TV Ratings Report: American Idol Wins, Plummets

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Note for the rest of the TV season: American Idol will win in total viewers every single night it airs.

That was easily the case on Wednesday, as the season 11 premiere drew 21.6 million households... but it's not all good news for Fox: the premiere was down 27% from last year's opener. That's quite the drop-off, though not unexpected for a show that's been on for so many seasons and which now faces competition from other singing competitions.

8 p.m.
American Idol: 21.3 million
NCIS rerun: 9.1 million
The Middle: 8.2 million/Suburgatory: 7.0 million
Whitney: 4.3 million/Are You There, Chelsea?: 4.3 million
One Tree Hill: 1.5 million

9 p.m.
American Idol: 21.95 million
Criminal Minds: 12.8 million
Modern Family: 11.8 million/Happy Endings: 6.2 million
Harry's Law: 6.4 million
Remodeled rerun: 605,000

10 p.m.
CSI: 11.8 million
Revenge: 7.6 million
Law & Order: SVU: 6.4 million

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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