Ratings: ‘Duck Dynasty’ slips slightly as ‘American Idol’ regains primetime crown

Congratulations, “American Idol”: this week, you did not have to suffer the embarrassment of coming in second place to a show about guys with giant beards making duck calls.

For its second hour-long block of new episodes this season, “Duck Dynasty” saw itself slip down to a 3.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic Wednesday night, which is still incredible for a show that is on cable, and does not really feature any big-name stars at all. Instead, it serves as an example that you can have entertainment cater to the entire family, and that it does not necessarily have to contain a heap of drama or rely on stunt casting.

As for “American Idol,” the singing show ended up scoring a 3.8 rating on the night, which makes it #1 out of everything on TV. The unfortunate thing for it is that these ratings come at a time when the show is paying judges more and more money in hopes that they will revive ratings, and it just doesn’t happen. It’s fair to say that Fox spends far more on an episode of “American Idol” than what A&E is shelling out for the Robertson family in Louisiana.

Down the road, what is interesting to us is not necessarily if “Duck Dynasty” ends up beating the singing-competition, but if the show ends up hitting its peak at the same time as another reality TV sensation in “Jersey Shore” did. It’s going to be hard for the show to grow its audience beyond where it is now, but then again, we never thought “Duck Dynasty” would be getting enough viewers to actually battle “American Idol” for the #1 spot.

If you missed how the reality show fared during its season premiere last week, be sure to check out our ratings report over at the link here.

Photo: A&E