By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --ABC announced a deal Tuesday to revive "American Idol," only a year after the powerhouse music competition aired its 15th and last season on Fox.
The show that dominated television in the 2000s and minted stars like Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson will be back sometime during the next TV season. That season starts in September, but the return of "Idol" will likely come later. Fox generally premiered each new season in January.
ABC, which agreed with producers FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment on the reboot, released few details, including whether longtime host Ryan Seacrest will return.
"American Idol" was television's No. 1 series for nine years, peaking with 30 million viewers an episode in 2006. By its last season the average audience had dipped to 11 million and skewed older, and NBC's "The Voice" surpassed it in popularity. Still, in today's television world, an audience of 11 million would rank it among TV's top 20 shows.
"'American Idol' is a pop-culture staple that left the air too soon," said Channing Dungey, ABC entertainment president. "ABC is the right home to re-ignite the fan base."
In "Dancing With the Stars," ABC already has a competition show that has remained popular while primarily attracting older viewers.
Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban were the judges when "American Idol" went off the air. The show's iconic judges were the first: villain Simon Cowell, his sparring partner Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.
ABC recently hired Seacrest to be co-host with Kelly Ripa on the daytime talk show "Live," so he's already in the corporate family – although "Live" is shot in New York and "Idol" is California-based. Seacrest, on the talk show Monday, said he had only learned of the revival last week when he read a news story about it and made a call.
"I said at the end of the series, 'goodbye for now,' hoping that somewhere it would come back," Seacrest said.
He played coy when Ripa encourage him to return as host.
"Whatever you want," he joked. "You're my work wife. I say 'yes' and bow to you."
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More