You might have read that the opening night of the ninth season of "American Idol" Tuesday did very well nationally, only losing 2 percent of the audience from the 2009 debut.
Locally, the ratings this season without judge Paula Abdul might even have improved this season.
Tuesday's opener had a 19.4 rating on WUTV, the local Fox affiliate. That figure should improve by at least a few points when the time-shifting viewership over the next six days from DVRs and other devices is added. A year ago, the opener had a 21.8 rating from live and time-shifted viewership.
Wednesday's second episode only dipped slightly here to a 18.7 on WUTV. A year ago, the second episode had a 19.8 rating from live and time-shifted viewership. When additional viewership is added to Wednesday's live rating, it is likely the second episode this season will be higher than it was last season
-- Alan Pergament
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