American Idol: Drop in Ratings Could be Sign of Things to Come

The term "Jumping the Shark" is used when a TV show is about to run its course. It hits it's peak and then starts to slide back the other way. The term was first used when the television show "Happy Days" had its famous character the Fonz jump his motorcycle over a shark tank. From that episode on, the show declined in popularity.

According to the Nielsen Media Research, the viewing audience has started to slip the other way. The show last Tuesday had it's lowest ratings in more than five years. 21.8 million people tuned in. Then on Wednesday, it went up slightly to 22l9 million viewers. However, that was the lowest for a Wednesday night in the past three years. Despite the drops, they were still the number one show on television last week.

The show is unique in that it draws more contestants than any other game show in the history of television. They actually go out and travel around the United States in looking for the next pop star. The show has become so famous, that the four judges are followed around and scrutinized by press. Close attention has been paid to stars Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson II. their pictures are showing up in the tabloids all over the country. Those three along with host Ryan Seacrest are looking to find that one individual for a major record deal. Many tune in just to see what these three individuals will say or do next on the show.

Back in March, CBS chief Leslie Moonves called Idol a monster. He said that it is just too tough to compete with. He made the statement that if someone would kill the program, it would make him very happy.

Many think that the show is the greatest achievement ever to be done in the television industry. Then there are some that think it is a waste of time for the show and it's viewers. The thing is that regardless of what individuals believe, the people are still watching.

Another thing that helps the ratings is that they give back. Recently, they had all three remaining Presidential Candidates on in a fund drive for different charities. Those charities being The Children's Defense Fund, The Children's Health Fund, The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Save the Children's U.S. Program, Tuberculosis, and the fight against Malaria just to mention a few.

There have been some other shows that have tried to spin off of Idol but, none have had the same success. Idol, now in it's sixth season, is also cashing in on commercial time as well. The Ford automobile industry is throwing in millions of dollars to show off their new Ford Focus.

Despite all of American Idol's success, one has to wonder if the show is about to "Jump the Shark." All great television shows of the past have had a point in time when something started to cause a slide the other way. They all reach a peak and then the interest in the show starts to go. For American Idol this may have been it. When the show is starting to wind down with it's finale in sight, you would think that the ratings would be soaring even higher. However, this isn't the case with Idol. It could be that the viewing audience has been over swept so much with Idol that they have lost interest. After all, now the few contestants are performing more and there is not as much variety as there was in the beginning episodes. I suppose the next few episodes will tell the story.

SOURCES:

www.nielsenmedia.com