Idol 2.0

[Kromm]

Simon Fuller has dropped hints in a few places that he's going back on this being the end of Idol.
 

'American Idol' Creator Simon Fuller: The Show "Will Be Coming Back for Sure"

 

It's worth noting that Seacrest ended the finale with "Goodbye... for now". A distinct contrast to how he was talking about the last episode even a few weeks ago.

 

My bet? They wait till there are signs that The Voice's ratings are sliding and bring Idol back the next Fall after that. It could be 2 years. It could be 15. Who knows?

 

Or not. When do YOU think Idol will be back?  

 

Also feel free to discuss how, if at all the format could be changed and not simply be the same as it was for 15 years, or copying The Voice instead.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by Kromm

[ketchuplover]

Opening scene is Brian Dunkleman center stage.  Ryan Seacrest starts walking on.  Dunkleman shouts Seacrest out !!.  Seacrest immediately turns and walks out. 

[TheGreenKnight]

Yeah, I'm guessing they'll wait until The Voice is starting to fall before they come back or they return every 3 years or something. I doubt it'll be successful. Watching TV today, I thought some talkshows might talk about Idol's last night, but it's like it's already dead and gone, and nobody cares.

[ari333]

TV has changed so much and there are a gazillion channels and then there's  Netflix and  others. The competition for peoples' attention  is hard. But it wont shock me if they try to come back next year. Yeah, I know, but it wont shock me.

[Kromm]

My new theory is that if Idol comes back, what I could see happening is making it it's own App. The App being the Interface for both viewing the show AND voting.

 

The logic being that they'd want the show to be free (so it would be the "free streaming service" choice in the poll above), but they'd also want to be able to serve their own ads, totally under their own control. compile their own viewer polling/targeting (especially if you have to register the app to do the voting part of it), but also have, and control right there, value added services. For example, selling singles of the songs right from the same app as well, while they watch (the actual purchases probably being via the Apple and Google Play music stores, but front ended from this app). Thus creating impulse buys, as well as being able to lace ads for the music that surround the frame of the video player at all times. Tour tickets could be sold this way too. And yes, stuff like Ford and Coke ads, both in commercial breaks and in the app frame itself.  And I imagine video submissions to be on the show too, and fan community/social media billboarding, all done from the same place inside the app.

 

Commoditizing the show even better has to be the final frontier, doesn't it?

 

They've probably have to extend the voting window. Serve each episode up on the App on Day 1, and have it be a vote-able episode for a set number of days. 

[JMarie99]

GreenKnight, I agree that Idol will return when The Voice starts to drop in ratings, and I totally believe that will happen. Voice was a novelty at first but as far as I can tell they haven't produced any major stars. Of course I'm biased because I have tried to watch that show and I really dislike it. I disagree with your statement that TV ignored the Idol finale. I had the TV on during parts of today and I saw two major segments on it. One was on the Today Show, and I don't recall the second one because I had the TV on while I was doing other things and I wasn't paying attention. But it definitely got some notice. The Today Show segment was cute because Carson Daly who is on The Voice was giving major props to Idol for starting the whole thing.

[TVFan17]

I'm uncertain as to what I would want from an Idol reboot.  I can tell you one thing that I don't want -- an Idol with only young kids (like the new season of SYTYCD).  Nothing against kids, but when I see a bunch of youngsters singing I get bored.  That's one reason why I can't deal with America's Got Talent, and it's one reason I didn't like X Factor -- too many young kids. 

 

On the one hand, I am probably a traditionalist and Idol purist who wouldn't really want to see it change in some drastic way.  I've said all along, I don't have a problem with its format or general structure, with the exception of just a few things that could be tweaked.  I don't have a problem with the judges or with Seacrest.  I like the auditions in front of the judges because they are quiet, without a huge audience.  I wouldn't want to see some version of Idol that was totally unrecognizable or weird.

 

On the other hand, the hints about a reboot have indicated that it would target the "next generation," which makes me think that they would be going after young viewers and not the people who used to watch the older version.

 

Star Search tried a comeback too (after Idol debuted and became a huge hit), and then SS 2.0 flopped.  It was just not interesting to a new generation.  People wanted American Idol at that point. 

 

The Voice was an even bigger hit at one time (bigger than it is now, I think) -- because people had kind of outgrown Idol and wanted something different.  I watched The Voice for the first several seasons and then just stopped.  Too many judge switch-ups.  I hated the silly rounds where the contestants sang in what looked like a boxing ring.  I didn't hear a lot of constructive feedback from the judges immediately after the performances -- it was more just complimentary stuff -- but I think the real "help" came in the mentoring sessions.  I stuck with Idol the whole time and eventually ditched The Voice completely.  Now I hear that, apparently, Adam Levine is leaving the show after whatever season they are on now -- his bromance with Blake Shelton was one of the ONLY reasons to watch that show.  So if he isn't even going to be there, and it's down to Blake, Christina, Pharrell and Miley Cyrus or whatever ridiculous name was added into the mix, I don't think I could even watch it now that Idol is gone!

Edited April 9, 2016 by Sherry67

[queenanne]

I'm uncertain as to what I would want from an Idol reboot.  I can tell you one thing that I don't want -- an Idol with only young kids (like the new season of SYTYCD).  Nothing against kids, but when I see a bunch of youngsters singing I get bored.  That's one reason why I can't deal with America's Got Talent, and it's one reason I didn't like X Factor -- too many young kids. 

 

On the one hand, I am probably a traditionalist and Idol purist who wouldn't really want to see it change in some drastic way.  I've said all along, I don't have a problem with its format or general structure, with the exception of just a few things that could be tweaked.  I don't have a problem with the judges or with Seacrest.  I like the auditions in front of the judges because they are quiet, without a huge audience.  I wouldn't want to see some version of Idol that was totally unrecognizable or weird.

 

On the other hand, the hints about a reboot have indicated that it would target the "next generation," which makes me think that they would be going after young viewers and not the people who used to watch the older version.

 

Star Search tried a comeback too (after Idol debuted and became a huge hit), and then SS 2.0 flopped.  It was just not interesting to a new generation.  People wanted American Idol at that point. 

 

The Voice was an even bigger hit at one time (bigger than it is now, I think) -- because people had kind of outgrown Idol and wanted something different.  I watched The Voice for the first several seasons and then just stopped.  Too many judge switch-ups.  I hated the silly rounds where the contestants sang in what looked like a boxing ring.  I didn't hear a lot of constructive feedback from the judges immediately after the performances -- it was more just complimentary stuff -- but I think the real "help" came in the mentoring sessions.  I stuck with Idol the whole time and eventually ditched The Voice completely.  Now I hear that, apparently, Adam Levine is leaving the show after whatever season they are on now -- his bromance with Blake Shelton was one of the ONLY reasons to watch that show.  So if he isn't even going to be there, and it's down to Blake, Christina, Pharrell and Miley Cyrus or whatever ridiculous name was added into the mix, I don't think I could even watch it now that Idol is gone!

 

Are the teens seen as those voting through the WGWG's, though?  Has it been established?  If so, I don't see how this re-iteration would help in giving them an entity with a bigger ratings juggernaut.  Just a different day, same problems.

 

Also, I wonder if the/any Voice slide will attach itself to Levine's disappearance?  I've often felt he was like the Cowell of the operation to the contestants, and one of the best and funniest covert, taciturn parts, is always watching the contestants/friends and family on the edge of their seat hoping and wishing that Adam likes/chooses the contestants.  I don't think they yearn after any of the other judge-mentors with the same earnestness.

[TVFan17]

Are the teens seen as those voting through the WGWG's, though?  Has it been established?  If so, I don't see how this re-iteration would help in giving them an entity with a bigger ratings juggernaut.  Just a different day, same problems.

 

Also, I wonder if the/any Voice slide will attach itself to Levine's disappearance?  I've often felt he was like the Cowell of the operation to the contestants, and one of the best and funniest covert, taciturn parts, is always watching the contestants/friends and family on the edge of their seat hoping and wishing that Adam likes/chooses the contestants.  I don't think they yearn after any of the other judge-mentors with the same earnestness.

 

I am not clear on when exactly Adam Levine is leaving, but it is supposed to be after this current season, isn't it?  I am so lost on what's going on with The Voice!

 

My personal feeling is that ratings will drop a bit whenever Adam leaves.   I could be wrong, but I think he is a huge part of the success of the show.  Girls like him.   I am not shocked that he would want to leave -- I remember him telling Howard Stern a couple of years back that he didn't like how the winners are handled after they're done with The Voice.  American Idol has its problems and not all of the Idol winners are happy with their post-Idol record company red tape, but the picture that Adam painted of The Voice was basically that the winners are kind of abandoned after the season ends... and that they don't have the right people looking after them, guiding them in the right direction, taking their best interests into consideration, etc.

 

Another reason why I got tired of The Voice is that it is on way too much.  There are two full seasons of it every year, whereas American Idol was always only one season every year -- January to May (except for this year).  Idol was easy to keep track of.  I always knew when it would be on.  With The Voice, it seemed like at one point it was on in the summer.  Then it debuted after the Super Bowl in one year.  Now it seems to be on in the spring and in the fall.  It's too much.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Sherry67

[BogoGog24]

Like others, I think Idol will return once The Voice is off the air, whenever that will be. Once the air is clear of singing shows and people start to miss it, that's when I think it will creep up again.

 

As for what format, Simon did say he wants to bring it into the "digital age," which could mean anything. Rising Star tried to do that with having real-time voting, apps, and all that stuff and it didn't really work. A lot of people do have Netflix but I'm not sure how putting it on there would work either because don't they usually release an entire season at once? And it wouldn't be live either. I think it would return to FOX, especially since other than Empire they really don't have any successful programming. 

[TVFan17]

Like others, I think Idol will return once The Voice is off the air, whenever that will be. Once the air is clear of singing shows and people start to miss it, that's when I think it will creep up again.

 

As for what format, Simon did say he wants to bring it into the "digital age," which could mean anything. Rising Star tried to do that with having real-time voting, apps, and all that stuff and it didn't really work. A lot of people do have Netflix but I'm not sure how putting it on there would work either because don't they usually release an entire season at once? And it wouldn't be live either. I think it would return to FOX, especially since other than Empire they really don't have any successful programming. 

 

He also said he'd like to bring humor back to the show.  When I read that I wondered what he meant.  Does he mean bring back the terrible auditions?  The show isn't exactly somber -- except for when we are learning about the hardships some of the contestants have had to go through -- and there are enough lighthearted, funny moments anyway.  I don't need a comedy show.

 

I think Simon said that he'd like to go back to putting the focus on the contestants... which, in my mind, is another way of saying that he doesn't want such high-profile and expensive judges.

 

I truly think that Idol had a formula that fundamentally worked, and just needed some tweaks here and there -- but not necessarily a complete overhaul.  (I know others disagree and think the entire show needed to change.)  I fear they are going to try to get too ambitious and adventurous with it, when it might be better to just let the show rest in peace.

 

I think the real issues/problems were having seasons where the talent was not too strong, and also the audience growing up, moving on and getting tired of talent shows in general.  (The Voice having 2 seasons a year contributed a lot to the oversaturation.)

 

People got excited about The Voice for a while because of the chairs.  The rotating chairs and blind auditions were fun at first.  Also, people wanted to rave about The Voice being all about singing and nothing to do with looks or image, while pointing an accusing finger at American Idol for being too focused on image and physical looks and presentation.  But I saw plenty of people who were not supermodels on American Idol over the years, and I saw plenty of people who were very good-looking on The Voice. 

 

The auditions for the 2 shows may be handled differently (blind vs. not blind), but at the end of the day, when the performers are performing, the audiences at home will be assessing whether or not they can sing and whether or not they look like too much of a hot mess that can't be polished up at all.  That doesn't mean that someone has to weigh 88 pounds and have perfectly coiffed hair, but the singers have to look presentable enough in whatever style they have adopted for themselves (girl next door, grunge, emo, crooner, goth, hippie, etc.), so they at least seem like they are putting in effort towards their image.  

[Kromm]

Rising Star is an interesting comparison, but probably a flawed one. Firstly, Rising Star entered a flooded market.  Even timed to a part of the year that ducked most of the Season of the other shows, people just had Music Show fatigue.

 

Secondly, Rising Star still depended on the "appointment TV" concept. True there was an app, but the app didn't unchain viewers from having to be there and watching at a specific time and place.

 

The next logical step would seem to be either a totally app-fronted approach, OR an app/streaming service combo that uses a "voting window" approach. In other words, you can view the episode for all eternity, but the voting window is a certain series of days from the premiere onward. 

 

In terms of Netflix, Amazon, etc. those are still viable. Just because they tend to release entire seasons at a time doesn't mean that's the ONLY way they can release shows. They're just as capable, technologically, of releasing one episode at a time if the product demands it. They don't in general because they want a market differentiation between them and "normal" TV, that's all. But when "normal" TV is dying/all but gone? Episodic releases that make sense as such will return via those services. And frankly, YouTube (one possible free platform for a show) already does things that way if you think about it, and actually I think Yahoo and their streaming shows (there are only a few) tend to do timed episodic releases too.

Anyway, the point is that the show might not need Fox anymore. I guess it depends on statistics we, the general public probably don't have easy access to, if those older viewers who'd only watch "normal" television spend enough money on advertisers products to not lose them.