US Nielsen Ratings
The number of average viewers per episode this season was 21.7 million, an increase of 71% over season 1. Its Wednesday episodes finished as the third most-watched show of the year averaging 21.93 million, and the Tuesday episodes fifth at 21.56 million. The show ranked second in the coveted 18/49 demographic for the 2002-2003 season. This season's finale episode still ranks as the most-watched single episode in Idol history at 38.1 million, the finale night itself averaged 33.7 million when the pre-show special is taken into consideration. The show also helped Fox become the season's number three network in total viewers for the first time.
| Episode list |
| Show |
Episode |
Air date |
Week
rank |
18-49
rating |
Viewers
(in millions) |
| 1 |
"New York, Miami & Austin Auditions" |
January 21, 2003 |
4 |
12.4 |
26.5 |
| 2 |
"Special: American Idol revisited" |
January 21, 2003 |
7 |
11.3 |
23.6 |
| 3 |
"Pasadena & Detroit Auditions" |
January 22, 2003 |
5 |
11.8 |
24.9 |
| 4 |
"Atlanta & Nashville Auditions" |
January 28, 2003 |
4 |
11.6 |
24.1 |
| 5 |
"Hollywood Week" |
January 29, 2003 |
2 |
12.6 |
26.0 |
| 6 |
"Top 32: Group 1" |
February 4, 2003 |
9 |
9.7 |
20.1 |
| 7 |
"Top 32: Group 1 results" |
February 5, 2003 |
10 |
9.4 |
19.3 |
| 8 |
"Top 32: Group 2" |
February 11, 2003 |
8 |
9.7 |
20.0 |
| 9 |
"Top 32: Group 2 results" |
February 12, 2003 |
11 |
9.0 |
18.7 |
| 10 |
"Top 32: Group 3" |
February 18, 2003 |
9 |
9.2 |
19.7 |
| 11 |
"Top 32: Group 3 results" |
February 19, 2003 |
19 |
7.4 |
|
| 12 |
"Special: Best of the Worst" |
February 19, 2003 |
11 |
8.8 |
19.5 |
| 13 |
"Top 32: Group 4" |
February 25, 2003 |
5 |
9.7 |
20.0 |
| 14 |
"Top 32: Group 4 results" |
February 26, 2003 |
12 |
8.7 |
17.1 |
| 15 |
"Wildcard Show" |
March 4, 2003 |
3 |
8.5 |
18.7 |
| 16 |
"Wildcard Results" |
March 5, 2003 |
4 |
8.5 |
18.0 |
| 17 |
"Top 12 Perform" |
March 11, 2003 |
2 |
10.3 |
22.0 |
| 18 |
"Top 12 Results" |
March 12, 2003 |
9 |
8.7 |
18.3 |
| 19 |
"Top 11 Perform" |
March 18, 2003 |
2 |
10.0 |
21.1 |
| 20 |
"Top 11 Results" |
March 19, 2003 |
4 |
7.9 |
17.2 |
| 21 |
"Top 10 Perform" |
March 25, 2003 |
1 |
9.4 |
19.8 |
| 22 |
"Top 10 Results" |
March 26, 2003 |
2 |
8.7 |
19.0 |
| 23 |
"Top 9 Perform" |
April 1, 2003 |
2 |
9.6 |
21.2 |
| 24 |
"Top 9 Results" |
April 2, 2003 |
4 |
9.7 |
20.3 |
| 25 |
"Top 8 Perform" |
April 8, 2003 |
2 |
9.7 |
20.1 |
| 26 |
"Top 8 Results" |
April 9, 2003 |
3 |
9.4 |
19.2 |
| 27 |
"Top 7 Perform" |
April 15, 2003 |
1 |
8.8 |
20.0 |
| 28 |
"Top 7 Results" |
April 16, 2007 |
4 |
8.4 |
18.1 |
| 29 |
"Special: Halfway Home" |
April 21, 2007 |
12 |
6.2 |
14.1 |
| 30 |
"Top 6 Perform" |
April 22, 2003 |
4 |
9.6 |
20.6 |
| 31 |
"Top 6 Results" |
April 23, 2003 |
6 |
9.3 |
19.5 |
| 32 |
"Top 5 Perform" |
April 29, 2003 |
2 |
9.7 |
20.4 |
| 33 |
"Top 5 Results" |
April 30, 2003 |
3 |
9.0 |
20.2 |
| 34 |
"Top 4 Perform" |
May 6, 2003 |
4 |
10.1 |
22.2 |
| 35 |
"Top 4 Results" |
May 7, 2003 |
2 |
10.4 |
22.7 |
| 36 |
"Top 3 Perform" |
May 13, 2003 |
4 |
10.7 |
23.4 |
| 37 |
"Top 3 Results" |
May 14, 2003 |
2 |
11.4 |
25.3 |
| 38 |
"Top 2 Special" |
May 19, 2003 |
8 |
7.4 |
16.9 |
| 39 |
"Top 2 Showdown" |
May 20, 2003 |
3 |
11.2 |
25.7 |
| 40 |
"Finale Pre-show Special" |
May 21, 2003 |
2 |
13.1 |
30.4 |
| 41 |
"American Idol Season 2 Finale" |
May 21, 2003 |
1 |
16.8 |
38.1 |
|
A couple of specials were aired later in the year - From Justin To Kelly: The Rise of Two American Idols on June 20, 2003, and American Idol: Christmas Songs on November 25, 2003, the latter of which was ranked number 30 with total viewer number of 10.9 million, and number 28 in the 18/49 demo with a 4.1 rating.