The reality competition show will enter its 14th season on Jan. 7, but what was once Fox’s biggest success story has recently taken some hits from which it will be hard to bounce back.
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American Idol was a groundbreaking reality show, a singing competition show that hands out golden tickets to Hollywood like Willy Wonka. Fox's show was an instant success, but the high notes that Idol once hit now seem like distant echoes, given its downward trajectory over the last decade.
Thanks to changes at the judges' table, show alterations, and increased competition — particularly from NBC's The Voice — Idol has lost a hold on what made it so addictive. And 13 seasons later, one has to wonder how much longer the show can go on, particularly in light of these developments:
Jan. 15, 2014: AT&T severed ties with Idol.
After 12 years, the telecommunications company withdrew its sponsorship from the show — AT&T had sponsored the show's voting component. The carrier had an agreement with the network that allowed viewers to text in their vote, in addition to or in place of calling a toll-free number. In 2011, AT&T worked with the show to move voting online, allowing viewers to log on to a voting page through their Facebook accounts.
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May 22, 2014: The ratings dropped off a cliff.
The Season 13 finale performed horribly for Fox. The first night, the performance show, only drew 6.6 million viewers, making it Idol's lowest-rated show ever. The second night — which crowned a winner for the season — saw just an uptick to 10.1 million. But despite the night to night increase, it was the smallest viewership of any finale in the show's run. According to the Washington Post, Idol has lost more and more viewers with each finale since 2008. For comparison: At the show's height, during Season 2, it had 38 million people tune into the finale.
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