Television Ratings vs. Web Traffic

Filed in archive Internet TV on May 11, 2007

American Idol is not my taste in television. But you would have to be living under a rock not to know that it has been one of the biggest hits on the tube. Those same rock dwellers would likely have missed that most television shows now have their own online web sites.

So, abbey Klaassen asks an interesting question: how does the television ratings match up to web traffic statistics. And as you might suspect, Fox's AmericanIdol.com dominates the web like its broadcast counterpart rules the airwaves.

Other shows also hit both lists like Grey's Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars. But that is not always true. America's Most Wanted is #6 in web traffic but #57 for total television viewers.

Here are those statistics from that article:

Share of U.S. broadcast-TV-show web traffic for the week ending April 28

"American Idol" (Fox) 32.96%
"Deal or No Deal" (NBC) 12.33%
"Dancing With the Stars" (ABC) 9.31%
"Grey's Anatomy" (ABC) 3.23%
"Heroes" (NBC) 3.15%
"America's Most Wanted" (Fox) 2.3%
"The Bachelor" (ABC) 2.11%
"Lost" (ABC) 1.87%
"Survivor: Fiji" (CBS) 1.82%
"Pussycat Dolls Presents" (CW) 1.76%

Number of viewers (2 and older, live plus same day) for the week ending April 29

"American Idol" -- Wednesday (Fox) 26.9 million
"American Idol" -- Tuesday (Fox) 26.5 million
"House" (Fox) 20.8 million
"Grey's Anatomy" (ABC) 20.1 million
"CSI" (CBS) 20.2 million
"Dancing With the Stars" -- Monday (ABC) 18.9 million
"Desperate Housewives" (ABC) 17.2 million
"CSI: Miami" (CBS) 17 million
"Dancing With the Stars" -- Thursday (ABC) 16.6 million
"NCIS" (CBS) 14.2 million