No fallen 'Idol' here

I'm tired of reading about " 'American Idol' Fatigue."

While it's true that ratings for the Fox show's seventh season -- its big finale finally airs this week at 8 p.m. Wednesday on KTVU -- are down 7 percent this year, "Idol" remains a huge hit.

This month Fox will clinch its first Nielsen TV-season title, and it's largely because of the ratings dominance of "Idol," a show that benefited from the writers strike by being uninterrupted by it. The twice-weekly "Idol" shows have sat atop the Nielsen ratings all year.

The Los Angeles Times recently did a story on the megahit show's ratings decline. It was headlined "Ominous Signs for 'American Idol.' " But it quickly added that "ratings are still huge" but "were huger in the past."

USA Today headlined its piece on the Fox singing-the-hits hit's ratings decline thusly: "Idol Ratings Dip Exposes Feet of Clay" before adding, "It still towers over the competition and remains bigger than it was in 2005."

"Idol," it seems, has gone from being a 1,200-pound gorilla to being a 900-pounder.

The glitzy warbling competition is still known as the "Death Star" in TV programming circles. CBS boss Leslie Moonves famously noted at a recent press conference, "If someone would kill that show, I'd really appreciate it."

So, even if the TV number-crunchers -- mostly from rival networks -- keep throwing out figures about "Idol's" ratings decline in various demos (e.g., it's down nearly one-fifth in women ages 18-34) -- please, let's keep all this in perspective:

Even after 40 episodes without interruption starting in January, "Idol" still dominates the ratings like no show ever has. It's also provided huge lead-in audiences that have helped make Fox series "24" and "House" big hits.

It's expected that a huge audience will tune in Wednesday to see which of "the Davids" will win this year's "King of Pop" title -- the youthful David Archuleta or David Cook.

Still, every ratings point is worth millions of dollars in ad revenues. So, TV Guide recently reported, Fox execs "put the show under a microscope every week to figure out what works and what doesn't."

What might need fixing? Some "Idol" thoughts:

A few "Idol" fan Web sites have complained that the show's four-week audition process is too long. (Maybe, but it's the only good part of the show for many of us twisted types.)

"The Trades" TV blogger/"Idol" fan Doug DeBolt adds this suggestion:

"Shorten the elimination shows to a half-hour. The fluff is part of the fatigue. Let's cut out some of the shameless marketing plugs and, as Ryan Seacrest says, 'get right to the eliminations.' "

Don't hold your breath, Doug: Fox is not about to give up 30 high-value minutes during which it can sell advertising at sky-high rates. In TV, dollars always trump style points.

DeBolt also suggests eliminating finalists 11 and 12 on the same show. See previous paragraph.

It may take more than a few stylistic changes to keep the show's ratings from slipping again next year from today's astronomical to "merely" sky-high. There's time and TV history to consider as well as YouTube.

First, there's the generally accepted TV axiom that shows tend to head downhill, in both quality and ratings, after seven years. Not even the best shows are immune from this: NBC's "Frasier" and "Seinfeld" both "jumped the shark" around their seventh year and both declined in quality.

Also, TV Guide notes that children, teens and young women are the demographic groups that are down the most for "Idol" this year, explaining, "It makes sense. Young viewers are the most fickle and the first to tire of any show."

Some of us oldsters tend to cringe -- and tune out -- during "Idol" tributes to the likes of Neil Diamond and awful renditions of such songs as "Mr. Tambourine Man." But maybe we might actually be hip.

"If you started watching 'Idol' when you were 8 years old," TV Guide says, "you're not likely to stick with it if you're trying to be a cool teenager."

Or a wannabe hipster boomer.

The other big event on Channel 2 this week: It's hard to believe KTVU anchor Dennis Richmond will retire Thursday after 40 years in local TV. Thanks to Richmond, the Oakland station's "10 O'clock News" has achieved a rare "double" of quantity and quality.

Richmond's first-rate newscast has achieved high ratings that have dominated this local market for years. A decade ago, KPIX-TV was so envious of the big 10 p.m. news ratings rival KTVU was attracting that it moved CBS' entire prime-time lineup back an hour and began a 10 p.m. newscast of its own.

But it didn't work. Channel 5 didn't have Dennis Richmond and his many loyal fans.

The other day I spoke with Richmond, with whom I worked briefly as a KTVU newswriter. The veteran anchor, who's recently had to deal with both back problems and cancer surgery, told me he was looking forward to retiring to his second home up in Grass Valley and playing more golf.

Richmond's consummate professionalism, his avoidance of personal commentary or opinion on the air, has been one of his strong points: I asked if he's been tempted, during this close Democratic nomination race, to do editorials or commentary. His answer was a flat "No."

"I've always kept my politics out of it," Richmond explained. "Keep people wondering where I stand.

"Since I've announced my retirement," Richmond noted, "I've gotten lots of letters and e-mails thanking me for doing just that."

Thanks from all of us, Dennis, for being a pro. You'll be sorely missed.

Bill Mann, a North Bay freelancer, writes a weekly TV column for A&E and a humor column for Marketwatch.com. E-mail him at newsmann@

mannpublications.org.