‘Duck Dynasty’ Beats ‘American Idol’ in Network Ratings

It looks like I'm not the only person watching 'Duck Dynasty' these days. Their down home southern ways, which includes no cussing, has caught on and made this A&E reality show an enormous hit. While it hasn't completely knocked off the ratings giants 'American Idol' and 'Survivor' is coming increasingly closer. 'Duck Dynasty's' season 3 finale, in which the family vacationed in Hawaii, was this past Wednesday (April 24th) and reached almost 10 million people. This put the show in first place finally beating 'American Idol' and shattering records.

The numbers are divided up into key demos like 18-49 year olds (the money demo). It's this demo where 'Duck Dynasty' beat the top two contenders 'Idol' and 'Survivor'. 'Idol' had a 3.3 rating, 'Survivor' had a 2.9 and 'Duck Dynasty' had a 4.3.

What does all of this mean exactly? A lot of money! Marketers use those numbers to purchase advertising. That means a lot of money to the network and one reason the cast is asking for more money per episode before resigning their contracts for another season.

My guess is the network will give them what they want, the negotiating power is in their favor now. However, the Robertson's aren't holding up the production process. The network has already begun production for season 4 and will continue to workout the per episode negotiations with the family.

That's good news for us 'Duck Dynasty' junkies.