No Canadian Idol in 2009

It's a sad day for Canadian Idol fans. And it will be a quiet year.

Canadian Idol will take a "rest" in 2009.

"As a result of the current economic climate, production of Canadian Idol will rest for the 2009 broadcast year," according to an official statement from CTV.

The network has also said the show has not been cancelled and could return in 2010.

Susanne Boyce, President of Creative, Content and Channels, with CTV Inc., said she is 'shocked' by the speed of the economic downturn and that the advertising revenues just weren't there for another season of Idol.

"We're facing serious financial challenges ... Ad revenues have taken a serious dive. We're looking at everything," Boyce told The Canadian Press.

Despite a drop in viewership from the show's early years, Canadian Idol was still a ratings heavyweight with an average of 1.47 million viewers in September.

It is not the first time Idol franchises have taken a rest around the world. The respective shows in Germany and Russia rested in 2005 between Seasons 2 and 3 and in the Netherlands, it rested both in 2005 (between Seasons 2 and 3) and 2007 (between Seasons 3 and 4).

"The light in this for me, anyway, is that around the world this has happened for 'Idol.' Where it's come back it comes back with full force," said Boyce, who hopes Canadian Idol will return as well.

To repeat: Canadian Idol has not been canceled. But until the economic situation changes, we're going to have to watch less expensive programming. Poor Ben. At least he's still got eTalk.

Happy holidays, folks!

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No Canadian Idol in 2009

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