Jennifer Lopez’s Salary Helps Put ‘American Idol’ In The Red.

One of the most successful shows in the history of TV is losing serious money this year.
According to TMZ, “American Idol” is going into the red for the first time, thanks in large part to the enormous salaries of their star judges and host. The site reports Jennifer Lopez “gets north of $15 Mil and Ryan Seacrest gets around that amount as well.”


In addition, the singing-competition show is dishing out between $5 and $7 million on a new set and least $5 million on viewer phone calls.
Sources tell TMZ that ratings are the root of “American Idol’s” financial crisis. The hit series is down in ratings by 26% from last season and that translates into lost advertising dollars.

For years “Idol” scored hundreds of millions of dollars in raw profits in a single season.
That said … we’re told the show almost certainly will NOT be cancelled after this season. Sources say it will be back next year, in no small part because FOX cancelled “X Factor” and there would be way too many holes in its primetime schedule if both shows went away.

 When asked about their money woes, FOX had no comment.