TORONTO — CTV programming honcho Susanne Boyce calls the speed of the economic downturn "shocking" and says the advertising dollars were simply not there for a 2009 season of "Canadian Idol."

"Canadian programming is very expensive," she said Wednesday. "We're facing serious financial challenges ... Ad revenues have taken a serious dive."

"It's just another example of how brutal the economy is," added "Idol" executive producer John Brunton. "This tsunami of the crash of advertising dollars at the networks both here in Canada and the United States ... has caught up with our program."

The network has announced that the popular televised singing contest, which wrapped up its sixth season in September, will be put on hold for the coming year.

CTV said there's a chance that "Idol" may return to the schedule down the line.

The move is the latest sign of hardship for the Canadian TV industry, which has been blindsided of late by the slumping economy.

Last month, CTV announced it was cutting about 105 positions. Broadcast rival Canwest Global Communications Corp. recently cut 560 jobs, or about five per cent of its workforce, including 210 at Global Television and its other TV operations.

Still, the "Idol" decision came as a shock to some observers because the show has long been a ratings juggernaut for CTV.

Each spring, young people across the country turned out in droves to audition for the judging panel of Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner.

The show's host Ben Mulroney became a celebrity. And while "Canadian Idol" finalists never reached the heights of their "American Idol" counterparts -- such as Grammy-winning singer Kelly Clarkson and crooner Clay Aiken -- many former contestants have gone on to careers in the music industry.

Season 2 finalist Jacob Hoggard fronts the popular punk-pop band Hedley, while Season 3 winner Melissa O'Neil recently appeared in the Toronto stage production of "Dirty Dancing."

Although viewership numbers had waned somewhat in recent years, "Idol" remained one of CTV's most popular Canadian-made shows, while the recently wrapped "So You Think You Can Dance Canada" was the top Canuck program. Boyce said the status of that show is up in the air as well.

Brunton calls the decision to put "Idol" on ice a "heartbreaker," noting it will have a ripple effect.

"We spend a lot of money in the 10 cities that we go to across Canada for the auditions. It's a gigantic problem for our suppliers. It's going to be hard for these people to find jobs," he said.

Tara Oram, who finished sixth on Season 5 and now has a career as a country singer, says the show provided invaluable exposure for up-and-coming singers.

"'Idol' pretty much opened up the door for all the opportunities that came my way," she said. "It was the best summer of my life."

In Brunton's eyes, "Idol" provided an important voice for young people.

"'Canadian Idol' put small communities on a national platform. 'Canadian Idol' was a place where, if your parents didn't listen to you and your teachers didn't listen to you, and your minister didn't listen to you, we guaranteed that we would listen to you," he said.

"It sounds corny but so many people came to see us to be heard, to have a platform."

Boyce said she hasn't given up on "Idol," citing other countries where the show has taken a break and then returned stronger than ever.

"The light in this for me, anyway, is that around the world this has happened for 'Idol.' Where it's come back it comes back with full force."

The American version of "Idol," meanwhile, will be back for an eighth season next month, but has announced it is tweaking its format as well as cancelling its "American Idol Gives Back" fundraiser.