The best days may still be ahead for Jordin Sparks, but the same may not be said for “American Idol.” The 30.7 million people who watched Sparks win on Wednesday was a sharp drop from the 36.4 million people who saw Taylor Hicks in last year’s finale, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Industry observers said chances are that the 2006 season will stand as the peak for audience interest.

A lackluster pool of contestants, the general malaise among viewers this spring and the simple laws of TV gravity are all factors.

“People are getting tired of it,” said Marc Berman, an analyst for Media Week Online. “I know I am.”

Producers have agreed to make a spinoff for Fox, a band contest instead of one for individual singers, that will air Fridays in the fall. While Berman said it’s likely to fail in the same way that “American Juniors” did, the spinoff still represents a risk in diluting the brand. I would steer clear of it,” he said.

(AP)

The Parlor Mob inked a deal with In De Goot records. Sounds a like a 60’s – 70’s throwback ala WolfMother. Check them out if you are into jam bands.

Maroon 5 may approach the 400k mark in first week sales. A great campaign along with strong songs still proves to be fruitful.

Producer David Bendeth (Breaking Benjamin, RJS) is in the studio with Your Vegas (Republic). 10 Years (Republic Universal) will be jamming with Dean and Robert DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots, Carl Bell from Fuel with a new record expected soon. Producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters) is finishing the new Coheed & Cambria’s album due out on Columbia Records.

Linkin Park debuted with sales of 622,000. Fans will always support an act that creates a record like Hybrid Theory that redefined a rock moment that goes onto sell 10 million+ records. Very nice!

Warner Music Group’s Rhino Records has let go 15 employees . (Billboard)

Managers Rick Smith and Scott Frazier tell KOAR that they will be arranging a (2 day event) in louiseville, Kentucky showcasing the best bands come September. Details will follow soon.

The EMI drama is tiring KOAR. Read the NY Post column ‘Suitor Circling EMI’.

American Idol Final Results…..
‘IDOL’ FINAL RESULTS SHOW PULLS 18.4 RATING/29 SHARE, IN OVERNIGHTS [DOWN FROM 21.5/32 IN 2006]… LAST 30 MINS OF SHOW HIT 21.2/31 [25.1/35 IN 2006]… THIRD MOST WATCHED BROADCAST OF SEASON, BEHIND ‘SUPER BOWL’
AND ‘ACADEMY AWARDS’

K-Rock returns to NYC………..

Well its about time K Rock returns. They got rid of that piece of crap FREE FM. The ratings were horrific. New Yorkers can now claim they have a rock station again. They kicked off the new format with Guns N Roses. Amen!

Looks like NIN Trent Reznor will be going indie soon and departing from his label…

Trent Reznor speaks in a recent interview:

I’ve have one record left that I owe a major label, then I will never be seen in a situation like this again. If I could do what I want right now, I would put out my next album, you could download it from my site at as high a bit-rate as you want, pay $4 through PayPal. Come see the show and buy a T-shirt if you like it. I would put out a nicely packaged merchandise piece, if you want to own a physical thing. And it would come out the day that it’s done in the studio, not this “Let’s wait three months” bulls—.

Speaking about NIN, any aspiring rock band that wants to put on a great live show needs to watch and study this NIN performance. Once you got this locked down reach out to us. KOAR’s bottom line is to propel NEW artists into mainstream.

In a press release sent out on Monday, The Franklin Mint announced they will be introducing a new coin into our nation’s legal tender, to promote the film Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. 20th Century Fox’s marketing campaign for the film includes delivering 40,000 of these limited edition coins to cities across the country as part of a Search 4 $ilver contest. When people find these coins, they can go to the Fantastic Four website and enter for a chance to win a trip to the London premiere of the film on June 12th. This is an actual 2005 California statehood commemorative quarter minted by the US mint, specially colored for 20th Century Fox.

Have we really sunk this low? Promoting superhero movies on our money?

American Idol was hit with a historic TV upset Tuesday Night after ABC’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ competition pulled in higher ratings than ‘American Idol’.

Dancing scored a 16.5 rating/25 share to Idol 16.3/25, in what insiders are calling a ‘photo-finish’.

The upset comes as the nations top-rated show experienced viewership erosion late in the season, at one point falling more than 15% from a year ago.

Simon didn’t look the same last night. He seemed bored, going through the motions, as he slightly criticized the karaoke singers.

Looks like Simon checked out a couple of weeks ago along with the rest of audience.