‘American Idol’ Season 23 Live Shows Kick Off With Stellar Ratings As Past Winners & Special Guests Liven The Competition
- American Idol Season 23 live shows kicked off with guest mentor James Taylor and the unveiling of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, drawing in a season-high audience of 5.31M viewers in the 8 to 10 p.m. window.
EXCLUSIVE: American Idol kicked off the Season 23 live shows on a high note.
Things began to heat up on Sunday, which featured guest mentor James Taylor and the unveiling of this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees. The episode rocked the 8 to 10 p.m. window with 5.31M average viewers, per live + same-day data from Nielsen, up 18% from the week prior to deliver a season high audience in that time period.
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That also marks the show’s largest overall audience since its post-Oscars debut in March, when it had an incredibly strong lead-in . Sunday’s episode scored a 0.53 rating among adults 18-49, ranking as the top entertainment program across broadcast and cable in the two-hour time slot.
The energy carried over into Monday, delivering 4.6M viewers for the second episode of the week, which featured special guests Jelly Roll and Chayce Beckham, as well as former winners Fantasia and Abi Carter.
That’s a season-high for the Monday telecasts, besting American Idol ‘s closest competition, NBC’s The Voice by 25%. The episode also delivered a 0.45 rating among adults 18-49, once again making it the top telecast of the night.
Monday’s episode was up 10% week-over-week in total viewers and 2% in its key ratings demo.
There isn’t much time left before the Season 23 finale. Sunday night is “Ladies’ Night” and the remaining contestants will show off their skills as they compete for a spot in the May 18 finale.
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