The revamped “American Idol” had a strong debut on ABC, reaching more than 10 million viewers.
The Nielsen company said that the 10.34 million who watched the return of “American Idol” represented ABC’s biggest Sunday night audience with regular series programming since 2012.
Fox bid farewell to the groundbreaking singing competition in May of 2016, but producers were not ready to let go.
“‘American Idol’ is the original and the best,” said Lionel Richie, one of the celebrity judges. “I feel really excited about this.”
Viewers did note that the chemistry was absent between the hosts, and celebrity judge Katy Perry promised to give it some time —
This was our first day at Idol… sniffing each other out, wait till you see the chemistry we grew, ammiright @LukeBryanOnline @LionelRichie @RyanSeacrest #AmericanIdol
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) March 12, 2018
Richie and Perry are joined by country music star Luke Bryan as the third judge.
The search is on for the next American Idol on Sundays and Mondays on ABC.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.