TV News: FOX’s ‘The X Factor’ Dips in Ratings, ‘Modern Family’ Stays Hot

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CHICAGO – FOX’s new reality singing competition, “The X Factor,” dropped in its ratings from last week’s premiere to this week’s new auditions. While the drop is no surprise (almost every show drops in ratings from the premiere to the weeks that follow) “The X Factor” was already slightly disappointing in its viewership from week one.

The series, which auditions singers in front of a live arena of fans (like a combination of “American Idol” and “America’s Got Talent”), dropped from a 4.4 rating in week one to a 3.9 rating last night. Combining the success of “American Idol” with the fact that Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul are now judging “The X Factor,” FOX may have a bit of a problem on their hands when the viewer numbers continue to rank so low.

Also, if it is drama America wants, the show gave it to them last night. During the Chicago auditions, Simon and, fellow judge, Nicole Scherzinger argued back and forth on the panel. The bickering started when Simon made a snide comment about a contestant who took the stage like a sex kitten. Simon mentioned “I think this is exactly what I would have seen with Nicole if she’d have been 20.”

Scheringer wasn’t too happy with the comment, and the battle raged later when the pair argued about one of the contestants. Simon felt 19 year old Tiah Tolliver had something special, but Nicole and Paula argued against him. After having a bit of a fit, Simon won out and Tolliver moved on in the competition.

The winner of Wednesday night ratings was once again “Modern Family,” which, even though it dropped 8%, was able to bring in a 5.6 rating in adults 18-49 (an overnight estimate of 13.2 million viewers). The ABC comedy almost brought the network to the top, but surrounding shows “The Middle” (2.6), the series premiere of “Suburgatory” (3.3), the season premiere of “Happy Endings” (3.2), and “Revenge” (2.7) was not enough combined to beat out the 3.9 FOX posted with “The X Factor.”

FOX may have been hoping for higher numbers from their new reality show, but they can take heart in knowing that they were still victorious, as far as networks go, on Wednesday night. While “Modern Family” did post a higher single show total, “The X-Factor” was able to keep FOX on top.

By TIM MARTENS Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com tim@hollywoodchicago.com