‘American Idol XIII’: More ratings takeaways via DVR numbers

Is “American Idol XIII” in a much better place than it was perhaps it first appeared in the ratings? Both yes and no.

The good news here that you have to remember is that at least the show is in a much better sort of situation now than it was at the end of season 12, where the ratings were barely good enough to compete against some of the other top shows on the network. The downside is that it is still far below where the show was during its premiere week last year, which was aided largely by the fact that there was so much buzz about the Nicki Minaj vs. Mariah Carey feud (which was far less entertaining once it was actually seen on TV).

When the 18-49 numbers were put into play, the show gained 15% of its data in the demographic, rising up to a 5.4 rating in the three days since it aired. Live+3 data is becoming a pretty big measurement for what a network wants to do with their programming, especially since more viewers are using DVRs than ever. Let’s put it this way: Even though “American Idol” is a buzzworthy show, the choices are you can either spend two hours watching this show, or an hour and twenty minutes with a DVR. You can skip even more time if you fast-forward through all of the filler. (There are quite a contingent of people out there who just start the show an hour late, and then just play catch-up through most of the commercials.)

The big test for this season will come in the live shows, which is where the ratings sank last season. Having great judges (which the show seems to have so far) is nice, but you also need to ensure that the talent is something that viewers want to actually see every week.

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Photo: Fox