American Idol v. Dancing With the Stars

Broadcast television is very popular today. Two of the most popular shows on broadcast television are American Idol and Dancing With the Stars. These shows tend to appeal to every age group because they are family oriented, but still have the ability to attract the younger generations. Also, these two shows are based on the nation’s opinions by having them call or text in and vote. This also attracts people because it makes them feel as though they have a say in who wins.

The broadcast television show I picked to research is American Idol. Since this show is on two days a week, I chose Tuesday night even though it took second place in the ratings to Wednesday night’s showing of American Idol. If you are not familiar with the show, every Tuesday night at 8:00, the competitors sing in order to remain on the show. At the end of the show, people across America call or text their votes. Wednesday nights at 8:00 is when America finds out who gets kicked off the show. Even though Wednesday night is the bigger night, I enjoy watching the competitors sing every Tuesday.

One of American Idol’s biggest competitors is Dancing With the Stars. This show is on Monday nights at 8:00pm and Tuesday nights at 9:00 following American Idol. According to Nielson’s television ratings for the week of March 24, 2008, Tuesday night’s American Idol rated at 14% with 24.758 million viewers which took second place to Wednesday night’s showing of American Idol with 15.2% of households tuning in which equals to a whopping 25.742 viewers. Monday night’s showing of Dancing With the Stars ranked third place with 13% of households watching it equaling to 20.515 million viewers. Dancing With the Stars directly follows American Idol, but it takes third place to both nights of it. My best assumption would be that American Idol has the better time slot at 8:00pm opposed to 9:00pm.

If American Idol was moved to 9:00pm, I do not think it would do as well. It might split the ratings with Dancing With the Stars. Also, American Idol could fall below Dancing with the Stars in ratings. These are both very popular shows and they both compete for viewers across the nation. The 8:00pm timeslot is a very good time for this show to be on because many older people go to bed around 9:00pm which is why Dancing With the Stars does not have as many people watching it.