Flash: Bones Beats Finale of Canadian Idol

The host kept hollering that it was the “biggest finale ever” but the numbers are in and guess what–it was the smallest.
The two hour Canadian Idol finale didn’t even win its timeslot. It drew 1,377,000 viewers across Canada last night, a drop of one million viewers year-to-year. Despite headliners such as Mariah Carey, the finale did not even match the numbers from Monday’s performance episode.
In total households, the Idol finale finished 23% behind a new episode of Bones on Global, which drew 1.5 million viewers. Bones also bested Idol nationally where it counts, among 18-49-year-olds. In Toronto, it was no contest, with Bones beating Idol by 64% among 18-49s (all figures BBM Nielsen Media Research overnight estimates).
CTV’s usually brassy P.R. department tried to put a good spin on things with a release boasting that Idol’s final minutes–when it was announced that Theo Tams was the winner–drew 1.8 million viewers. Even that number would have been an off week just two seasons ago.
Part of the decline can be blamed on an overall slump in network TV viewing. Still, Idol does not lose to Bones two years ago. There really wasn’t anything else on last night. The franchise is in steep decline, and questions have to be raised as to the viability of once invincible American Idol.