TV watchers go Idol during strike

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Doug Krizner: The strike by film and TV writers is in week 11. Not much new on the tube — unless you’re a fan of American Idol. Tonight, season seven gets underway on Fox. As Lisa Napoli reports, the winner is already clear.

Lisa Napoli: Fox won’t reveal how much cash its cash cow American Idol makes. But industry watchers say it brought in more than $810 million for the network last season — a figure that’ll be even higher this year.

Money is just a part of the equation. There’s not much going on out there in TV land. And Richard Rushfield of the LA Times says Idol’s new season will lure strike-weary viewers.

Richard Rushfield: Already it was twice as big as the next biggest show in America.

Media Analyst Jack Myers says all those Idol fans may get tempted by other programs offered up by Fox.

Jack Myers: They have Prison Break and the Terminator, both very popular shows that will probably be more popular because of the strike.

Even without idol, Fox’s prime-time viewing has been up, while other networks have been suffering declines.

And it’s got another big gun in its arsenal: The Super Bowl. Ads are already sold out at 3 million bucks a piece.

In Los Angeles, I’m Lisa Napoli for Marketplace.