American Idol Leaving Hollywood

American Idol won't be sending singers to Hollywood next season—and for Los Angeles, that's the problem. After 24 seasons in California, the ABC competition is shifting production to Georgia, a move that one local industry advocate called "a gut punch" to Hollywood's reality TV economy. It's not an isolated move, NBC News reports: Shark Tank is also heading to Georgia, while The Masked Singer has decamped to New Jersey, all chasing richer state tax breaks that Los Angeles can't match for long-running shows.

Already, unscripted production in Los Angeles has plunged, with reality shoot days down nearly 40% year over year and more than 60% over five years, per FilmLA. California recently expanded its tax credits to include reality competitions, but only for new or incoming series; entrenched staples like Idol are shut out. Georgia offers up to a 30% credit, New Jersey up to 40%, and, as one production incentives executive put it, companies "are going to follow the money." For workers in Los Angeles, already bruised by strikes, the pandemic, and a shrinking TV slate, uprooting for eight-week gigs in another state is a tough sell. No format changes are planned for Idol, and judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood expect to return as judges, though Deadline reports their contracts are still being negotiated.