The New York Post reports this morning that Simon Cowell, who is in the midst of renegotiating his American Idol contract beyond the 2010 season, has been offered between $100 million and $144 million per year.
The figures come from London newspaper, The Guardian:
A source close to Fuller says that Cowell has already been offered three to four times the $36m he was paid for American Idol in 2008 – but then, he is the most important person on the show and the series makes $900m a year and attracts audiences of 25 million.
Those figures sound reasonable to me. I could see Fuller offering to make Simon and his production company Syco, a partner in the show.
Not unless the advertisers contract are locked in regardless of what the ratings will be next year, I do not think American Idol or any other show or company can offer a fixed amount of salary to anyone which would be more than 10% of the company’s previous earnings.
I would tend to think this would be a percentage of the grosses , and would then be dependent on the shows income . As the shows income is related to ratings plus income from licensing , then it will be a to Simon’s best interest to be a sharp and entertaining judge.
As American Idol dominates the ratings , their income from advertising will also exponentially increase. If Judges chose contestants that will catch not only the fancy but the rabid support of the viewers, then their licensing income will also increase.
The figure of $144 million will most likely be the cap or maximum that Simon can gain. There is probably also a minimal amount or a guaranteed earnings which is probably around 30% to max of 50% more than the last contract rate.
Good on him! Glad to see he’s sticking around. He and Paula are part of AI, and when AI takes its final curtain call(Any season now!) I’d like for them 2 to be part of the final season, so works for me