American Idol 16: How ABC is planning to pay for Katy Perry, Ryan Seacrest, more

It’s ambitious that ABC is bringing on board American Idol 16 for their upcoming schedule at midseason. However, there are still problems. Specifically, one of them is going to be trying to come up with a way in which to adequately pay for it while still making money for the network.

No matter how you look at it, there is one clear conclusion that remains when it comes to American Idol these days: It’s expensive. You’re traveling to different audition cities, you are hiring various crew members all over the place, you are clearing songs, and above all, you are paying enormous salaries to the judges. The show has already paid Katy Perry a whopping $25 million to be on the next season. Meanwhile, Ryan Seacrest is going to be getting at least $10 million and possibly closer to $15 million – which still seems a little low to us since Ryan is American Idol!

How in the world do you pay for all of that? One of the ways seems to be trying to monetize the show via mobile and internet streams. Speaking per Variety, Rita Ferro, president of ad sales for Disney/ABC Television Group, had the following to say:

“We are thinking about ‘Idol’ in a different way … It’s really being driven by social involvement and how we can continue the storylines from the show throughout the week.”

If the show can get people watching social clips and advertisements with ads attached to them throughout the week, there’s a great chance that it can earn enough money that way to pay for the show. The thing that ABC needs to figure out is how to turn the show into a week-long experience more than just a show, where fans have access to every stage of the process and feel connected to the contestants on a personal level. The old model of doing things, where viewers saw the contestants for the live shows and not at any other point in the process, doesn’t quite work anymore. There isn’t any real incentive to follow along with that, since they can get the same connection if not more from watching videos on YouTube. At least with that, you’re also getting a situation in which you’re seeing someone unfiltered, and without any sort of editing or producer manipulation.

American Idol has a long and tricky road ahead for it as it tries to figure out how to bring in money for the new season. We do hope it succeeds, just because in its heyday, the show was great. Unfortunately, in the latter years it became a little stale with the same format, same tired songs every week and the talent pool drying up.

What do you think about what the plans should be for American Idol 16? Share now in the comments!

Meanwhile, head over to the link here to get some other news right now when it comes to the show. (Photo: Fox.)