Randy Jackson to Leave ‘American Idol’

Randy Jackson, the longest-serving name associated with “American Idol,” has announced his intention to leave the show at the end of this season. News of his impending departure comes as reports swirl that the Fox network has decided to clean house on its onetime prime-time powerhouse by removing all its on-air judges and its executive producer.

Mr. Jackson, who has been a judge on the show for 12 years, gave that news to the E entertainment channel on Thursday, hours after the Web site The Wrap posted a story saying that all the show’s judges, including Mr. Jackson and the singers Nicky Minaj, Mariah Carey and Keith Urban, would not be asked back for another season.

The E channel quoted Mr. Jackson saying “Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on ‘American Idol’ I have decided it is time to leave after this season.”

Earlier, the E channel posted an interview with Ms. Minaj in which she did not respond directly the question of whether she wanted to come back for another season but described her experience on the show as positive. E also reported that it had confirmed the news from The Wrap with a representative from the network.

Ratings for “Idol” have plummeted over the last two seasons, to a point where it is now usually behind the NBC singing competition “The Voice” in the weekly ratings.

Fox executives have so far declined to comment.