The X Factor

I noticed Broadcast were bigging up The X Factor in the recent email edition. It gets good ratings, but are they seriously postulating that it is the most important light entertainment show for 20 years? Perhaps it is.

I've never actually watched the show. But I recently recall seeing some bloke who sang opera being interviewed on some chat show as a winner of some talent show . That sounds like it had something to do with it. And did Girls Aloud [or Allowed?] win it at some point or was that something else? And Gareth Gates and Will..... someone.

The X Factor is important. Because of the times we live in. There are few programmes nowadays that can deliver a solid 9 million viewers across the demongraphics.

Thirty years ago Opportunity Knocks and New Faces did that week in week out without batting an eyelid. But times have changed.

ITV is losing money hand over fist on most of it's programming. The X Factor is carrying the channel. That's why Simon Cowell gets rich, and deservedly so. Not having seen it, I have nothing to say about the quality or merit of the show. The fact is that it is a hit. I suspect because it has that blend of ''car crash TV meets we, the public, can make a star'' just right.

So to me, it's not an important show for what it is or what it does. Which seems to be about giving the thumbs up or down in some Gladiatorial contest. It's an important show because it proves to advertisers that a big audience can still be had. That the rumours about TV being a dieing medium are ill founded.

If we could produce drama that did the same a bit more often we'd be on to a really good thing. And yes it is a little depressing that Mr Cowell can come out with x number of shows that are just variants on the same theme and make them hits. But hasn't drama been doing that for years?

Rupert Murdoch owns both The Times and The Sun. Complete opposite ends of the newspaper spectrum. Well not opposite thematically, but you don't get tits in The Times. There's a joke in there somewhere.

Murdoch is potentially dangerous because of his understanding of the economics of the media. Holy crap that is way too political for this blog. Jeremy made me do it.