American Idol Viewers Rate Randy Jackson Number One Among Judges

- Abdul Receives Lowest Ratings; Cowell Perceived as Most Believable -

FLEMINGTON, N.J., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ — A new study conducted among 1,522 American Idol viewers revealed that Randy Jackson ranked number one among the judges based on the judges’ critiques on last night’s show.

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The study was conducted by HCD Research on February 17, to obtain American Idol viewers’ perceptions of the judges. HCD Research will conduct a weekly study during the airing of American Idol Season 8 to measure how the judges’ rankings change over time. To view agreement curves and detailed results visit: www.mediacurves.com.

After viewing clips of each performance and the judges’ critiques, study participants were asked to evaluate the judges based on scales of likeability, believability, sincerity and fairness.

While Simon Cowell scored low on likeability, he scored significantly higher on believability. Conversely, Paula Abdul scored high on likeability and low on believability. Randy Jackson’s scores were consistently high on all scales, and Kara DioGuardi’s scores were consistently mediocre on all scales.

Among the findings:

                           Simon Cowell
    Likeability               58             68
    Believability             73
    Sincerity                 71
    Fairness                  68

                           Paula Abdul
    Likeability               70             66
    Believability             61
    Sincerity                 68
    Fairness                  67

                           Randy Jackson
    Likeability               73             73
    Believability             72
    Sincerity                 73
    Fairness                  73

                           Kara DioGuardi
    Likeability               67             68
    Believability             67
    Sincerity                 68
    Fairness                  69

While viewing the video clip, participants indicated their levels of agreement by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves.

The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

HCD Research specializes in conducting communications research for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, financial and entertainment industries, among others.

Headquartered in Flemington, NJ, the company’s services include traditional and web-based communications research. For additional information on HCD Research, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or 908-788-9393.

SOURCE HCD Research, Inc.