What makes the American Idol season 17 renewal debate so interesting
Has the network’s revival of the singing competition been a fruitful one? You can certainly make the case either way. In terms of ratings American Idol is averaging a 1.7 rating in the Sunday shows alone and that is a massive improvement from how the network was faring in this timeslot at this time last year. It’s also managed to drive a significant amount of social impressions and YouTube viewers. The American Idol machine is a big one with a lot of different methods in which you can make money.
However, the Idol machine is also one that costs extreme amounts of money to run. You have to pay all of the producers and then beyond that, the talent. The cost of Katy Perry is extremely high and, to go along with that, the same goes for the other judges and show host Ryan Seacrest. You’re making more money but, in turn, you are shelling out more money.
What this season has shown is that there is still a market for American Idol as a television series but the question ABC will have to ask itself is this: Are these viewers coming because of the talent and the format, or are they coming because the show has Katy Perry? If it is the former, they could renew the show with a cheaper judging panel and try to be even more profitable. With that being said, if Perry is the draw the network may need to either keep her and the entire panel or just determine that the show is not entirely viable financially.
All of this is incredibly complicated, mostly because of the fact that it is still not entirely clear as to how much American Idol is making now. On the surface, it feels successful enough to keep the show and its current panel for another season. As for whether or not it is, that’s something that could be proven by the announcements in the weeks to come.
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Meanwhile, be sure to also like CarterMatt on Facebook to book some more updates and insight regarding the series right now. (Photo: ABC.)