Reality News: Nigel Lythgoe Leaves as Executive Producer of American Idol
Nigel Lythgoe is leaving “American Idol” as the executive producer. Nigel, who also serves as the producer and head judge on “So You Think You Can Dance,” said in a statement that he would “step back from my day-to-day producing work on ‘American Idol’ and will be devoting my time” to a new enterprise with “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller and 19 Entertainment.
Could this be the beginning of the end for “American Idol?” This season, the viewership was down slightly from an average of 30.8 million viewers a night to 28.4 million viewers a night. Those in the business are afraid that Idol’s viewing audience is aging, as last year’s finale ratings had dropped slightly with viewers age 18-49.
While those at Fox are understandably upset by Lythgoe’s departure, they had nice parting words for him – “He is an extraordinarily talented producer whose creative contributions to the No. 1 show on television have been immeasurable.”
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