American Idol Expands Its Live Viewing Experience to Disney+
Beginning March 30, American Idol will stream live on Disney+, alongside its traditional ABC broadcast, expanding the franchise’s reach and connecting with new audiences.
The American Idol Official Podcast also debuts on Disney+ and Hulu, coinciding with the start of the live shows. Each week, the podcast will dive deeper into the 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.
American Idol airs live Mondays at 8:00 p.m. on ABC, streams the next day on Hulu, and, beginning March 30, will also stream live on Disney+ in local time zones, in addition to ABC.
American Idol returned for a new season, jumping to 8.27 million Total Viewers and a 1.04 rating among Adults 18-49 after three days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and digital platforms.
In multiplatform viewing, the show rose +20% among Total Viewers versus the previous season premiere (8.27 million vs. 6.88 million) and +7% in Adults 18-49 (1.04 rating vs. 0.97 rating), with the show’s best premiere performance among Total Viewers in four years — since 2/27/22.
Over three linear days, the American Idol season premiere was the No. 1 show of the night on broadcast and cable among both Total Viewers (7.23 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.72 rating), also earning its best premiere performance among Total Viewers in four years — since 2/27/22.
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. The executive producers include Megan Wolflick, who also serves as showrunner, and Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman, who serve as executive producers for 19 Entertainment. Fremantle distributes the series worldwide.
