In its 13th season, 'American Idol' is still a huge moneymaker

In its 13th season, 'American Idol' is still a huge moneymaker 

Even with an audience decline and big salaries being paid to judge Jennifer Lopez and host Ryan Seacrest, Fox's reality competition is far from singing the blues

   

KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES

Jennifer Lopez gets a mega-salary as a judge on "American Idol," but it doesn't put a dent in the show's bottom line.

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After 13 years, you’d think “American Idol” would be singing its swan song by now. But for Fox, it’s still raining pennies from heaven.

There have been a string of reports that “Idol” will actually lose money for the first time in its history this season. Such reports attribute the tragic news to the alleged $15 million salaries the show pays host Ryan Seacrest and judge Jennifer Lopez.

“Idol” is an old show and has been hurt over the years by the loss of Simon Cowell, and then especially by last season’s nonsensical rivalry between former judges Ni cki Minaj and Mariah Carey.

Worse, many millions of viewers seem to be getting their ­reality competition fix elsewhere — given the success of its rival, NBC’s “The Voice.”

But the notion that Seacrest, J.Lo or anyone else could bankrupt “Idol” is insane.

Sure, “Idol” doesn’t generate the ratings or stacks of cash it did during its heyday, like around 2005. Still, the show basically prints money — and remains among the top 10 most watched shows on TV.

“Idol” is on track to rake in around $578 million in ad revenue this season, according to Daily News calculations.

And that includes its two major sponsors, Coke and Ford, which have their brands integrated into the show. Their deals are estimated to be worth at least $10 million each, although network sources claim that figure is much greater.

That’s a lot of green for a program that’s allegedly going into the red.

RICHARD SHOTWELL/INVISION/AP

"American Idol's" high-paid host, Ryan Seacrest, has been with the show since the beginning.

Granted, there’s a certain downward trend. During the 2012- 13 season, “Idol” reportedly grossed $836 million in ad revenue. This year, the lower ratings reflect a lower gross. But that’s hardly a paltry sum, and not unprofitable as some reports would lead you to believe.

The 56 hours of programming this season cost around $168 million to produce. For fun, let’s throw in Seacrest and J.Lo’s $30 million in combined salaries (their co-stars make much less). Even estimating all that into a price tag for putting the show on the air, “Idol” remains a money machine.

“And you have to take into account the larger ‘halo ­effect’ the show has on the rest of the company,” says an insider, someone familiar with the math ematics behind the singing competition.

That means the “Idol” brand brings real value to Fox, which uses the big platform to incess antly plug its other shows during each broadcast.

In an interview some years ago, Mike Darnell, the network’s former reality chief, noted that “Idol” was designed to be profitable at least through 2016.

And that was even if the program suffered a loss of more than 12 % of its audience.

All of which is still true.

Despite getting moldy, “Idol” could still borrow the theme song from NBC’s “The Apprentice” — “For the Love of Money,” by the O’Jays.