Simon Cowell’s all wet; ‘The X Factor’ is bigger than ever, exec producer says

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Singing show still ‘massively popular’ globally, according to Rob Wade

Like everyone else, “The X Factor” executive producer Rob Wade sees stories about how interest in televised singing competitions has waned.

He’s reading. He’s just not buying.

“Ironic would be the word,” muses Wade, because at the same time he also says that for Thursday's “The X Factor” auditions at Nassau Coliseum, “we’re expecting our biggest turnout ever.”

The Fox show is still feeling residual impact from creator Simon Cowell’s early comment — which he has said several times he regrets — that he expected 20 million viewers.

In its first cycle last spring, it averaged about 12.5 million. Last fall it finished with about 9.6 million.

Wade says those numbers don’t reflect the show’s true fan base.

“We’re a massively popular show globally and in the U.S.,” he says. It’s just that “a lot of our audience doesn’t watch much (traditional) TV. They watch us on the Internet, or on their phones. If they do watch on TV, they’ve probably taped it.

“When you total up our seven-day viewing, it doubles our live audience. It’s something that Nielsen hasn’t yet found a way to fully reflect.”

Wade also notes, “We’re No. 1 by far in social media. We have tremendous engagement among younger fans there.”

For the Long Island auditions, the only ones in the northeast for the shows that will air this fall, Wade says hopefuls should just follow the standard drill: Come out of the box hard.

“Realistically, you’ve only got a few seconds to get the judges’ attention,” he says. “And I think most people know that by now — that you don’t come in with a 10-minute David Bowie song.

“Most people do sing covers, and that’s probably a good idea, because if we know the song, we have something to judge it against.”

He added, “It’s not easy. But to be able to sing for actual A&R people is an opportunity most performers and writers never even get.”

NY Daily News

Comments

  • SoppyfanSoppyfan Posts: 29,911
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    Rob Wade = Delusional.
  • EndOfSanityEndOfSanity Posts: 15,072
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    Soppyfan wrote: »
    Rob Wade = Delusional.

    Couln't have said it better myself.
  • SamuelWSamuelW Posts: 8,447
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    LMAO, this is terrible spin by XF producer. The show is not popular in US compared to the likes of The Voice and Big Bang theory.
  • C14EC14E Posts: 32,165
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    He's not entirely wrong, the US version is broadcast in some ridiculous number of countries (150+ at the last count) and they are huge on social media. The 7 day argument doesn't count for much because all shows are like that now, and I don't think X Factor is particularly unique in terms of the uplift it gets across the 7 days.

    The US shows ratings are good, but they're far from great. Of all the reality shows in the US, it has the third highest ratings of them all so there's no doubt it performs well. The only problem is the issue of expectations prior to season one. Some of those expectations (such as in Simon's comment to hype up the show) were altogether unrealistic.

    He'd obviously far rather be saying that they were pulling 4.0's in the US ratings but he can't so he hypes up their global reach and social media. It's just the usual spin, we see it in the UK as well.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 107
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    I actually have a good feeling about Season 3. It feels like it would be a big improvement.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11,275
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    My opinion has always been that X Factor US happened too late. Which was unavoidable but I do think it will be either third time lucky or forget it.
  • Dreammaster695Dreammaster695 Posts: 1,353
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    he doesnt know what hes talking about
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