The fourteenth season of American Idol, also known as American Idol XIV, premiered on the Fox television network on January 7, 2015. Ryan Seacrest continues his role as host, while Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. returned for their respective fourth, third and second times as judges. Randy Jackson stepped down as mentor, being replaced by Scott Borchetta. Long-time sponsor Coca-Cola ended its relationship with the show. This was the fourth season to have an all-male finale and the third season where the final two contestants had never been in the bottom group prior to the finale. Before the finale, it was announced that the fifteenth season would be the last of the reality show. Since the series began in 2002 it peaked in viewership at 30 million viewers per episode in 2006, slipping to 20 million viewers per episode in 2011, and down further since with an average of about 9.15 million viewers per episode in 2015. On May 13, Nick Fradiani was announced the winner of the season, with Clark Beckham as runner-up. Changes The fourteenth season of American Idol featured a number of major changes to its format and talent. Some of these changes came in response to the falling popularity and viewership of Idol in comparison to NBC's competing series The Voice; viewership of the thirteenth season had fallen by 27%. Former judge Randy Jackson, who served as a mentor on the previous season, left the show and was succeeded by Big Machine Records founder Scott Borchetta. In May 2014, Ryan Seacrest signed a two-year extension to remain host of Idol through 2016, which would be the show's final season. Long-time sponsor Coca-Cola ended its relationship with the series, and the Ford Motor Company maintained a reduced role. To evaluate their ability to perform in front of a live audience, the final 48 contestants participated in a private concert at the House of Blues in West Hollywood before being cut to 24. Separate results shows during the top 12 round were discontinued, in favor of a single two-hour broadcast on Wednesday nights; results from the previous week were revealed during the following week's show, similarly to Dancing with the Stars. A new feature known as the "Fan Save" was also introduced, in which viewers could vote via Twitter to decide which of the bottom two singers from the previous week would advance. The finale