American Idol closed out its eighth season last night with an impressive total audience of 28.84 million for the two hour finale. On average the show had an audience of 24.33 million this season.

During this season there has been talk about how the show has lost some of its luster. There were even rumors about two of the judges leaving the show. Compared to past seasons the show’s audience has somewhat diminished recently…

…but it has holds the #1 spot among the most popular network programs, every year since 2004, and it is still attracting between 27% and 127% more viewers than the other top 20 competitors.

More than a comfortable lead in any race and a sure sign that American Idol will continue well into the future.