PRIME-TIME TV RANKINGS ‘Idol’ still shines enough for Fox

Fox won the last week of the 2011-2012 season with its top-rated “American Idol.” But it was a victory with a few asterisks.

Wednesday’s finale of “Idol,” coming on the last night of the regular September-through-May season, crowned Phillip Phillips the winner. The show drew 21.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched program for the week ending Sunday, according to Nielsen figures released Wednesday. “Idol” also ruled the key demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49.

But the finale was “Idol’s” least-watched since the show premiered in the summer of 2002 and was down 26% compared with last season’s. Also, “Idol” for the first time in years failed to top the ratings among all programs for the season. That honor went instead to NBC’s Sunday night NFL games, which aired in the fall.

True, “Idol’s” problems are the sort that most rivals would love to have. But its erosion nevertheless marks amajor shift in popular taste and the TV business.

ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” results show on Tuesday was a strong No. 2, with 17.8 million viewers.

Monday’s “America’s Got Talent,” with new judge Howard Stern, drew 9.6 million. That’s a welcome result for long-suffering NBC, although the talent competition has suffered somewhat from an earlier-than-usual start (due in part to the London Olympics, which start in July). The show’s ratings should tick upward later in June, when competition on the schedule should be lighter.

Buried amid “Idol” and other season finales, CBS did not have a stellar week, with its “NCIS” franchise the network’s sole entry in the Top 10. However, the network remained America’s most-watched for the season overall.

Basic cable was led by Monday’s Lakers-Oklahoma City game on TNT, with 8.1million viewers. Here are the combined rankings for national prime-time network and cable television last week (May 21-27) as compiled by Nielsen. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish during its scheduled telecast or on a playback device the same day. Nielsen estimates there are 295 million potential viewers in the U.S. ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions.