NEWS'American Idol' Out, 'Sunday Night Football' and Lindsay Lohan Score Big in Nielsen Ratings
May 23 2012, Published 7:15 a.m. ET
It appears the tide is shifting for TV favorites among viewers.
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The annual full-season Nielsen ratings were revealed this morning, and 2011-'12 will go down as the year sports edged out singing. American Idol, the consistent winner of the most-watched show title for the past eight years, trailed Sunday Night Football, which scored an impressive 21.2 million viewers and the top spot.
This isn't to say, however, that American Idol's appeal is totally waning. The singing competition was consistently in the No. 1 spot for its time slot pretty much every episode except the premiere and finale, which registered surprisingly low numbers.
Also, Saturday Night Live might want to book Lindsay Lohan next season. Even though the actress received lukewarm reviews for her March 3 performance, the episode got the highest ratings of the season, beating out everyone from Melissa McCarthy to Zooey Deschanel. However, Glee wasn't as kind to the freckled actress — her much-ballyhooed cameo only earned the show slim ratings, proving to be the second-least-watched show of the season.
- Jordin Sparks Says 'Amazing' Carrie Underwood Is an 'Excellent Choice' to Be a Judge on 'American Idol': She’s 'a Powerhouse'
- Carrie Underwood 'Hit the Ground Running' After Joining 'American Idol' as a Judge: 'It's Been a Whirlwind'
- Carrie Underwood Says Her First Days of Being a Judge on 'American Idol' Are 'Really Great'
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Another loser? Two and a Half Men. Of course the show received a piping-hot helping of publicity and viewership rose during the Charlie Sheen/Ashton Kutcher crossover, but ultimately it lost out to the more consistent The Big Bang Theory.
Check out the entire list at Eonline.com.
