American Idol is coming back for a 25th season, ABC confirmed on Wednesday. Fifteen of those seasons aired on Fox.
The network is billing it as a landmark anniversary season on ABC and Disney+, with auditions opening in under a month.
The Season Count Is Doing Some Work
American Idol premiered on Fox in 2002 and ran there for 15 seasons before it was cancelled in 2016. ABC revived it in 2018 and has generally counted its own run separately, referring to the season that just wrapped as Season 9 rather than Season 24.
Calling the next one Season 25, as Deadline noted, quietly folds the Fox years back into the official history. It is a reasonable trade if the alternative is letting a silver anniversary pass unmarked, and it hands the season an obvious hook.
How To Audition
Auditions begin Tuesday, August 25 through Idol Across America, the live virtual tour the show has used for several years. Dates cover all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and the first round is run by producers rather than the celebrity judges. Singers who impress move to the judges’ round later in the cycle.
Contenders can take any Idol Across America slot regardless of which state they live in. Open calls are available for anyone who misses their own state’s date, and video submissions are accepted for those who cannot attend in person.
There is an age window at both ends. Contestants must be at least 15 by February 15, 2027, and the official audition portal requires a birth date on or after June 2, 1997, which puts the ceiling around 29. ABC’s full announcement is here.
Coming Off A Strong Year
The renewal is not a surprise. The most recent season opened to 6.22 million viewers, the show’s biggest premiere in four years, and it managed that while changing several things at once. Idol moved off Sunday nights to Mondays, introduced live social voting for the first time, and relocated Hollywood Week to Nashville. The single weekly Monday airing gave the show its strongest Monday performance among total viewers since the 2021-22 season.
Fremantle and 19 Entertainment produce, with Megan Michaels Wolflick continuing as showrunner. When the live shows begin, the season streams live on Disney+ as it did this year. The announcement centred on auditions rather than talent, so the judges’ panel was not addressed. Ryan Seacrest has hosted since 2002 and is the only original figure still attached.
No premiere date has been set. Idol has typically launched in February on ABC, with the most recent season arriving slightly earlier at the end of January, so early 2027 is the safe expectation. Disney+ continues to matter more to the company’s live programming, and the platform has performed well for its biggest brands, with Toy Story alone driving 60 million hours of viewing ahead of its latest sequel.
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