Yes,  X Factor was the big bad wolf that  frightened the Idol franchise so much, it made Simon Cowell the highest paid entertainer in television, but the devil is in the details. Here is a look at the fight that kept X Factor from its U.S. debut for years and a sneak peek at what the X Factor has that Idol doesn’t.

An Idol Flop?

 The U.K. equivalent to American Idol, “Pop Idol” didn’t last very long but its replacement, the X Factor, has been a ratings powerhouse for six seasons. Pop Idol lasted just two seasons in the U.K. but its successor, The X Factor caught on like gangbusters and is still going strong today. As the most popular show in the U.K. today, it is seen in over 17 countries and is showing no signs of slowing, unlike the steady ratings decline of American Idol.

It was the X Factors’ runaway success in the U.K. that cast a long shadow over the Idol and Fox producers in the U.S., especially in 2005 as they were negotiating Cowell’s contract at the height of American Idol’s popularity, which many believed was in large part due to Cowell’s presence on the judging panel. 

The relationship between Simon Cowell and the Idol and X Factor franchises are hopelessly interwoven, so much so that Cowell was able to leverage the possibility of a U.S. X Factor during his 2005 contract negotiations. As it turns out Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller, who is also a music producer, both pitched the original idea of Pop Idol to a British producer in 2001. While Simon Fuller is created with the actual idea, Cowell was an integral part of its creation and served as judge on the show, which catapulted him into stardom.

Two years later Cowell successfully pitched and produced the X Factor in the U.K. to take Pop Idol’s place. Meanwhile he served as judge both on the new American idol show and his own show, the X Factor. Simon Fuller, perhaps enraged at his colleagues’ success in the U.K. at his expense, attempted to preempt competition with his American Idol brand in the U.S.  Fearing that what happened in the U.K could happen here if he had to compete with the X Factor, he sued Cowell for copyright infringement and breach of contract.

The 2005 lawsuit alleged that Cowell’s X Factor was actually a rip-off of Fuller’s Pop Idol format. Cowell dismissed the suit as “ridiculous,” but the lawsuit put Fox network execs in the uncomfortable middle. As far as they were concerned, if Simon wasn’t going to agree to be a judge on the ratings juggernaut American Idol, then they didn’t want to buy the show anymore from Fuller’s production company. Instead, they would take Cowell’s X Factor, convinced that the franchises’ success depended on Cowell sitting at the judging table.  They also weren’t blind to the sudden slide of Pop Idol in the U.K. and success of the X Factor as its successor.

In the end, Fuller blinked, he called off the lawsuit the day it was scheduled to begin in court, most likely at the behest of Fox, who could not stomach a long protracted court case that would have left the show in suspense. In the end, the out of court settlement benefitted all parties involved. Simon Cowell was paid to not shop X Factor around for the next five years – there were reports that ABC was already interested; Fuller would not contest the X Factor’s legitimacy and would give Cowell a percentage of Idol’s profits in perpetuity. Fox got the right to have first dibs on X Factor in the future, and Simon Fuller got a 5 year commitment from Cowell to stay on the judging panel and most importantly, a minority stake in Cowell’s X Factor. Both Simons managed to get a share in each others’ talent show empires and Fox secured Cowell, one way or the other.

Fast-forward to 2010, at the expiration of Cowell’s 5 year judging agreement he has decided to do what had been coming since 2003; bringing X Factor to the U.S.

It is obvious that the timing couldn’t be better as American Idol suffers a slow but constant decline. Fox will be happy, because it did not have to compete with other networks in bidding for the show. Simon Fuller can’t complain, even if Idol and X Factor can’t coexist on American television, and Idol loses, Fuller’s checking account will still reap the benefits of his old pal’s success. That makes three happy media moguls; Cowell, Fuller, and Rupert Murdoch (owner of Fox). The only question now is, will we be happy?

 

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