‘American Idol’ To End In 2016

Carl Williott | May 11, 2015 7:23 am

The next season of American Idol will be its last. FOX made the announcement while unveiling its end-of-year schedule this morning (May 11) and tweeted that season 15 of Idol, which premieres in January 2016, will serve as the show’s farewell run.

American Idol XV will bring back judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr., plus original host Ryan Seacrest will be going down with the ship. EW reports that the show’s last hurrah will pay tribute to past seasons, which we hope means a Simon CowellPaula Abdul reunion. And surely Idol will take the farewell as an opportunity to bring back stars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson to prove the series really “meant something.”

The end of Idol isn’t surprising (maybe it’s surprising to the loyal fans who are still watching?) considering the one-time juggernaut’s declining ratings in recent seasons. This year’s premiere was the new lowest-rated Idol premiere, and the show averaged a series low of 11.6 million viewers per episode — compared to its ratings peak of 36 million viewers for the 2006 season finale.

As we know, American Idol has always been about the numbers, and it’s hard to argue with the results this time.