Ratings: Mariah Carey – Nicki Minaj fight fails to help ‘American Idol’

American IdolWe know that “American Idol” was desperately hoping to see some sort of ratings spark following the massive fight that broke out between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey on their Charlotte audition episode Wednesday night; but instead, they had a ratings drop that really just indicated more of the same for the show. There’s no doubting at this point that the singing competitions have saturated the market, and these numbers are really not that much more impressive than what “The Voice” drew for most of season 4.

Overall, the episode Wednesday scored a 5.6 ratings in the 18-49 demographic along with 16 million viewers, which are great numbers in comparison to everything else. However, remember this: last year, the second Wednesday show had a 6.5 rating and over 19 million viewers, and it was not paying a judge in Mariah Carey somewhere between $17-18 million for her services. It’s crazy, but Mimi is making more than $1 per viewer who watches the show on an episodic basis. This could lead the show to cut costs for next year, or it may just be a sign that Fox needs to get rid of one of their competitions.

The only other real ratings news worth noting on a quiet Wednesday comes from ABC, where “Modern Family’s” so-so season 4 is starting to cause it to lose momentum. A 4.1 rating is far from the hefty ratings it picked up at times last season. On the flip side, “The Middle” (2.5) is surging with what may be its best season yet, even if it is not helping “The Neighbors” (1.9).

Why do you think the “American Idol” ratings are falling now? If you want to read our full review for Wednesday’s show, you can do so by visiting the article over at the link here.

Photo: Fox

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