American Idol Officially Revived at ABC, Ryan Seacrest Back as Host?

After weeks of rumors, ABC finally made it official Tuesday morning: The network is reviving American Idol next season.

ABC outbid Idol‘s original network Fox to secure the right to revive the franchise, which ended its storied 15-season run in 2016.

“‘American Idol on ABC…that has a nice ring to it,” said Ben Sherwood, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney|ABC in a statement. “Idol is an entertainment icon, and now it will air where it belongs, in ABC’s lineup of addictive fan favorites alongside Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor. America, get ready for the return of a bigger, bolder and better-than-ever Idol.”

Although the judging panel is expected to undergo an extreme makeover, one familiar face is expected to stay put: Newly-installed Live co-anchor Ryan Seacrest is reportedly being eyed to return as host.

As TVLine’s own Matt Mitovich noted on Twitter last week, the singing competition’s lowest-rated, least-watched season would rank No. 2 on ABC right now (behind The Bachelor in the demo, and trailing DWTS in viewers).

#AmericanIdol‘s lowest-rated season would be ABC’s #2-rated (behind Bachelor), #2-most watched program (behind DWTS) right now.

— Matt Mitovich (@MattMitovich) May 6, 2017

ABC isn’t saying where on its schedule American Idol will live, but speculation has the singing competition landing on Sunday nights. We’ll get a definitive answer next week when the network formally unveils its 2017-18 schedule.

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