'American Idol' to return to TV on ABC
— -- “American Idol” is returning to TV.
ABC announced today it is bringing back the long-running music competition series for the 2017-2018 season.
The show’s host and judges will be announced at a later date, the network said in a news release.
“’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” ended its 15-season run on Fox in April 2016 with a star-studded finale that saw past winners, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson, take the stage.
Trent Harmon was named the winner of the 15th and final season of “American Idol” on Fox.
Details of the new “American Idol,” including where it will be filmed, remain unknown. The longtime host of “American Idol,” Ryan Seacrest, 42, was recently announced as the new co-host of “Live With Kelly and Ryan" with Kelly Ripa. The talk show is filmed in New York City.
Seacrest, who was based in Los Angeles during the "American Idol” run, said he will live in New York during the week and then fly back home to Los Angeles for the weekends.
Seacrest, who hosted Fox’s “American Idol” for all 15 seasons, raised speculation that the show would go on in his goodbye to fans at the series finale.
Seacrest ended the show by uttering his famous phrase, "And one more time -- this is so tough -- we say to you from Hollywood, goodnight, America."
Then he added, "for now."
Seacrest addressed the rumors of the show’s return Monday on "Live With Kelly and Ryan," saying he didn’t know until last week that “American Idol” was possibly being revived on ABC.
ABC is bringing "American Idol" back to TV with producers FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment, a division of CORE Media Group.
ABC and ABC News are both part of parent company Disney.
ABC News' Michael Rothman and George Costantino contributed to this report.
