| Show |
Episode |
Air date |
Week
rank |
18-49
rating |
Viewers
(in millions) |
| 1 |
"Audition: New York" |
January 19, 2004 |
2 |
12.9 |
29.0 |
| 2 |
"Audition: Atlanta" |
January 20, 2004 |
3 |
12.5 |
28.6 |
| 3 |
"Audition: Houston" |
January 21, 2004 |
1 |
12.7 |
29.4 |
| 4 |
"Audition: Los Angeles and San Francisco" |
January 27, 2004 |
3 |
13.0 |
29.6 |
| 5 |
"Audition: Hawaii" |
January 28, 2004 |
4 |
12.0 |
28.3 |
| 6 |
"Road to Hollywood, Best and Worst of the Rest" |
February 2, 2004 |
8 |
9.7 |
21.1 |
| 7 |
"Hollywood Week: Part 1" |
February 3, 2004 |
1 |
13.1 |
30.1 |
| 8 |
"Hollywood Week: Part 2" |
February 4, 2004 |
3 |
12.6 |
28.8 |
| 9 |
"Top 32: Group 1" |
February 10, 2004 |
2 |
11.1 |
26.2 |
| 10 |
"Top 32: Group 1 Results" |
February 11, 2004 |
4 |
10.5 |
24.5 |
| 11 |
"Top 32: Group 2" |
February 17, 2004 |
2 |
10.9 |
25.2 |
| 12 |
"Top 32: Group 2 Results" |
February 18, 2004 |
6 |
9.8 |
22.1 |
| 13 |
"Top 32: Group 3" |
February 24, 2004 |
4 |
11.3 |
26.6 |
| 14 |
"Top 32: Group 3 Results" |
February 25, 2004 |
5 |
10.3 |
23.0 |
| 15 |
"Special: Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented" |
March 1, 2004 |
6 |
8.5 |
19.7 |
| 16 |
"Top 32: Group 4" |
March 2, 2004 |
1 |
11.1 |
25.5 |
| 17 |
"Top 32: Group 4 Results" |
March 3, 2004 |
7 |
8.5 |
19.3 |
| 18 |
"Wildcard" |
March 9, 2004 |
2 |
10.7 |
24.6 |
| 19 |
"Wildcard Results" |
March 10, 2004 |
4 |
9.7 |
22.0 |
| 20 |
"Top 12 Perform" |
March 16, 2004 |
1 |
11.3 |
26.7 |
| 21 |
"Top 12 Results" |
March 17, 2004 |
2 |
9.7 |
22.9 |
| 22 |
"Top 11 Perform" |
March 23, 2004 |
1 |
11.5 |
27.0 |
| 23 |
"Top 11 Results" |
March 24, 2004 |
3 |
8.8 |
20.4 |
| 24 |
"Top 10 Perform" |
March 30, 2004 |
2 |
8.8 |
25.9 |
| 25 |
"Top 10 Results" |
March 31, 2004 |
3 |
9.4 |
21.9 |
| 26 |
"Top 9 Perform" |
April 6, 2004 |
1 |
10.1 |
23.5 |
| 27 |
"Top 9 Results" |
April 7, 2004 |
4 |
8.9 |
20.6 |
| 28 |
"Top 8 Perform"(1) |
April 14, 2004 |
3 |
9.7 |
23.1 |
| 29 |
"Top 8 Results"(1) |
April 15, 2004 |
8 |
6.2 |
15.3 |
| 30 |
"Top 7 Perform" |
April 20, 2004 |
1 |
10.1 |
23.4 |
| 31 |
"Top 7 Results" |
April 21, 2004 |
3 |
9.3 |
21.2 |
| 32 |
"Top 6 Perform" |
April 27, 2004 |
1 |
10.4 |
23.4 |
| 33 |
"Top 6 Results" |
April 28, 2004 |
3 |
9.3 |
21.2 |
| 34 |
"Special: The Final Five" |
May 3, 2004 |
22 |
4.8 |
11.7 |
| 35 |
"Top 5 Perform" |
May 4, 2004 |
6 |
9.0 |
22.8 |
| 36 |
"Top 5 Results" |
May 5, 2004 |
7 |
8.8 |
21.2 |
| 37 |
"Top 4 Perform" |
May 11, 2004 |
3 |
9.6 |
23.2 |
| 38 |
"Top 4 Results" |
May 12, 2004 |
5 |
10.0 |
22.3 |
| 39 |
"Special: The Final Three" |
May 3, 2004 |
|
4.2 |
|
| 40 |
"Top 3 Perform" |
May 18, 2004 |
2 |
10.0 |
23.6 |
| 41 |
"Top 3 Results" |
May 19, 2004 |
4 |
9.8 |
22.4 |
| 42 |
"Special: The American Idol Phenomenon" |
May 23, 2004 |
27 |
3.7 |
10.8 |
| 43 |
"Top 2 Perform (Finale)" |
May 25, 2004 |
2 |
10.6 |
25.1 |
| 44 |
"American Idol Season 3 Finale" |
May 26, 2004 |
1 |
12.0 |
28.8 |
|