"Idol" producers to run ailing Emmy Awards

By Kimberly Nordyke

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The executive producers of Fox's megahit "American Idol" will work their magic on the Emmy Awards, whose ratings hit their second-lowest level in 16 years last year.

Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick have been named executive producers of the 59th annual Emmycast, airing September 16 on Fox. The show will air live from 8-11 p.m. (with a tape-delay in the Pacific time zone) from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Last year's event, which aired on NBC, drew 16.2 million viewers, down about 13 percent from the previous year. The previous low was 13.8 million in 2004; before that, it was 12.3 million in 1990, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Lythgoe liked the Emmys to an "American Idol" finale.

"The Emmy Awards not only celebrate excellence in television, the Emmy Awards are excellent television: star power, production values, drama, suspense, tears and euphoria, just like an 'American Idol' finale," he said.

"While appreciating the traditional and maintaining the high standards of past Emmy Award ceremonies, we will also be recognizing the ever-changing landscape of today's successful television."

Lythgoe and Warwick's credits also include the U.K.'s "Pop Idol," which spawned "American Idol" and other similar series around the world, and the British series "Gladiators."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter