American Idol took home network TV’s top ratings Sunday night with its season 17 season finale, although its numbers were down some versus a year ago.
The three-hour star-studded finale on ABC posted a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 and about 7.7 million viewers — down from 1.6 and 8.63 million viewers in 2018 (on a Monday night). The numbers from Sunday’s show may adjust up as some of the final ratings account for the live nationwide broadcast.
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Idol was up a little week to week and stayed steady throughout its three hours, including the period opposite Game of Thrones (9-10:30 p.m.), which aired its series finale on HBO.
On Idol, 19-year-old Laine Hardy was crowned as the season 17 winner, with Alejandro Aranda coming in as runner-up and Madison VanDenburg in third place. Performances from past Idol superstars like Carrie Underwood and Adam Lambert helped pack the episode with big names, as well as performances from the show’s judges, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.
Earlier on ABC, America’s Funniest Home Videos came in at 0.7, pending updates.
CBS had the most-watched show of the night with 60 Minutes (8.21 million); the newsmagazine’s season finale, which saw longtime 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft retire after 30 years, was second to Idol in adults 18-49 at 0.8. The Red Line stayed low at 0.3 in adults 18-49, and the season finale of NCIS: Los Angeles tied its series low (set two weeks ago) at 0.5.
On NBC, Good Girls ticked up to 0.5 in adults 18-49 and had its most-watched episode since March 10 (2.47 million viewers). A two-hour Deadline averaged 0.7 from 8-10 p.m.
On The CW, the season finales of Supergirl (0.3) and Charmed (0.2) both held steady.
Fox aired the movie Hotel Transylvania (0.4) from 8-10 p.m.
As a whole, ABC led the network race with a 1.2 average, doubling the 0.6 for NBC. CBS averages 0.5; Fox and Univision tied at 0.4; and The CW and Telemundo tied at 0.2.