‘American Idol’ is moving its production from Los Angeles to the greater Atlanta area in Georgia for its upcoming 25th season. The relocation was confirmed by Fremantle, a co-producer of the series alongside Sony Pictures Television’s 19 Entertainment.
The primary catalyst for this move is Georgia's substantial tax incentive program, which offers unscripted and reality television productions a tax credit of up to 30% for spending a minimum of $500,000 within the state. This development represents another significant impact on Los Angeles' unscripted television production industry, which has experienced a prolonged downturn.
Data from FilmLA indicates a sharp decline in local unscripted production during the second quarter, with reality TV shoot days decreasing by 40% year-over-year. Although overall television filming saw a slight increase quarter-over-quarter, unscripted production in Los Angeles has fallen by 62.7% compared to its five-year average.
This move by ‘American Idol’ follows a similar shift in May when Fox Entertainment Studios announced the relocation of ‘The Masked Singer.’ Eureka Productions moved that series’ operations to New Jersey, taking advantage of a state incentive program offering a 30% tax credit on qualified expenses, and up to 40% for specific studio projects.
California recently expanded its tax incentive program to include unscripted series, but the eligibility requirements are stringent, with per-episode budgets needing to exceed $1 million for large-scale competition shows. The ‘American Idol’ production previously wrapped its 24th season on May 11, 2026.