“American Idol” Live Shows To Stream On Disney+
Disney has announced that its popular singing competition series, “American Idol” will be following the success of “Dancing With The Stars” and will also stream live on Disney+ in the United States.
“American Idol” is the iconic series that revolutionised the television landscape by pioneering the music competition genre. Helping determine who America will ultimately vote to become the next singing sensation is music industry forces and superstar judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, and Emmy Award-winning host and producer Ryan Seacrest hosts the beloved competition series.
The live shows return on March 30th 2026, and it will stream live at 8pm on Disney+, alongside its traditional broadcast on ABC, which will expand the reach of the franchise and allow the show to connect with new audiences. Episodes will also be available the next day on Hulu and Hulu On disney+.
It’s also been announced that the “‘American Idol’ Official Podcast” will also debut on Disney+ and Hulu, coinciding with the start of the “American Idol” live shows. Each week, the podcast will dive deeper into America’s most iconic music competition series, exploring the performances everyone’s talking about, and offering exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes insights, and expert analysis of the judges’ critiques
The “American Idol” Season 9 premiere drove more video views than any other premiere episode in the 2025-2026 TV season.
“American Idol” is produced by Fremantle and 19 Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television. Executive producers include Megan Wolflick, also serving as showrunner, with Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman serving as executive producers for 19 Entertainment. Fremantle distributes the series worldwide.
Roger’s Take: I think it’s a great idea to get “American Idol” out to a larger audience via Disney+, though I don’t understand why they didn’t just start doing this from the beginning of the new season. Disney needs to stop thinking of linear and streaming as two different platforms, and do this more often, its worked for “Dancing With The Stars”, so why not “American Idol”?
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