In 2006 American Idol averaged about 30 million viewers per episode. It dominated the TV world, easily taking the crown for most watched television show in America. There was drama, entertaining judges, and extremely talented contestants. What not to love?
On January 7th 2015, the 14th season of Idol premiered, gathering 11.2 million viewers and a 3.1 rating, according to TV by the numbers.
How did America’s top show fall so far from grace? Is it because of the lack of variety the show has? Or the fact that there is no more Simon Cowells to argue with contestants? Probably both.
However, this isn’t just a problem with American Idol; it involves all singing competition shows. Rising Star and the cancelled U.S. version of The X Factor have also had their fair share of problems regarding viewership and ratings. Even though Rising Star has only had one season, its premiere had about 5 million views, rather lackluster for a show that had so much hype leading up to the start of the series.
A main factor in the success of all competition shows is having an enjoyable, but experienced set of judges. American Idol thrived on having judges who argued with each other over who sang what better. It made the endless stream of singers seem shorter and more bearable. Granted, the arguing was probably played up a bit for the camera, but that’s Hollywood. But with Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson long gone, Idol has turned to more family friendly, kind set of judges, including Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick Jr. And unfortunately, they bring nothing exciting to the table. So far only NBC’s The Voice has managed to maintain a judging panel that continues to entertain with their chemistry on screen.
Another issue with these types of shows is the lack of variety. Watching singer after singer after singer perform overplayed songs can only be entertaining for so long. Shows like America’s Got Talent don’t have that problem because you never know what the next person is going to do. The possibilities are endless.
But all good things must come to an end at some point. For many of these shows, their best years are behind them and all they can do is hope to keep bring back their core audience for as long as they can.