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American Idol Officially Getting Revived at ABC

Did you miss it?

liam-mathews
Liam Mathews

That didn't take long.

Just over a year after it supposedly took its final curtain call, singing competition show American Idolis getting revived at ABC.

The revival was announced Tuesday morning during Good Morning America. The details are still being determined -- there's no panel of judges or showrunner in place yet. The host is still undetermined, but newly-minted ABC personality Ryan Seacrest's co-host Kelly Ripa would love for him to return.

ABC won a bidding war with Fox, which had originally canceled the series, to get the rights to the show. NBC was also interested at one point. The show will retain its original producers, FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment.

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Ryan Seacrest, La'Porsha Renae and Trent Harmon, American Idol

Ray Mickshaw/FOX

"American Idol is a pop culture staple that left the air too soon," Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, said in a statement. "ABC is the right home to reignite the fan base. We are thrilled viewers will once again share in these inspiring stories of people realizing their dreams."

American Idol originally ran for 15 seasons from 2002 to 2016 and launched the careers of stars like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. It was the top-rated show on TV for eight straight seasons, and at its peak in 2006 averaged 36.4 million viewers per episode. But ratings declined in recent years, and by the final season was averaging 9.1 million viewers a week -- which is still a strong showing in the contemporary ratings era. Thus, American Idol is coming back.