Realizing 'Idol' Dreams

By Meg James

Jan. 12, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

“American Idol” unfolds with youthful innocence as wide-eyed, underdog contestants try to beat the odds -- and a snarling judge -- to make it big.

The concept behind the hit show, which begins its third season on Fox Broadcasting Co. next week, has minted more than $2 billion worldwide. But initially, “Idol” wasn’t even going to be on TV.

Five years ago, British entrepreneur Simon Fuller, who managed the careers of the Spice Girls and the Eurythmics’ Annie Lennox, had the idea of tailoring a talent show for the Internet, where computer users around the world could discover and select their new favorites. Back then, though, the Internet wasn’t taking off fast enough for Fuller.

So he approached FremantleMedia, Europe’s largest independent TV production firm, and made his pitch: The contest would be decided not by a panel of judges but by millions of television viewers. The audience would embrace the artists, buy their CDs and jam their concerts.

“By empowering the viewers you create markets for the singers,” Fuller said Friday. “It’s a very simple idea. You deliver an artist that the public already loves and supports.”

No one -- with the exception of Fuller -- dreamed it would work so well.

What began nearly three years ago as “Pop Idol” in Britain has spread to more than two dozen countries. Fremantle has aired localized versions of the show in the U.S., France, Finland, Poland, Russia and Kazakhstan. “Idol” is now headed to Singapore, and Fuller and Fremantle executives plan to continue lobbying Chinese officials later this week in an effort to take the show there.

In China, the prospect of a contest that allows the masses to elect a winner is politically sensitive. Perhaps for good reason: In the Middle East, when a popular Lebanese contestant was eliminated, fans rioted outside the Beirut production studios. And when a Jordanian teen narrowly won over a Syrian, there was speculation that the vote might have been rigged.

“Idol” has been a smash on Fox, which is owned by News Corp. In May, more than 38 million people saw the finale, making it one of the most-watched shows for the season. That was quite a feat, particularly since “American Idol” almost didn’t make it on the air.

In fact, if it hadn’t been for News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his daughter, it just might have been just another concept tossed on top of the TV trash heap of would-be shows.

Back in the fall of 2001, Creative Artists Agency executives representing Fuller were shopping the show to networks, with little success. ABC executives refused to even meet with CAA reps, and little interest was expressed by executives at the other networks, including some at Fox.

“Initially, Fox was not that excited about it,” recalled Lee Gabler, CAA co-chairman. “They said, ‘We might do six episodes in the summer.’ ”

At first, Fox wanted CAA to deliver a show financed entirely by advertisers. Advertisers balked and the project stalled. Fox didn’t have the millions set aside to buy the rights on its own.

Meanwhile, “Pop Idol” was soaring in popularity in Britain. Elisabeth Murdoch, a television producer in London, told her father about it. And at the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans, Murdoch approached some Fox executives in the network’s hospitality suite with a question: “What’s going on with that show?”

Murdoch was told the network didn’t have enough in its budget to buy the rights -- and poof, that problem was solved.

“All of the sudden, Fox became increasingly excited,” Gabler said.

Fox Advertising President Jon Nesvig summed it up: “Nobody figures anything is going to work quite as well as it sometimes does, because there are few shows that have this kind of breakout success. But ‘American Idol’ surpassed all of our expectations -- from the first episode on.”

This year, Fox ordered more than 40 episodes.

“American Idol” is successful, according to experts, because it works on several levels.

“The show has a lot of emotion. It has heart,” Nesvig said. “And it’s real people trying to succeed. The audience feels in control because they have the power to help these people, and then it just sucks everyone in.”

Simon Cowell, the brutally candid judge whose scathing critiques of mediocre (and often lousy) singers can reduce “American Idol” contestants to tears, was one of the first people Fuller brought into the project. Fuller had known Cowell, a Bertelsmann Music Group executive, for nearly two decades, and the two Simons hashed out the concept over dinner at a London restaurant.

“It’s funny, it’s cruel and there’s good news at the end,” Cowell said. “I’ve always said it’s the musical version of the lions and the Christians.”

Clay Calvert, a Pennsylvania State University communications professor, compared “Idol” to a sporting event. That was the plan: Producers with Fremantle and Fuller’s company, 19TV, carefully crafted the format to engage the audience and gradually build in suspense until a winner is selected.

They also borrowed a page from decades of Olympics broadcasts, shooting mini-profiles of contestants to involve viewers in the singers’ life stories, much like U.S. networks profile athletes.

“We pick a person and root for them, and then there is the whole humiliation and embarrassment factor which draws people in,” Calvert said.

In addition, he said, the contestants, such as last season’s winner, Ruben Studdard, and runner-up Clay Aiken, are ordinary people, allowing the audience to identify with them.

“Neither Clay or Ruben are glamorous, handsome guys, and we can relate to that,” Calvert said.

Fremantle’s president of entertainment in North America, David Lyle, said the television industry had long pondered how to launch interactive TV. Producers figured they would need to offer big prizes to lure people to participate.

“We had thought that we would need greed as a motivation,” Lyle said. “We discovered that the greatest motivation is altruism -- that people care enough about someone else to help transform them into a star.”

Just as Fuller envisioned, viewers not only care enough to vote for singers competing, they also buy their CDs. The sale of more than 7 million records in the U.S. can be traced to “American Idol,” according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Aiken, for example, has sold more than 2.2 million copies of “Measure of a Man.” Studdard’s outing, “Soulful,” is approaching the 1-million mark. The first season winner, Kelly Clarkson, has sold nearly 2 million copies of “Thankful,” and there have been other concoctions, everything from CDs full of patriotic songs and holiday classics to “What the World Needs Now Is American Idol Finalists.”

BMG releases all of the CDs made by “Idol” contestants. Like BMG, Fremantle, which produces the show, is a unit of Bertelsmann, the German media conglomerate.

The show has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Fremantle, and during the last two years “American Idol” has delivered nearly $200 million in profit for Fox and News Corp. Fox executives are banking on “American Idol” again this year to deliver big profits and pull the network out of its ratings hole.

So far, advertising sales have been brisk, with 30-second commercial spots going for as much as $500,000.

Sponsors -- Coca-Cola Co., Ford Motor Co. and AT&T; Wireless -- each have paid the network more than $20 million for their packages, which include commercial spots and prominent placement of their products during the show.

Retailer Old Navy Inc., Procter & Gamble’s Clairol Herbal Essences shampoo and this season’s new entry, Subway Restaurants, each have paid about $10 million for their smaller sponsorship deals.

Advertisers too have benefited. AT&T; Wireless executives say “Idol” has introduced millions of users to its text-messaging service. Last season, users sent 7.5 million votes for show contestants through the wireless system.

Most appealing to advertisers is the show’s young audience. “It has been embraced by the teenaged population, and teenagers have embraced Coca-Cola,” said Dick Patton, a senior brand manager. “There is a realness and intimacy to the show, and it sends a very positive message.”

Because producers want to protect the upbeat and youthful image, some potential advertisers, including drug and beer companies, have been turned away, said Olivier Gers, senior vice president of licensing for FremantleMedia North America.

“A lot of folks have been beating down the door to get in, but we’ve had to say no,” Gers said.

Meanwhile, Fremantle is cashing in by licensing products such as karaoke machines, video games, cellphone faceplates, even perfume sold at J.C. Penney. During the holiday season, Gers said, more than $45 million of “American Idol” merchandise was sold at the retail level.

“American Idol” is becoming a very strong brand,” he said. “We want to maximize what we have but we don’t want to overexpose the brand.”

No one involved -- not Fremantle producers, Fox executives or Fuller and Cowell -- will take the risk of predicting when “Idol’s” star might fade.

“You just put on the funniest, craziest show that you can,” Cowell said, “and the rest is in the lap of the gods.”

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By the numbers

“American Idol” begins its third season Jan. 19 on Fox Broadcasting.

$500,000: The price of a 30-second commercial in the show.

$200 million: Fox’s profit from “American Idol” during the last two seasons.

$45 million: Retail sales during the holidays of “American Idol” merchandise, including karaoke machines, video games and perfume.

7 million: Records sold in the U.S., including:

2.2 million copies of Clay Aiken’s “Measure of a Man”

1.9 million copies of Kelly Clarkson’s “Thankful”