After 15 seasons, Fox has decided to cancel American Idol. Since Simon Cowell’s departure in 2010, ratings have continued to decline. Despite the 11 million viewers still watching the series, Fox has commented that the costs and salaries for the cast are too expensive to keep going – even though it is reported that the judges took a salary cut to return for the 15th season.

Over the past year, Fox has found new found success with scripted programs like Empire and Gotham. Therefore, the network is not as dependent on American Idol for ratings.

While American Idol is famous for discovering chart-topping artists like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert – it has been nearly a decade since an award winning artists has emerged.

The series has received as many as 31.1 million viewers in 2006 when Carrie Underwood was discovered. And there is no doubt that American Idol will be remembered as one of Fox’s greatest series – especially considering the copycat shows that emerged after Idol’s success. Without Idol’s fame and fortune there may have been no Voice, X-Factor, or Lip Sync Battle.