An “American Idol” reboot is a no-go, at least for now, despite offers made by both NBC and Fox to bring the show back to the small screen in 2018.
TMZ reported over the weekend that the networks had planned to bring "Idol" back to the air as early as the summer of 2018, but that’s looking less and less likely as the shows’ owners – Freemantle and Core – can’t seem to come to an agreement on which deal to consider.
NBC and Fox have placed offers on the table for "American Idol" – a show that’s created stars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, and Ruben Studdard, the Daily Mail noted.
One problem, though, is that “The Voice” and “American Idol” are two similar shows on NBC, creating competition, not to mention the fact that “The Voice” currently airs twice a year on NBC. Bringing an "Idol" reboot to the network would mean much less airtime for “The Voice.”
According to a TMZ report, Fremantle is trying to persuade Core to agree to take the NBC deal, which would make “America’s Got Talent” (also owned by Fremantle) the center of attention of the three shows that would be in rotation. However, Core feels like that would minimize Idol’s impact, which is why the two companies have been caught up in this “tug-of-war” battle.
If a deal is eventually made, that would bring "Idol" back for a 16th season, just a year after it was taken off the air, the Daily Mail noted.
Reactions to an "American Idol" reboot were mixed on Twitter.