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American Idol” will begin its seventh season on Monday, Jan. 14.

Will you be watching?

That's the question among TV industry insiders. While “American Idol” is still a tremendously popular show — it drew more than 30 million viewers per week in its sixth season — those ratings were down from the previous season.

Besides Sanjaya Malakar, there didn't seem much worth talking about last year. And the winner, Jordin Sparks, has had the lowest opening-week record sales of any of the previous winners.

“I think that's telling,” said Andrew Wallenstein, deputy editor of the Hollywood Reporter, describing the sixth season as “lackluster.”

Why the drop in ratings? Wallenstein suggests it may be a sign of the “normal erosion that any long-running series would accrue.”

Fortunately for Fox, the Writers Guild of America's strike means that viewers won't have many other choices when it comes to mid-week television.

Most series affected by the strike will have run out of new shows by the time “Idol” airs, making January the first month that the average viewer will notice the effect of the strike, Wallenstein said.

“So then here comes ‘American Idol' and suddenly there's the potential that ‘Idol' will absorb viewers that are looking for any new material,” he said. “It is quite possible that this will be the highest-rated ‘Idol' premiere and season to date.”

And even if the ratings for the upcoming season don't climb back to what they were for the fifth season, there's a reason why “Idol” is called the “death star” by competing networks.

“Don't underestimate the producers of ‘American Idol.' They're very savvy people,” Wallenstein said. “Even if the season starts slow, they'll figure out how to bring the buzz back quickly.”

Jessica Belasco | 210SA Contributor