January 25, 2023
'Idol' Beats Grammys, Fox's Amateur Hour Outperforms CBS' Pros
- by Wayne Friedman , February 10, 2006
"American Idol," in the 8-9 p.m. hour, grabbed a Nielsen Media Research 11.3 rating/28 share in adult 18-49 viewers and 28.3 million viewers--almost doubling the Grammy Awards, which took in a 5.8/15 and 15.1 million viewers during that hour.
In the 9-10 p.m. hour, the Grammy Awards moved into the number one slot against ABC's strong "Lost," but only slightly. The Grammys pulled down a 7.9/18 among adults 18-49, and 19.3 million viewers. "Lost" was right behind, with a 7.6/17 among adult 18-49 viewers and 18.8 million viewers. Drafting off of "Idol"'s strong numbers was Fox's "Bones," which pulled in a decent 4.6/10 for adult 18-49 viewers and 11.9 million total viewers.
Overall, the Grammy Awards pulled in with a 7.3/18 among adults 18-49 and 17.6 million viewers. The total viewer numbers were the worst since 1995, when the music event earned 17.3 million viewers.
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The Grammy Awards were caught in a tough spot this year, trying to keep its usual February time slot. Typically, the show airs later in the month. But CBS needed to move it up to avoid NBC's Olympics, which run for two weeks starting this week.
The Grammy Awards usually runs on a Sunday or Wednesday in February. But this past Sunday wasn't a good idea--since it would have been smack up against The Super Bowl. Wednesday was the only real choice on CBS' schedule.
Other networks could barely keep pace with these torrid network performers. ABC was next in line at third place during the 8-9 p.m. hour block, with "George Lopez" and "Freddie" earning a 2.1/5 in adults 18-49.
The smaller networks earned small numbers. Both the WB's "One Tree Hill" and a "Beauty and the Geek" repeat each scored a 1.3/3 in adults 18-49. Over at UPN, "Veronica Mars" at 9 p.m. tallied a 2.0/8; and "South Beach" at 8 p.m. did a 1.0/5.
