‘American Idol’ is packing up Hollywood and heading across the country.
The long-running singing competition is relocating its production from Los Angeles to the greater Atlanta area ahead of its milestone 25th season. Fremantle, which co-produces the series alongside Sony Pictures Television’s 19 Entertainment, confirmed the major move to Deadline.
A primary driver behind the exit is Georgia’s lucrative tax incentive program, which offers up to a 30% tax credit for unscripted and reality television productions that spend a minimum of $500,000 in the state, the news outlet reported.
The high-profile relocation marks the latest blow to unscripted TV production in Los Angeles, an industry segment that has been suffering for a prolonged period.
According to FilmLA data reported by The Wrap, local unscripted production dropped sharply in the second quarter, with reality TV shoot days plunging 40% year-over-year. While overall television filming saw a quarter-over-quarter uptick, unscripted production in Los Angeles has plummeted 62.7% against its five-year average, according to the organization.
The departure follows a similar exit earlier this year in May, when Fox Entertainment Studios announced it would no longer produce ‘The Masked Singer.’ Eureka Productions took over the series and moved operations to New Jersey to take advantage of the state’s tax incentive program, which offers a 30% tax credit on qualified expenses and up to 40% on specific studio projects.
Although California recently expanded its tax incentive program under AB 1138 to cover unscripted series for the first time, the state restricted eligibility strictly to large-scale competition shows with per-episode budgets exceeding $1 million.
