‘American Idol’ Parent Company Files For Bankruptcy

American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance parent company Core Media Group has filed for bankruptcy.

‘Idol’ Parent Company Bankrupt

Core Media Group filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday, claiming in the filing that it needs to reorganize its debts, reported The Hollywood Reporter. According to the filing, while Core Media Group has $73 million in assets, it has debts in excess of $512 million. It also only has about $10 million in cash on hand. Much of the debt is due to American Idol hemorrhaging money over the last few years. For instance, between 2013 and 2014, the show’s earnings dropped $15 million.

American Idol‘s ratings have steadily decreased in recent years, with just 13.3 million viewers tuning in for the show’s star-studded finale. While that number might be impressive for some shows, it was a pitiable number for a program that used to haul in more than 30 million viewers an episode. Due to the ratings drop, Idol lost Coke and AT&T as main sponsors and saw the closure of the American Idol Experience attraction at Walt Disney World.

Simon Fuller, American Idol‘s creator, is owed $3.37 million. Core Media Group also owes money to Sony Music Entertainment and the Fox Network in addition to other music labels and law firms.

“Despite its long-running success, however, the company has recently experienced deterioration in its financial performance, primarily attributable to the decline in ratings for American Idol and the corresponding decline in revenues from IDOLS- related broadcast fees, international tape sales for rebroadcasts, touring fees, sponsorships and IDOLS- related merchandise sales,” according to a declaration by Core President Peter Hurwitz in support of the filing.