 Logo used from 2004 to 2013 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Predecessor |
|
| Founded | 2005; 20 years ago (2005) |
| Founders | Simon Cowell Sony Music |
| Headquarters | , U.K. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Nigel Hall (Global Head of TV) |
| Products | Television programs |
| Owner | Simon Cowell |
| Parent | Millforth Limited (2016–2017) Sony Music Entertainment UK (2017–2020) |
| Website | sycoentertainment |
Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment and production company, headquartered in London,[1] founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executiveSimon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 throughSony Music Entertainment entering ajoint venture by purchasing Cowell's shares of his record labelS Records and television company Syco Television. In 2009, Sony and Cowell entered a joint venture agreement that covered the joint ownership of Syco's television formats, which include theGot Talent andThe X Factor franchises. Until 2020, the company operated television and music projects with Sony Music labels around the world and television production companyFremantle. It employs a staff of more than 50 in offices in London and Los Angeles, and manages a string of television and music brands through partnerships with the label Sony Music and the television production company.
Retail billionaire SirPhilip Green, a close friend of Cowell, served as an advisor to the company until 2018. Through its divisions: Music, Film and TV, Syco has produced theGot Talent andThe X Factor franchises which encompassed local versions in numerous countries and have launched the careers ofOne Direction,Leona Lewis,Little Mix,Susan Boyle andFifth Harmony amongst others. Syco have also been instrumental in the careers of artists not originating from its franchises, includingIl Divo and Westlife. It has also produced films such asOne Direction: This Is Us (2013) andThe X Factor parody musical,I Can't Sing! (2014). In July 2020, Cowell bought Sony Music's stake in Syco Entertainment, with exception forSyco Music. The record label and its artists and back catalogue were retained by Sony Music and subsequently absorbed. TV rights and assets were transferred to the newly created Syco Entertainment Ltd, which is owned 100% by Cowell.
Cowell foundedS Records whilst employed byBMG back in 2004. The label oversaw music byRobson & Jerome,Five,Westlife andTeletubbies.[2][3][4] A year later, BMG, now namedSony BMG, bought Cowell's share in both Syco Music and Syco Television.[5] In 2010, a new company was formed as a 50/50 partnership between Cowell and Sony Music, keeping the name Syco but titled as Syco Entertainment.[6][7] In 2015, it was announced that the Syco Entertainment joint venture would be extended for a further 6 years.[8] Retail Billionaire SirPhilip Green, a close friend of Cowell, served as an advisor to the company until 2018.[9][10]
It was initially divided into three units:Syco Music, SYCOtv and Syco Film.[11] A few years later in July 2020, it was announced that Cowell had agreed to buy out Sony Music's stake in the company, with Sony Music retaining the company's artist roster and catalogue.[12]
Syco's television operations were founded originally asSYCOtv, primarily operating in the UK and US with key franchisesThe X Factor andGot Talent. It was launched by Simon Cowell in 2003.[13] Following Cowell's purchase ofSony Music Entertainment's stake in the business in 2020, Cowell went on to expand his existing TV arrangements withNBCUniversal in 2021. The new deal will see a range of non-scripted series for the streaming servicePeacock developed (though this does not includeWalk the Line). As part of the deal, Cowell will appear as a judge onAGT: Extreme, a spin-off fromAmerica's Got Talent.[14]
The X Factor, which launched in September 2004, was one of the most popular television shows in the UK. Syco and Fremantle Media launchedThe X Factor USA in September 2011, which averaged 12 million viewers and a 4.0 rating in the adults 18–49 demographic in its first season, leading FOX to nightly wins on Wednesdays and Thursdays and topping all other fall season reality competition.[15]
Internationally,The X Factor is produced individually in 41 countries including major markets likeFrance, theNetherlands,Indonesia andAustralia. Additionally,The X Factor USA is screened in 166 countries around the world.[citation needed]
Britain's Got Talent consistently tops UK ratings when it is broadcast in April, May and June. In 2009, nearly 20 million people (approximately one third of the UK population) tuned into theseries 3 final to seeDiversity crowned winners.[16]
America's Got Talent matched a series high 4.6 rating amongst adults 18–49 in the summer of 2011 for itssixth season. Since launching in 2006,America's Got Talent has consistently been the most watched show of the summer in the US and topped the ratings in the key adults 18–49 demographic.[17]
Syco produces other shows outside its key brands. In 2011, ITV seriesRed or Black? was met with mixed reaction. Syco were also behindAmerican Inventor which ran for two seasons onABC and the unsuccessfulCelebrity Duets on Fox. In addition to its major formats, Syco also produces entertainment specials. This includesI Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story, which broke ratings records in the US on TV Guide network[18] and scored 10 million viewers on ITV in the UK.[19] In 2013, Syco and Optomen launched ITV seriesFood Glorious Food, which aired on Wednesday evenings in the UK.
Syco Entertainment were the executive producers of the filmOne Direction: This Is Us from directorMorgan Spurlock andOne Direction: Where We Are from director Paul Dugdale, which follows the life of pop sensationsOne Direction.[20] The band had come third in the 2010 UKX Factor series, before being signed to Syco.[21]
In January 2013, Syco set up a new London-based television division called Over The Top Productions. This production company was run by Syco's Global Head of Television, Nigel Hall, and would be responsible for formats such as ITV'sRolling In It.[22][23]
In July 2016,The Investigator: A British Crime Story was a co-production between Syco &ITV which was broadcast for four consecutive weeks on ITV at 9pm.[24] The series was inspired by Simons Cowell's interest in the crime seriesMaking a Murder, andthe Jinx.[25] The Investigator: A British Crime Story was broadcast globally via Netflix until 21 August 2021.[26] The series looked in to the murder ofCarole Packman who disappeared from her family home inBournemouth in June 1985. Carole's husband, Russell Causley was convicted of her murder in 1996 and again in 2004 following a successful appeal.
In March 2013, Syco in partnership with YouTube, launched The You Generation channel which is listed as the 'world's first global audition'.
In May 2014, Syco andUnivision announced an upcoming TV show calledLa Banda which will focus on searching contestants from Hispanic America to find the "ultimate Latino boy band" with the winner receiving a recording contract forSony Music Latin and Syco.[27]
2014 saw Syco launchI Can't Sing!, a parody musical based onThe X Factor. After technical issues and poor critical reception, the show was pulled from theWest End of London less than two months after it opened. Cowell later said of the venture that occasionally things didn't work out and that they had been too ambitious trying to launch a new show in the West End.[28]
