No post of ours with an even peripheral mention of American Idol goes by without reader comments about how much they hate the show, or how it's destroying American television. (I had a post about the phenomenon last June)
As it turns out folks hoping for the immediate demise of American Idol will have to wait a bit longer. Through its first six shows in 2010 Idol's averaging a 10.2 rating for adults 18-49, down just 4% from last season's 10.7 rating after six shows. That's less than the overall Idol ratings decline of about 10% between 2008 and 2009.
Of course, this is Simon Cowell's final Idol season, which could both be boosting this year's ratings, and significantly depressing next year's. However, by fall 2011, Simon will be back on Fox with X-Factor, another multi-hour / week reality show.
For some viewers there's so much to hate, it's hard to know what to put at the top of the list!
