BUSINESS
July 27, 2009 | Joe Flint
The first talent auditions for the ninth season of the Fox juggernaut "American Idol" are still two weeks away, but there is already a beauty contest going on behind the scenes. Negotiations on a new contract for Simon Cowell, the show's linchpin, chief prosecutor and animating force, are progressing quickly and could be concluded as early as this week.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 28, 2010 | By Shirley Halperin
And then there was one. Next season, barring any last-minute twists and turns, Randy Jackson will be the only original "American Idol" judge left sitting. Paula Abdul is now gone and in a blockbuster development earlier this month, Simon Cowell announced he was leaving the nation's most popular, if aging, television series to start his own show, "The X Factor." "Idol" made Jackson a household name and the former session bassist turned pop producer leveraged his fame to expand his brand beyond the hit show.
ENTERTAINMENT
April 21, 2008 | SCOTT COLLINS, CHANNEL ISLAND
Maybe it's not as shocking as, say, Aussie heartthrob Michael Johns getting voted off the show. But the news still surprises: "American Idol's" ratings are down. Way down, among some viewers. Could it be that the singing smash, which has entirely reshaped television over the past seven seasons, is finally proving mortal? And if so, what will that mean for Fox, the rest of the TV industry and Ryan Seacrest's career? Some of the above are worth contemplating.
BUSINESS
January 15, 2010 | By Joe Flint
It's been a week of breakups for "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller. First, Simon Cowell announced he was leaving his job as judge on the hit Fox show. Now Fuller is parting ways with CKX Inc., which owns 19 Entertainment, producer of "American Idol" and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance." Fuller's exit to start his own entertainment production company comes just days after CKX Chief Executive Robert F.X. Sillerman told The Times that he did not think Fuller's skills were suited to the executive suite.
ENTERTAINMENT
September 11, 2009 | ; Denise Martin and Maria Elena Fernandez
To add Ellen or not to add Ellen, that was the question -- but only for a quick minute. The sudden departure of Paula Abdul from her "American Idol" judging job on Aug. 4, three days before auditions were beginning, left Fox, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment scrambling for a replacement. As they frenetically booked guest judges for auditions in different cities, executives simultaneously focused on the long-term problem of finding someone to permanently fill Abdul's shoes.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 12, 2010 | By Scott Collins and Denise Martin
When a reporter suggested Monday that 60% of "American Idol" viewers show up just to see Simon Cowell, the man himself set the record straight. "I think you'll find it was slightly higher than that," Cowell joked to reporters at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena. The sharp-tongued British impresario made a surprise appearance at Fox's executive session Monday to confirm that this will be his last season on the smash singing competition before bringing his similarly themed "The X Factor" to the network in fall 2011.
ENTERTAINMENT
August 6, 2009 | Joe Flint and Maria Elena Fernandez
Now that Paula Abdul has voted herself off of Fox's "American Idol" after eight years as a judge on the hit talent show, the question is whether there will be a recount or if she will seek office somewhere else. With auditions for the ninth season of "American Idol" starting Friday in Denver, the odds of Abdul getting one of the show's judges' patented saves from the network seem long but not impossible.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 15, 2009 | Scott Collins
The addition of a fourth judge didn't help "American Idol's" ratings. The show's two-hour Season 8 premiere on Fox on Tuesday gathered 30.1 million total viewers -- still a very impressive figure, but a decline of 10% compared with last year's premiere and the lowest "Idol" season launch since January 2004. With new judge Kara DioGuardi added to the familiar judging trio of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, "Idol" averaged an 11.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 28, 2009 | Scott Collins
"American Idol" ended its eighth season last week. So what will fans do with all this newfound free time? Why, delve into another "Idol" voting controversy, of course. Published reports have raised questions on whether AT&T, a program sponsor, may have violated "Idol" voting rules at two pre-finale parties thrown for Kris Allen, the Arkansas crooner crowned winner last Wednesday.
ENTERTAINMENT
February 16, 2009 | SCOTT COLLINS
When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show. And they haven't. Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.