Simon Cowell finalizing 3-year ‘Idol’ deal
Simon Cowell will be a judge on American Idol for at least three more seasons.
Via Hollywood Reporter:
During the second-quarter earnings call of CKX, parent company of “Idol” co-producer 19 Entertainment, CKX chairman and CEO Robert Sillerman indicated that Cowell is finalizing a deal with Fox to continue on the top-rated reality show.
“We’ve heard from Fox, who has asked us for approval for Simon Cowell to appear for three more years on ‘Idol,’ ” Sillerman said. “They, in their negotiations with Cowell, have asked us to pre-approve him not only for ‘American Idol’ ‘09, which has begun taping, but they have also asked us for approval for ‘10 and ‘11, indicating to us that they’re finishing their negotiation with Cowell. We did grant approval for that quite obviously.”
Sillerman didn’t mention any financials of Cowell’s deal with Fox, but the uber-judge reportedly is poised to earn $45 million under the new pact, up from $36 million a year under his current contract.
The terms must be massive–not only big money, but the opportunity for Simon to produce shows for Fox. Rumor has it the terms of his deal will allow Fox to produce his UK hit X Factor here in America.
In the meantime, the search for a new judge to replace Paula Abdul continues. When hiring a new judge, 19 and co-producer FremantleMedia will propose their choices to Fox, which will sign off. Fox pays the judges’ salaries, according to Sillerman.
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18 Responses to “Simon Cowell finalizing 3-year ‘Idol’ deal”
So much for not doing it without pauler.
So Kara D. is not Paula’s replacement, they are going to have four and not three judges next year?
Nice!! I guess he really doesn’t care if Paula’s not there, haha. Hopefully this means Idol will go on.
Ha! My exact thoughts while reading the article…
4 Simon it’s all about the money….. Doesn’t matter I still LOVE him part of that has 2 do with liking Adam especially on finale noght
I found this very interesting. Hope “Pauler” is history and if they get a new judge she will be coherent and nurturing. And this will hopefully take the heat off Kara that she was Paula’s replacement.
Permanent interests, not permanent friends. This is what its all about.
I have no delusions about Simon being anything other than a producer’s puppet like everyone else, but he’s still my favorite judge to listen to. Succinct and on occasion adorable (feels so weird to type that word to describe him). I hope he regains his excitement for the show.
No reason for Simon to commit career suicide just because Paula has.
I think Simon could survive without Idol, actually.
If these numbers are correct and Simon was earning $36 million per year and now will be earning $45 million, that’s about a 30% raise, which is what Paula was offered.
I still think Simon is overrated and a walking contradiction. People say he knows what he is talking about and I disagree. He just says whatever comes out of his ass and whatever way the wind blows. He has no more of clue than Paula.
so basically the new contract is only a 2 year contract since his current contract covers S9. only two years, eh? hm. seems a bit short.
I’m very happy to hear that Simon will be back for that long. I personally believe that he, of all the judges, is the one and only non-expendable one. The show would not be the same, or as good, without him. Even when he’s wrong, or manipulating the voters, or screwing with the contestants, his sharp, acid wit and banter really make the show imo.
First and foremost, the show is about finding great, entertaining performers, but, you can’t always trust that you’ll find a good group EVERY year (some years, like S6, imo have very boring, uninteresting contestants). Simon is the constant that gets us through that dreck.
Ridiculous amount of money, even for Simon — who really is NOT all that. No wonder Paula was pissed. His “raise” is almost as much as the total multi-year deal offered to her, and it only represents 20% of his entire deal. Insane.
Problem is…Simon is a big draw for many watching Idol. He’s the one people love to hate. He’s the one w. the witty, mean comments that viewers eat up. AI makes 900 mil a yr, in that context, 46 mil is not that much. Yeah, compared to Paula, its a massive increase…however, he’s in higher demand and she isnt. Plus, like Ryan’s deal, this includes extra side jobs…….Paula just isnt capable of doing much beside drink out of a cup and pass out jewelry.
Again, her issues should be with Randy…his worth is equal to Paula on the show and if he got paid more, then I understand the frustration. If I was Paula, I would be realistic and NOT compare my situation to Ryan or Simon.
Exactly. Simon is not getting a check for $45 million when the season begins. Most of that money Fox promises to invest in shows Simon would like to make. Same with Ryan. Also, those big bucks are used to insure that neither Ryan or Simon go to a rival network. What happens if Simon doesn’t sign? He could bring X-Factor to America on a competing network which would have the potential of knocking Idol out of its top spot. Paula doesn’t bring anything to the table but her craziness and apparently Fox has decided that the craziness isn’t worth the money.
I have gone to being shocked and sad over Paula leaving the show to being quite angry with her. In the realm of things, they need Simon & Ryan and paid them accordingly to their needs. Do we think their salaries are outragious, of course we do, but to those who write their checks, obviously not. It’s a big game and everyone uses one another in Hollywood. None of us should be shocked by that. I think Paula has cooked her goose by quitting. Totally stupid move on her part–even beyond what I thought she was capable of. I think she should have said “yes, sir…thank you sir” and went smiling off to the bank with what was offered to her. What I don’t understand is didn’t she change around her agent / business manager a couple of times this past spring? I bet whoever got her last, are wishing they hadn’t signed her up so quickly… Or maybe it was the other way around, maybe she got bad advise from the newby she took on. Whatever the case, we shouldn’t be angry that Simon or even Ryan has it all figured out how to cleverly market their egos in a package that is appealing to those with large bank accounts….it’s actually rather a funny side show to the main event if you think about it.