This is the way American Idol ends, not with a bang — and not really with a whimper, either.

Fox's humbled juggernaut kicked of its 15th and final season with an average 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 and 10.9 million viewers. And while both of those stats do mark lows for a season opener, they're both pretty much in line with last January's return. Some were likely hoping for a boost, given all the marketing pomp around the final season, but steady is not a bad scenario either.

American Idol made a similarly steady return last season with a 3.2 rating in the key demo and 11.2 million viewers — though all of the headlines that day belonged to the unexpectedly off-the-bat success of Empire, which drew an even better showing among adults 18-49 after Idol.

The Fox show also topped the night in the key demo, outpacing its closest competition (ABC's Modern Family) by two-tenths of a point in the key demo. Idol's network won't be addressing its same-day stats, but the tail of post-live viewers likely won't do much for the show's numbers. Reality still trails scripted significantly with the DVR and streaming set.