Monday, June 23, 2014

The disappearance of American Idol

Disney announced today that their Hollywood Studios 'American Idol' attraction would close at the end of 2014 -- before the 14th season of American Idol starts airing on Fox. There is no clearer sign of American Idol's eroding audience than Disney deciding that even the show being on the air wouldn't draw enough people to their attraction. Did you watch American Idol this year? A show that used to be Number One in America sometimes finished second in its time slot to situation comedy reruns. Readers of this blog know that I have long been a big fan of the show, and I barely watched it this past spring. When I did tune in, the show certainly resembled its glory days. There were three judges - two men and a woman.Ryan Seacrest hosted, and the various contestants warbled their way through a series of vintage and modern hits. The show had auditions with good and bad singers, Hollywood week, elimination shows, and everything that Americans always used to watch -- only this past season, they didn't. The ratings for the finale were down 28% over the previous year, and some nights sitcom reruns beat it in the ratings. Because the show had a long way to fall from its lofty perch, Fox renewed the show for a 14th season. Even if you remained a regular viewer, you knew it wasn't the same. No one at the office was talking about the performances, or what the judges said. The contestants weren't on every nightly news show. And the various blogs and online chatter were more likely to talk about contestants on 'The Voice' or 'Dancing With the Stars.' Vote for the Worst, the web site that took credit for keeping Sanjaya on the show week after week, didn't even bother to cover season 13. The creators shut the site down because American Idol was no longer relevant. What happened? Media critics suggested several causes for the show's drop in popularity -- competition from other reality singing shows, boring judges, a series of bland winners, etc. All of these have some validity. However, I believe the reason for the huge drop in ratings is more simple: the audience was bored with the format. They knew that there would be some ridiculous performances during the auditions. They knew there would be heartwarming stories and tension during Hollywood Week. And they knew most contestants would struggle to perform week after week. There were no surprises any more, and a large percentage of the audience moved on. That's a normal part of the cycle of programs. All shows lose audience and end. CBS cancelled the Ed Sullivan Show. Gunsmoke, the longest running dramatic series, eventually rode off into the sunset. These days, creators and networks prefer to create finale episodes, like this year's How I Met Your Mother final show. They provide closure to fans and tie up several story lines. Of course, you as a show creator will want to keep your show running as long as possible without "jumping the shark," a phrase referring to a time when the creators of 'Happy Days' ran out of ideas and had Fonzie water ski over a pool of sharks in a bathing suit and trademark leather jacket. If you've done your best to make your show compelling, and its audience is fading, don't take it personally. Understand that's part of the natural cycle of content, accept it, and move on to the next idea. After all, if your content is good enough it will live on in syndication, international markets, and internet streaming. Just make sure, if you want to remain in the content creation business, you are constantly developing new ideas while your previous idea is still on the network.