Entertainment

ABC’s ‘American Idol’ Introduces Live Social Voting, Becomes First Reality Competition To Take The Leap

January 22, 2026

American Idol: Ryan Seacrest, Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan Disney/Gizelle Hernandez EXCLUSIVE: ABC is ruining the narrative that long-running reality competition series are declining, highlighted by the recent success of Season 34 of Dancing with the Stars. American Idol also received a huge boost with its last season; Season 23 of the show (the eighth season to air on ABC after it moved from Fox) received 26 million votes in its finale, breaking its own record and more than doubling the previous season’s finale. The talent competition is now exploring new ways to exploit this and has come up with a new way for fans to vote: using social media.

American Idol

Credit: Deadline

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This comes on top of a number of other changes planned for the upcoming season, which moves to a new night on ABC, eschewing Hollywood for Nashville and introducing a new round set in Hawai‘i.
Watch on Deadline Related Stories Casting ‘American Idol’: Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie & Carrie Underwood Return As Judges For Season 9 On ABC, Host Ryan Seacrest Expected To Join Them News Disney Is Building Its Own Reality Universe With Hot, Young Talent.
Can It Rival The Bravoverse?
During the middle of Season 23, as the show is opening up auditions for next season, showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick sat down with her team to figure out what’s next.
“There’s always an immense amount of pressure regarding how we level up.

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ABC’s ‘American Idol’ Introduces Live Social Voting, Becomes First Reality Competition To Take The Leap

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ABC’s ‘American Idol’ Introduces Live Social Voting, Becomes First Reality Competition To Take The Leap

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