Ratings: American Idol has lowest rated finale ever

The American Idol 9 Finale is down a staggering 18% from last season!

From TVbytheNumbers:

In Simon Cowell’s final appearance Idol was down 18% with adults 18-49 and 16% with viewers. It averaged an 8.2 rating with adults 18-49, and 24.2 million viewers from 8pm-10:07p. Last year’s finale on May 20, 2009 drew a 10.0 adults 18-49 rating and 28.86 million viewers in live+SD viewing between 8p-10:07p. It could’ve been worse — the Dancing With the Stars finale on Tuesday night was down 27% from last spring’s finale.

Here’s a historical look at Idol’s 18-49 rating and average viewers (millions) for the finales:
9/4/2002 American Idol 10.8 23.02
5/21/2003 American Idol 16.8 38.06
5/26/2004 American Idol 12.0 28.84
5/25/2005 American Idol 12.5 30.27
5/24/2006 American Idol 14.2 36.38
5/23/2007 American Idol 11.5 30.76
5/21/2008 American Idol 11.4 31.688
5/20/2009 American Idol 10.0 28.86
5/26/2010 American Idol 8.2 24.2

Source TVbytheNumbers