Fox is lowering the curtain on American Idol, ending a series that dominated television throughout the 2000s and made stars of the likes of Simon Cowell, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.
The network announced this week that American Idol will go off the air after its 15th season.
The cast from the past seasons, with Ryan Seacrest as host and Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick jr as judges, will return for a season-long celebration of the show’s history.
American Idol faded over the past few years, eclipsed in the music competition genre it pioneered by The Voice on NBC. Personnel changes didn’t help, and neither did tinkering with the format, as the show fell victim to what usually kills off most TV series – old age. Still, it was a solid performer for a Fox network that struggles in the ratings.
Dana Walden, co-chairman and CEO of the Fox Television Group, described it as a “pretty emotional decision” to end American Idol.
Fox and the show’s producers were discussing how the series would continue, but ultimately “we all arrived at the conclusion that it was time to bring the show to an end,” said Gary Newman, co-chairman and CEO. “But we wanted to do it in a way that was special and celebratory.”
Idol was a quick hit, with fans following contestants who sought the prized “yellow ticket” to Hollywood and a chance at stardom. In the early years, American Idol also showed many of the cringe-worthy auditions of contestants with no hope of winning, but has resisted those recently.
Cowell, the Brit with a tart tongue and honest assessments, became a star as judge, along with his fellow originals, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.
The big-voiced Clarkson became a pop star after winning Idol, and Underwood is a solid performer on the country charts. Personalities like Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken also became household names after competing on the show.
Walden said there are no specific plans yet, but that several former contestants and judges have already expressed “a lot of enthusiasm” for coming back and celebrating the show’s legacy in its final year.
“We’re going to deliver a really special season next year,” Newman said.
The series averaged 12.69 million viewers during its initial run in 2002, but exploded quickly thereafter, reaching a peak average of more than 30m viewers each episode in 2006, according to the Nielsen company. It continued averaging more than 20m viewers an episode through the 2011 season, when its popularity declined.
Its star at Fox was eclipsed this season by the music-based soap opera Empire, which will launch its second season sometime soon. So far this year, American Idol is averaging 9.15m viewers per episode, Nielsen said.
The show will run in a similar format next season as it has this year, airing on Wednesday and Thursday nights from January for the beginning stages, then on Thursdays for the second part of the season, Fox said.
AP