(Photo By Flickr User Jeff Lange)
Dim the lights …”American Idol” is coming back!
According to wqad.com & CNNMoney, ABC has reached an agreement with FremantleMedia to bring the singing competition that birthed a reality movement back from the dead.
The agreement comes a little more than a year after the series went off the air after 15 seasons on Fox.
ABC announced the deal on Tuesday’s “Good Morning America.” The show will be scheduled sometime during the 2017-2018 television season, possibly on Sunday nights.
It is unknown whether original host Ryan Seacrest will lead the ABC incarnation.
Seacrest is the new host of ABC’s morning talk show “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” so he is already in the corporate family. On Monday’s “Live,” he indicated that he’s open to the possibility.
The “GMA” hosts said Tuesday that the host and the panel of judges would be announced later.
ABC is holding its annual upfront presentation for advertisers next Tuesday.
The first few seasons of Fox’s “Idol” with judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, were a ratings juggernaut for Fox, pulling in more than 38 million viewers at its peak for season two’s finale.
The series, based on the British show “Pop Idol,” acted as a launching pad for stars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson.
By season eleven, the show’s ratings average fell below 20 million and continued to dip in subsequent seasons. The Wednesday installments of “American Idol” drew an average of 10 million viewers in season fourteen.
About 14 million tuned in for the series finale in April 2016, still an impressive number by almost any standard.
But Fox’s decision to retire “Idol” came as the show was increasingly criticized for failing to produce stars on par with some of its earliest and ultimately best-known, talent.
The show was also having a harder time competing for attention with NBC’s rival singing competition “The Voice.”
It’s worth noting, however, that despite the dimming of “Idol’s” power, ABC could very much use the series on its schedule.
The ballroom competition series “Dancing with the Stars” remains a strong performer for the network, with around 10 million viewers, but it’s down from its glory days.
Meanwhile, ABC’s biggest scripted hits like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “Modern Family,” are aging and have an undetermined number of future seasons.
ABC has also tried but failed in the past to enter into the reality singing competition genre, with shows like “The One” in 2006 and 2012’s “Duets,” with mentors Robin Thicke, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, and original “Idol” winner Clarkson.
“American Idol” will give ABC a property that’s a proven success.
A return for “Idol” had been rumored for months, and Fremantle reportedly entertained offers from NBC and Fox.
