Cable music entertainment channel AXS TV will be bringing Simon Cowell’s The X Factor back to the U.S. by broadcasting the extremely popular U.K. version of the show. That means that American audiences will once again get to hear Cowell’s musical critiques.
AXS TV, which aired the Coachella Music Festival in April, announced today that it has signed a deal with producers FremantleMedia International and Cowell’s Syco Entertainment. It will be the first time that the U.K. version will air in the U.S., even though it has been running overseas for 10 seasons already.
The judge’s panel for the show’s 11th season will feature Cowell and former Spice Girls singer Mel B, who has been judging NBC’s America’S Got Talent this summer. Pop star Cheryl Cole (now Cheryl Fernandez-Versini) and music manager Louis Walsh will round out the judge’s panel Dermot O’Leary hosts the show, which runs 34 episodes.
The X Factor U.K. will premiere on Aug. 31, with an episode airing the next day.
Hopefully, the U.K. version will last longer in the U.S. than the U.S. version did. Fox pulled the plug on The X Factor U.S. after three seasons in February.
Coincidentally, AXS TV is actually a venture between Mark Cuban, AEG, CAA, CBS and Ryan Seacrest Productions. Of course, Seacrest hosts American Idol, which introduced Cowell to American audiences.
While today’s announcement didn’t include anything about potential American contestants on The X Factor U.K., one can imagine that if it is a success on AXS, that might be in the cards in the future.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com