American Idol 2016. In May 2017, ABC acquired the rights to the series and the program would return for the 2017–18 television season. The show had originally planned on having four judges following the "Pop Idol" format; however, only three judges had been found by the time of the audition round in the first season, namely Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell. A fourth judge, radio DJ Stryker, was originally chosen but he dropped out citing "image concerns". In the second season, New York radio personality Angie Martinez had been hired as a fourth judge but withdrew only after a few
Peter Jackson (judge) had been widely criticised in the media for being able to make crucial rulings without public scrutiny. In January 2016 Judge Jackson issued a ruling which appeared at variance with the findings of police investigation which had resulted in no prosecution. Although there had been no prosecution the Judge found that the father had on the balance of probabilities abused the baby before her death. Judge Jackson also criticised the Police and Social Services. In September 2016 Jackson was praised for rephrasing an entire judgement into a 17-page document using simple phrases and emojis in hopes that the children involved