EXCLUSIVE: American Idol hit a high note with the help of some guest judges this month.
The May 7 episode, which featured guest judges Ed Sheeran and Alanis Morissette (who also performed on the show), drew an audience of 7.7M people after seven days of delayed viewing, according to L+7 data from Nielsen.
That’s up 3% from the week prior and 13% year-over-year, marking the competition series’ largest audience of the season.
In terms of the 18-49 demographic, the episode managed to hold even with previous episode’s season-high 1.1 rating, showing a 22% improvement year-over-year.
When factoring in viewership on streaming and digital platforms, the episode rose to 8.6M viewers and a 1.5 demo rating after seven days, making it the strongest multi-platform telecast in a year (since May 1, 2022).
The Season 6 finale of American Idol airs on May 21, at which former judge Keith Urban will return to the show to mentor the Top 3 finalists. Urban is also among a slew of guest performers during the episode. The series was recently renewed for its seventh season on ABC and 22nd season overall.
