Fox executives have criticized “Idol” producer, FremantleMedia, for bringing back the show so quickly after Fox’s heavily promoted farewell season just last year.
Fox bid for the show’s return along with ABC and NBC, but Fox wanted to wait longer before bringing the show back — to the year 2020.
They planned to use that time to plan some major creative changes that would freshen the show. Fox says that FremantleMedia initially wanted to keep the format and talent unchanged, then agreed to bench the title for a few years, and then eventually decided to rush Idol back as soon as possible for financial reasons. The show will now air on ABC.
The Fox exec said, “We spent about $25 million sending a clear message that it was the farewell season. It felt to us it would be extremely fraudulent to bring the show back quickly, that fans would not appreciate being told one thing and then having the show brought back right away.”
NBC admitted to bidding on the show, but the NBC chairman said, “We didn’t need Idol. We did have conversations with them about Idol. We recognize the franchise is great. … We just decided we have The Voice, and a couple of music competition shows that we’re down the road developing that you may see coming to the schedule as early as next summer. We thought we’re going to stick with our hand.”
Sources say ABC is reportedly going after Katy Perry for a judge spot.
The network is expected to launch its version of the show next year.
Source: EW