Simon Cowell: Britain's got enough talent shows
Cost of reality shows makes it very difficult to launch new ones - says the Britain's Got Talent judge
He may be ‘Mr Talent Contest’ but Simon Cowell thinks Britain's reached saturation point when it comes to shiny floor shows.
“With the two I’ve got [Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor] and I think now with The Voice and Dancing with the Stars [the US name for Strictly Come Dancing], why would you need any more?” Cowell pondered at the London launch of Britain’s Got Talent this week.
The current stable certainly aren't going anywhere. The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent will continue until at least 2016; The Voice is already calling for applications for next year and Strictly Come Dancing attracted over 10 million viewers a week last year.
Cowell still “100%” thinks there’s an appetite for these type of shows among the viewing public – “Apart from sports I still think they’re about the biggest rated shows in the country at the moment” – but also said cost is a big factor when it comes to launching new talent contests.
“They’re hard to make. People think they’re easy. But there won’t be many more talent shows coming on the market because they’re really expensive to make.”
Cowell revealed that he's still got some ideas up his sleeve, though. In fact, he’s currently working on a new show called La Banda for US network Univision, in which he’s seeking singers for a Latino boy band. He’s even taken to tweeting about it in Spanish.
Of the job in hand, Cowell says there is a sense of competition between himself and the Britain’s Got Talent judges – Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams – now that they can personally back an act via the Golden Buzzer. But says he’s got a “good feeling” about the singer he’s sent through to the live semi-finals. “I think I’ve got a shot”.
Britain's Got Talent returns to ITV in April
