Harpo, Inc. / George Burns; Kevin Winter/Getty Images Since the world didn't end last weekend there were plenty of people to tune in for Oprah Winfrey's swan song and Scotty McCreery take the American Idol title.
We figured both finales would be big, but just how huge were they?
Per the bean counters at Nielsen, Wednesday's final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show earned a 13.3 rating in metered markets, just shy of the 13.4 rating the gab queen nabbed for her February 1994 episode called "People Shed Their Disguises."
As for total viewership, because metered market ratings are based on roughly half the nation, a final tally on how many watched won't be released for two weeks. However, Oprah's more subdued "until we meet again" solo goodbye bested Monday and Tuesday's star-studded farewell bash held at Chicago's United Center, which garnered 10.2 and 10.7 ratings, respectively.
But the daytime audience isn't nearly as big as the evening crowd.
Last night's finale of the 10th season of Idol, which country crooner McCreery bested Lauren Alaina, attracted a 15.7 rating or roughly 29.3 million people—a 21 percent increase from the ninth season's climax a year ago. And that's even after the program ran seven minutes over its scheduled time slot. (So much for missing Simon Cowell, eh?)
Not only that, but Idol's finale scored bragging rights over Tuesday's Dancing With the Stars closer, which tallied 21.4 million viewers.