The revival of “American Idol” on ABC is landing exclusively on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom, which producer FremantleMedia says is a first.
Under the terms of the deal, new episodes of “American Idol” will air two days after they show in the United States.
“American Idol has launched to fantastic ratings on ABC in the US and we are excited that Amazon Prime Video will become the exclusive home of the new series in the U.K. with this unique deal. 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,” said Jamie Lynn, executive vice president and head of sales and distribution in EMEA for FremantleMedia International.
The deal with Amazon Prime in the U.K. comes amid several other international distribution deals just set by company. The new global agreements include CTV (Canada), Foxtel (Australia), Canal Sony (Latin America), MNET (Africa), SIC (Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa), Intervision (Greece), Three (New Zealand), Fjarskipti (Iceland), Novalifε (Greece), Sia All Media (Lithuania), Marjan Television (Farsi-speaking MENA), beIN (MENA) and beIN Series Home&Entertainment (Turkey).
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The new season of “American Idol,” premiering on ABC after airing on Fox for 15 seasons. The Sunday premiere opened with a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49 ad 10.3 million viewers. But on Monday when “Idol” went head to head with NBC’s “The Voice,” the revival dropped to a 1.8 rating and 8.4 million viewers while “The Voice” racked up 11.7 million viewers.