American Idol is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller; it is produced by Fremantle and 19 Entertainment. It began airing on Fox in the United States on June 11, 2002, and ended on April 7, 2016. The series moved to ABC with its sixteenth season which debuted on March 11, 2018. It started off as an addition to the Idols format based on the British series Pop Idol, and became one of the most successful shows in the history of American television. The concept of the series involves discovering recording stars from unsigned singing talents, with the winner determined by the viewers in America through telephones, Internet, and SMS text voting.
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Series overview
Episodes Season 1 (2002)
Season 2 (2003)
Season 3 (2004)
Season 4 (2005)
Season 5 (2006)
Season 6 (2007)
Season 7 (2008)
Season 8 (2009)
Season 9 (2010)
Season 10 (2011)
Season 11 (2012)
Season 12 (2013)
Season 13 (2014)
Season 14 (2015)
Season 15 (2016)
Season 16 (2018)
Season 17 (2019)
Season 18 (2020)
Season 19 (2021)
Season 20 (2022)
Season 21 (2023)
Season 22 (2024)
Season 23 (2025)
Season 24
Most watched episodes American Idol has seen its fair share of viewership changes over the years. The show had 38.1 million viewers in the finale of season 2 and an all-time low with a mere 5.55 million viewers tuning in to watch the final performances of the fourteenth season.
Rank Season Episode Title Original Air-Date Viewers(millions) Rating/Share(18–49) Rating/Share(HH) Notes Source(s) 1 2 "Season 2 Finale" May 21, 2003 38.1 16.8/? The most-watched American Idol episode of all-time 2 6 "Minneapolis Auditions" January 16, 2007 37.44 15.8/36 20.3/29 The highest-rated Idol premiere 3 6 "Seattle Auditions" January 17, 2007 36.94 15.5/36 20.1/30 The highest-rated non-premiere/non-finale 4 5 "Season 5 Finale" May 24, 2006 36.38 14.2/35 20.5/32 5 5 "Chicago Auditions" January 17, 2006 35.53 15.3/34 19.3/28 6 5 "Greensboro Auditions" January 24, 2006 34.96 15.1/35 19.6/29American Idol season 5#U.S. Nielsen ratings 7 6 "New York Auditions" January 24, 2007 33.87 14.1/35 18.9/28American Idol season 6#U.S. Nielsen ratings 8 6 "Birmingham Auditions" January 30, 2007 33.65 13.5/33 18.6/28 9 4 "Washington D.C. Auditions" January 18, 2005 33.6 14.0/? American Idol season 4#U.S. Nielsen ratings 10 5 "Top 11 Perform" March 21, 2006 33.36 13.6/33 19.2/28 6 "San Antonio Auditions February 6, 2007 13.5/33 18.6/28
References
External links