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"&lt;img alt=\"0223_seacrest_lopez_composite\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2014/02/23/0223-seacrest-lopez-composite-3.jpg\" /&gt;It's an enormous sea change ... one of the most successful shows in the history of TV -- a show that has made &lt;strong&gt;BILLIONS&lt;/strong&gt; of dollars in profits -- will actually &lt;strong&gt;LOSE&lt;/strong&gt; money this year&amp;#160; ... multiple sources connected with the show tell TMZ.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The reasons for \"&lt;strong&gt;American Idol&lt;/strong&gt;\" going into the red for the first time all have to do with the bottom line.&amp;#160; The show pays a fortune to the stars -- we're told &lt;strong&gt;Jennifer Lopez&lt;/strong&gt; gets north of $15 Mil and &lt;strong&gt;Ryan Seacrest &lt;/strong&gt;gets around that amount as well.&amp;#160; They spent between $5 and $7 million on a new set this year.&amp;#160; They are also still paying the 2 executive producers they fired after last season.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In addition we're told the show will spend at least $5 million on viewer phone calls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And ... the ratings are down 26% from last season -- and that translates into advertising dollars.&amp;#160; Some of the ad losses can be deferred until next season ... but they are losses nonetheless.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For years \"Idol\" scored hundreds of millions of dollars in raw profits in a single season.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That said ... we're told the show almost certainly will NOT be cancelled after this season.&amp;#160; Sources say it will be back next year, in no small part because FOX cancelled \"&lt;strong&gt;X Factor&lt;/strong&gt;\" and there would be way too many holes in its primetime schedule if both shows went away.&amp;#160; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now perspective ... \"American Idol\" is one of the most successful shows ever on television.&amp;#160; Almost no shows make it to season 13 and the ratings for the show's run have been unbelievable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FOX had no comment."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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