Idol worship

28 May 2010 By Rolfe Winkler

Pop impresario Simon Fuller wants the hit TV show back, and has another deep pocket to join his own. The empire is bigger, with Elvis and Ali image rights. But Idol s ratings are in decline and the star of the show just left. Fuller may come to regret a return to the same stage.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

Simon Fuller, the pop impresario behind the Spice Girls, and former Barclays Capital banker Roger Jenkins are planning to offer $600 million to buy CKX, according to the Wall Street Journal. CKX owns the hit TV show American Idol and the rights to the names and likenesses of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.

Fuller sold his company 19 Entertainment, which controlled American Idol, to CKX for $174 million in 2005.

Former CKX Chief Executive Robert F.X. Sillerman, who owns 20 percent of the company's stock, resigned on May 7 to launch his own bid for the company. Sillerman had planned to offer $560 million for the company, though it's not clear if he has yet submitted a bid.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *