X Factor and BGT in doubt as Cowell eyes America

The future of top-rating TV shows The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent is in doubt, as Simon Cowell eyes a more lucrative television career that would see him based solely in the United States.

Cowell has announced that he plans to concentrate on the American version of The X Factor, which he is launching on Fox in September next year. He told the Sun that the original UK show would have to move its dates if producers want him to stay on as a judge.

Cowell said that, so far, he has only agreed to do one show in 2011 and that is the American X Factor. He told the Sun: "At the moment you are going to see me doing one show next year - and not one in England. I have a contract for this year and that is it."

Fans of ITV's show - which drew 12.5 million viewers on Saturday night - will now be on tenterhooks after Cowell hinted that he was close to quitting. "I am going to sit it out for a few more weeks before I make a final decision. And it has got to be fun. The minute it stops being fun, bye bye."

In May the music mogul and judge left the TV show that made his name in the States - American Idol - in order to launch the US X Factor.

Back in Britain, Cowell is believed to have a £6 million-a-year deal with ITV, which also broadcasts his other UK show Britain's Got Talent. Yet Cowell said last night that he may leave that show, too.

And he's not the only one: Cowell's fellow BGT judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden are both rumoured to be considering a move. Morgan is set to quit the show should he win a multi-million-dollar deal with US network CNN to replace the veteran chat show host Larry King. All of which leaves the future of the show in the balance.
 
Cowell said last night: "I have not decided if I am doing Britain's Got Talent. There are a lot of scheduling issues. We are getting to the point where we have to make a decision." ·