American Idol Television ratings

U.S.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of American Idol on FOX.

Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Timeslot	Rank
	Date	Viewers (in millions)	Date	Viewers (in millions)
1st	June 11-12, 2002	9.90	Final Performances: September 3, 2002	18.69	2002	Tuesday 9:00PM (performance show)	#30
			Season Finale: September 4, 2002	22.77		Wednesday 9:30PM (results show)	#25
2nd	January 21-22, 2003	26.50	Final Performances: May 20, 2003	25.67	2003	Tuesday 8:00PM (performance show)	#5
			Season Finale: May 21, 2003	34.24		Wednesday 8:30PM (results show)	#3
3rd	January 19-20, 2004	28.56	Final Performances: May 25, 2004	25.13	2004	Tuesday 8:00PM (performance show)	#2
			Season Finale: May 26, 2004	28.84		Wednesday 8:30PM (results show)	#3
4th	January 18-19, 2005	33.58	Final Performances: May 24, 2005	28.05	2005	Tuesday 8:00PM (performance show)	#1
			Season Finale: May 25, 2005	30.27		Wednesday 8:00PM (results show)	#3
5th	January 17-18, 2006	35.53	Final Performances: May 23, 2006	31.78	2006	Tuesday 8:00PM (performance show)	#1
			Season Finale: May 24, 2006	36.38		Wednesday 8:00PM (results show)	#1
6th	January 16-17, 2007	37.7	Final Performances: May 22, 2007	25.33	2007	Tuesday 8:00PM (performance show)	#2
			Season Finale: May 23, 2007	30.74		Wednesday 8:00PM (results show)	#1

American Idol does not have a ranking for the 2001-2002 season because it aired in the summer of 2002. If it had aired within the official 2001-2002 U.S. television season, the Wednesday results show would have ranked #25 and the Tuesday performance show would have ranked #30, assuming it would have had the same rating as it did in the summer.

American Idol has bucked the trend of most successful television programs, past and present, by growing in audience numbers in its fifth season. According to the overnight ratings for May 24, 2006, an average of 42.94 million viewers tuned in to the final half-hour of the fifth season finale when Taylor Hicks was announced as the 2006 American Idol.

Season Six: On the season finale of the sixth season, the ratings of American Idol saw a drop of 19 percent from last year, when Taylor Hicks was crowned as the 2006 Idol. However, the results are preliminary as the ratings were measured between 8pm-10pm. Ratings of the season finale peaked at 34.9 million viewers at 10pm, just five minutes before Jordin Sparks was declared the winner of Idol.