Amazon Prime UK Takes UK Rights To ‘American Idol’
In an interesting twist, Amazon has picked up the UK rights to the new series of ‘American Idol‘ it has been announced.
The US singing competition was cancelled by Fox in 2016 but re-emerged this year on ABC after a bidding war between the other US networks. The revamped show sees Lionel Richie, Katy Perry andLuke Bryan take over the judging roles whilst Ryan Seacrest retains his part as host.
‘American Idol’ has had a bit of a rough ride on UK TV so far. It originally aired on ITV2 but was then dropped, before turning up on 5Star from season 12. Amazon UK’s deal with FremantleMedia International for the show marks one of the most major unscripted acquisitions for the streaming service so far.
“To see one of the biggest entertainment shows on a streaming service is a not only a first, but testament to the appetite for ‘American Idol’ and will be a whole new way to reach fans of the series,” commented Jamie Lynn, executive VP and head of sales and distribution for EMEA for FremantleMedia International.
The first two episodes of ‘American Idol‘ are available right now on Amazon Prime Video, with new episodes landed every Tuesday after the US Sunday night broadcast.
