COWELL PLANNING THE WORLD CUP OF TALENT SHOWS

Simon Cowell, who launched the Idol, Got Talent, and X Factor franchises that now air in dozens of countries, says he thinks the time has come for what he calls a "pan regional" talent contest. Interviewed by Piers Morgan at the MIPCOM TV conference in Cannes, Cowell said that he thought of the contest as one that would incorporate the "spirit" of the Eurovision song competition but open it to singers, dance troupes or talented pets. Each country would select its best act for the show, which, he said would probably borrow the Got Talent format. "We’ll definitely be in that space sooner rather than later," he said. In fact, he recalled, a kind of international Idol sing-off flopped. Why? "There were something like 16 judges on that show, so the judging took about half an hour on each act, and every one of them had been put on the show to be the equivalent of me. It was ‘who could be ruder’ each time. It was just a disaster." Cowell also told Morgan that his company, Syco Entertainment, is developing a series for Netflix. It will be, he said, "a big show … a game changer." The success of House of Cards had made such a show possible, he indicated, "because people now have confidence that you don’t have to be a broadcaster to make money on these types of things."