American Idol moving production from Los Angeles to Georgia

American Idol is relocating its production from Los Angeles to the Atlanta area in Georgia for its 25th season. Fremantle, the show’s producer, confirmed the move, which is expected to result in a premiere in early 2027.

Industry analysts point to Georgia’s lucrative tax incentive program as a primary driver for the relocation. Georgia offers up to a 30% tax credit for unscripted and reality productions that spend at least $500,000 in the state. While California recently expanded its own film and television tax credits to include certain unscripted content, the state’s requirements are more restrictive, applying only to large-scale competition shows with minimum budgets of $1 million per episode.

The departure marks a significant trend in the decline of unscripted television production in Los Angeles. Data from FilmLA indicates that unscripted production in the city has fallen 62.7% over the last five years. The move follows similar relocations by other major programs, such as The Masked Singer moving to New Jersey and Shark Tank moving to Atlanta.