Entertainment

‘Idol’ slip is showing in year-end #s

The TV season that just ended will go down as the year “American Idol” almost slipped out of the Top 10.

The show’s unprecedented ratings erosion left the talent show with an average of just 13 million viewers for the year — for a show that, at one time, averaged over 25 million viewers each week.

“Idol” now lags behind the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” (No. 5) and dramas “NCIS”(No. 3), “NCIS: Los Angeles” (No. 7) and “Person of Interest” (No. 9), according to just-released Nielsen data.

Next fall, all three shows will air back-to-back on Tuesday nights.

Football continues to dominate the ratings, even though it airs for only half the season. Four spots in the Nielsen top 10 were occupied by NFL games on CBS, NBC and Fox.

Another surprising performer was CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” starring Tom Selleck, which finished in 20th place despite airing on Friday nights — usually considered TV Siberia.

No new shows finished in the top 20. The highest-rated new series was “Elementary” (23rd place). It was also a rough year for “The X Factor.” Simon Cowell’s talent show barely cracked the Top 30.

CBS’ “Hawaii Five-O” continued to slide, coinciding with its move to Fridays.