And Speaking of FOX Television . . .

Fox’s megahit American Idol has a problem, and for once, it’s not Paula’s fault.  No, this time the Associated Press is reporting that the problem is with management.  The American Federation of Musicians, a musicians’ union, is suing the producers of the program, claiming that they were underpaid because the shows music was re-recorded for reruns.

Here is the AP’s summary of the nature of the suit:

That contract says the show’s musicians should be paid royalties for rebroadcasts of the show, the lawsuit said.

Theproducers are required to pay 75 percent of scale to musicians whoappear in the original show and rehearsals, plus 10 percent of that payto a union pension fund, with decreasing percentages for eachrebroadcast, according to court papers.

In 2007, the producersstarted cutting out the show’s soundtrack and using different musiciansto re-record new music for the past-season highlights show “AmericanIdol Rewind,” the lawsuit said.

I am genuinely curious about the backstory here.  Why would the producers go to the trouble of hiring new musicians and re-recording the music?  After all, the musicians’ salaries and benefits must be de minimis in the grand scheme of things.

[Jeremy Telman]