March 3, 2013
(LOS ANGELES) -- American Idol is still a hit, but there's no question that its popularity is on the decline.
Wednesday's episode of the Fox competition, featuring 10 women performing during the sudden-death Las Vegas round, was seen by 13.1 million viewers, according to Entertainment Weekly. That's the smallest Wednesday audience for the show since it premiered in 2002.
Also cause for concern for Fox: for the first time, Idol drew fewer viewers in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic than ABC's Modern Family.
On Thursday nights, Idol is usually defeated in the ratings by the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
This is the first season of Idol with new judges Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.
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