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The New York TimesSignaling that changes might be coming to “American Idol,” one of the original executive producers, Nigel Lythgoe, is expected to return next season, four people with knowledge of the negotiations said this week.
Mr. Lythgoe’s imminent return renewed speculation in the television business about who will be cast to replace Simon Cowell, the British judge who bid farewell to the singing competition last May.
Mr. Lythgoe’s return also suggests that the changes will not stop at Mr. Cowell’s chair. Amid a gradual decline in the franchise’s ratings, the show’s producers, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, and its distributor, the Fox network, appear willing to implement sweeping changes.
“Everybody is looking at everything right now, which I actually think is really healthy,” said one person involved in the show’s production. “It’s about making the whole show better.”
The people insisted on anonymity because Mr. Lythgoe’s return had not been announced and because other changes to the show had not been decided upon. There is likely to remain a veil of silence about the future of “Idol” for several more weeks; Fox is eying early September for an announcement about the judges panel.
America’s No. 1 reality show, “Idol” pulled in 25.2 million viewers on Tuesday nights and 23.6 million viewers on Wednesday nights during the ninth season, which ended in May. But like most aging television shows, its audience is eroding and the median age of its viewers is getting older. A desire to turn around the ratings is adding pressure to the deliberations by the “Idol” producers.
Mr. Lythgoe helped to bring the “Idol” format to America from Britain in 2002. He was an executive producer on the series until 2008, when he departed, saying at the time that he needed to concentrate on another Fox show, “So You Think You Can Dance,” which he produces and judges.
His return — which is expected to be finalized later this week — is tied to the long-simmering tensions between FremantleMedia, which handles the TV production, and 19 Entertainment, which administrates the singing careers of the “Idol” stars. He and the “Idol” creator Simon Fuller are a part of 19 Entertainment, a unit of a company called CKX.
The other executive producers, Cecile Frot-Coutaz and Ken Warwick, work for Fremantle. They will remain in their positions.
Mr. Warwick did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night, but he told The Wrap that Mr. Lythgoe “will return as CKX’s representative on the show.” Seeming to counter initial reports that Mr. Lythgoe would take charge and reboot “Idol,” Mr. Warwick added, “he will most certainly not be taking over the ’reins’ of the production.”
One person involved in the show’s production likened the return of Mr. Lythgoe to a “very dysfunctional family reunion.”
The show’s other judges are currently Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres. Rumored replacements for Mr. Cowell have included Elton John, Chris Issak and Harry Connick, Jr., The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news of Mr. Lythgoe’s return Tuesday night, said Tuesday that Justin Timberlake was also on Mr. Fuller’s “wish list.”
Fox, Freemantle and 19 Entertainment all declined to comment Wednesday.
With changes probable on the horizon, the mini-industry that has crept up around “Idol” is trying to re-assert itself heading into the tenth season. Fox said in a news release last week that 16,000 people attended the first “Idol” audition in Nashville on July 17. The network said “more than 10,000″ attended the second audition in Milwaukee on July 21.
The news release included a statement from Mr. Fuller that “these attendance figures are significantly up on the last few years, and there is clearly renewed excitement and interest in the show, which is great to see.”
