of real-life rescuer.
The actor, 47, was shooting his new movie World War Z in Glasgow, Scotland, where more than 700 extras were packed into George Square to film chaotic scenes of a terrifying zombie invasion. But the terror turned real when a female extra slipped amid the trampling crowd.
"I don't think she could believe it when Brad picked her up," a set insider told The Scottish Sun. "He didn't have time to speak to her as it was mid-shoot. But she said afterwards how grateful she was, despite having a badly-grazed knee."
The actor, 47, was shooting his new movie World War Z in Glasgow, Scotland, where more than 700 extras were packed into George Square to film chaotic scenes of a terrifying zombie invasion. But the terror turned real when a female extra slipped amid the trampling crowd.
"I don't think she could believe it when Brad picked her up," a set insider told The Scottish Sun. "He didn't have time to speak to her as it was mid-shoot. But she said afterwards how grateful she was, despite having a badly-grazed knee."
Aug 24 2011 06:59 PM ET
Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO
Image Credit: Beck Diefenbach/Landov
The man who put the world of entertainment in the palm of our hands has stepped down from his position as CEO of Apple.
The Wall Street Journal has posted a letter from Steve Jobs to the company’s board of directors and “the Apple community” at large, saying that he felt he could not longer serve in his position at the technology powerhouse. “I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.”
He recommended Tim Cook, COO of the company, be chosen as his successor. Cook has stepped into the role on a temporary basis when Jobs has been forced to take medical leave, first to battle pancreatic cancer in 2004, then for a liver transplant in 2009, and finally again this January, when health concerns again sidelined Jobs.
Jobs, 56, co-founded Apple in 1976, developing some of the world’s first home-use computers, and again revolutionized the technology world with iPods, iPhones, and iPads, which led to the creation of countless Apps and reduced CD and DVD collections — as well as entire Rolodexes — to those tiny, ubiquitous metal boxes we all carry with us. He was also the co-founder of another entertainment giant — the animation company Pixar.
The exact reason for Jobs’ resignation was not immediately clear, though his health has been a major factor in his ability to work in recent years.
