Ratings: ‘American Idol’ premiere wins night; ‘Chicago PD’ surges; ‘Mike & Molly’ premiere down

Sure, “American Idol” may be one of the biggest reality TV dinosaurs out there, but there is apparently at least some interest in checking out the show’s final season judging from some of the ratings that came out Wednesday.

The winners – The Fox singing show premiered to a 3.0 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. Sure, this may be down a little versus last year, but we’re talking less than 10%. That sort of retention is great for this show! With that said, we’d still admittedly be shocked if there is a situation coming up where “Idol” actually gets more than a 2.5 on its second night. We just think that there were a lot of viewers (Clay Aiken included) watching out of nostalgia since this was the final season.

Elsewhere, what a great night it was for NBC … or at least two of the three shows. While “The Mysteries of Laura” (1.1) failed to improve at all, “Law & Order: SVU” (1.8) and “Chicago PD” (1.9) both posted their best numbers in quite a long time. The latter benefited from being the final part of a crossover event, but there is really not any explanation for the former other than that people watched. The lack of competition from “Criminal Minds” may have helped.

The losers – Despite the outcry and sadness over it being the final season, the premiere ratings for “Mike & Molly” (1.6) suggest that the right decision may have been made. Sure, these are not terrible ratings for other networks, but they are for a CBS comedy, where expectations are to be at least close to a 2.0. Also, “American Crime” season 2 (1.2) is off to a sluggish start, but it can at least claim that its ratings are relatively similar to those for “Nashville” on the night.

You can see our full review of the “American Idol” premiere right now by heading over to the link here! Also, sign up right now to get some more TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)