With AT&T no longer a main sponsor for Fox’s American Idol, the network has brought in Google and Facebook to take care of voting this season.
According to Deadline, online voting has been a part of American Idol the last couple of seasons. With this newfound sponsor in Google and Facebook, the voting process will change to a format similar to upcoming competition Rising Star from ABC. Voting will now take place at the beginning of the show instead of after the broadcast, as it has been for the first 12 seasons.
Google will allow viewers to cast votes directly from their Google search feature. Facebook will provide on-air voting results from real-time East Coast voting data during some live shows. This information will include demographic voting trends and contestant rankings. This new voting format is not exactly the same as Rising Star’s model but American Idol is jumping on board with reporting voting in real time.
American Idol will have five voting methods for Season 13 they include Google Search, online at AmericanIdol.com, American Idol app, text messages, and toll-free calling.