American Idol’s series finale (Part 1) drew 9.6 million total viewers and a 2.2 demo rating on Wednesday night — up 75 and 70 percent versus last year to deliver its best performance finale since Season 12.
In TVLine’s poll, the Final 2 are in a dead heat, each drawing about 50 percent of the vote.
RELATED American Idol Performance Finale Recap: It’s All Over But the Crying (Oh, Yeah, and Also the Voting)
Empire (11.3 mil/4.2) slipped 10 and 12 percent to its lowest numbers since its Thanksgiving Eve outing.
RELATED Empire Recap: Arsenic and Bad Taste
Elsewhere in the ratings….
ABC | With their first originals against Empire Season 2B, Modern Family (7.4 mil/2.2) and black-ish (5.5 mil/1.6) slipped two and three tenths in the demo, respectively, hitting and tying series lows. The Middle (6.9 mil/1.7) was steady, The Goldbergs (6.1 mil/1.8) ticked down to season lows and bubble drama Nashville (4.2 mil/1.0) rose 11 percent and a tenth with a fresh lead-in.
THE CW | Arrow (2.24 mil/0.8) dipped a tenth (and earned an average grade of “C+” from TVLine readers), while Supernatural (1.76 mil/0.7) rose a tenth.
CBS | Survivor (9 mil/1.9) ticked down. Beyond Borders‘ special 9 o’clock airing did 7.3 mil/1.2 (compared to Criminal Minds‘ week-ago 9.2 mil/1.8), while its second episode (6.9 mil/1.2) dipped just a bit from Week 3.
NBC | Heartbeat (4 mil/0.7) dropped another 15 percent plus two tenths.
Want scoop on any of the above shows? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
