“American Idol” is officially being revived just a year after it went off the air — this time, on ABC.
The network announced Tuesday on “Good Morning America” that it has closed a deal with “Idol” producers Fremantle Media North America and 19 Entertainment to revive the singing competition show, which aired on Fox for 15 seasons starting in 2002, for the 2017-18 TV season.
No host or judges are yet named for the new 16th season. Last week, longtime “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest was of “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” which is distributed by Disney-ABC, suggesting his return to the franchise could be a possibility. “Idol”s most famous judge, Simon Cowell, already has a deal as a judge on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
“Idol” pioneered the reality-competition genre when it debuted in 2002, launched the careers of hit recording artists such as Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson and was the highest-rated entertainment series for nearly a decade. At its peak in 2006, the twice-weekly show averaged 36 million viewers.
Its audience declined precipitously in its later years, however, with its final season, which ended in April 2016, drawing just 9 million viewers. However, in today’s fractured TV landscape, that audience was still great enough for it to win its Wednesday timeslot and finish second on Thursdays.
Speculation about a reboot had been swirling for months, with before ABC emerged as the new likely home last week. While in the last decade Fox had “Idol” and “The X Factor” and NBC has “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice,” ABC was never able to successfully launch a singing competition series of its own. One attempt, “Duets,” lasted just nine episodes in 2012.