Poll: Viewers Will Watch Less Without Simon

Just hours after the news broke that Simon Cowell was leaving “American Idol,” this press release hit my inbox…

In a study conduced by HCD Research, 47 percent of those polled said they would watch “Idol” less if Simon wasn’t on it. 58 percent of those who said they would watch it less, said they wouldn’t watch at all without Simon.

The study polled 800 “Idol’’ viewers via the Internet.

In a related poll of 1007 people (viewers and non-viewers), the number one choice to replace Simon was Piers Morgan of “America’s Got Talent,” followed by Diddy and Quincy Jones.

Morgan would be my #1 choice as well, but I don’t know if Simon would let him go from “Talent”…