American Idol Moves Production From Hollywood to Georgia

American Idol is leaving Los Angeles. Fremantle, the production and distribution company behind the long-running singing competition, confirmed to NBCLA that production will move from Hollywood to Georgia after more than two decades. A deal for a studio in the Atlanta area has not been signed, according to Deadline, but final talks are underway.

The move aligns with Georgia’s film and television tax incentives. The state offers a 20 percent base transferable tax credit plus an additional 10 percent “uplift” for projects that provide promotional value to the state, with a $500,000 minimum spend. Georgia has become one of the busiest shooting locations outside Los Angeles and New York, hosting recent productions including Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, James Gunn’s Superman, and Cape Fear.

The relocation follows a season of geographic experimentation. American Idol wrapped Season 24 in May, with judges Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, and Luke Bryan moving Hollywood Week to Nashville. Contestants also traveled to Hawaii for a special Ohana round, where Hannah Harper won over Jordan McCullough and Keyla Richardson. Last season also marked the show’s first use of social voting, a system that proved difficult to integrate.

For American Idol, the shift signals a broader change in where music television gets made, driven less by tradition than by production economics.