MUMBAI: After the 11th season, Big CBS Love is back with the 12th season of singing reality show American Idol across its networks in concurrence with the US. Commencing from 18 January, the show will air every Friday and Saturday at 9pm in India.

Ryan Seacrest will return as the host of the show while the eminent jury panel includes music industry icons like songstress Mariah Carey, pop superstar Nicki Minaj, country music singer Keith Urban and music producer Randy Jackson.

The talent hunt will witness a change in its audition process with people from small towns being able to be a part of the show through the ‘AI Small Town Audition Bus Tour’ which will visit 10 towns in USA. In addition, the show will also go digital with the ‘Nominate An Idol’ segment, enabling friends and family members to secretly nominate introverted contestants through a video and help them proceed to the next round.

The channel is also promoting the show through an extensive 360 degree marketing campaign revolving around print, radio, electronic, OOH and digital mediums.

The network will also host an online talent hunt for aspiring singers titled ‘Love To Sing’ in association with Talenthouse.com. The contest will allow fans from across the country to be a part of the American Idol experience and the winner will stand a chance to witness the reality show live in Los Angeles USA.

Big CBS business head Anand Chakravarthy said, “Staying true to our promise of providing the latest and hottest content to our viewers, we are really excited to present viewers with the unique opportunity to watch American Idol season 12 concurrent with the US. Keeping in mind the current scenario post-DAS, the show will reach a larger audience base across consumer segments, while simultaneously offering marketers an excellent platform to reach out to their target audiences.”