‘American Idol’ Season 12 Finale Tanked: Ratings Down 31% From Last Year’s Record Low

Carl Williott | May 17, 2013 11:08 am

American Idol‘s 12th season wrapped up last night (May 16) with a finale that provided a solid ending to the latest run. The star wattage was impressive, with performances from Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert to name a few, all leading up to some real emotions when Candice Glover rightfully took the Idol throne. Welp, it turns out Americans didn’t want to be bothered by any of it!

According to Reuters, Thursday’s finale brought in 14.2 million US viewers, which is a whopping 31% drop from last year’s then-record low of 21.5 million. The show lost the ratings battle to The Big Bang Theory‘s season-ender, and this was the first time an Idol finale didn’t eclipse the 20 million mark. To put this into context, Idol’s ratings peaked with over 30 million viewers six years ago, so more than half the audience has bailed since then. This is looking like it’s the type of problem that can’t be fixed merely by shuffling in a few new judges.

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