Reinventing Reality

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Music-based reality shows emerged in most markets in 2001, with Europe's Popstars and Fame Academy the latter produced by the Dutch program developer Endemol Entertainment, which also created Big Brother. The formats differed slightly; the aim of Popstars was to assemble a band, while Pop Idol crowned an individual. Winners got record contracts, and some of their songs enjoyed startling success. Pop Idol winner Will Young's debut release, the double-A-side single Evergreen/Anything Is Possible, became Britain's fastest-selling single ever. Kelly Clarkson's single Before Your Love/A Moment Like This reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts.

Although most reality shows not just Simon Fuller's do well initially, ratings have become erratic. The 2002 season of Big Brother attracted a large audience in Britain, but the French version drew only 4.6 million telephone votes, against 22.5 million for 2001. In Spain Fame Academy Operacion Triunfo continues to pull in high ratings, but the British version was so poorly received that wags dubbed it Lame Academy. "For a while, any reality show was going to get viewed," says Darnell, "but now people will become more discerning."

The discerning crowd currently likes the American Idol format, which spends several months publicly culling the herd to about 10 finalists and then launches a series of up-close-and-personal, sudden-death sing-offs. This is the brainchild of three Simons Fuller came up with the concept, but it was fine-tuned with the help of Simon Cowell, a music-industry executive (and the acerbic judge in the U.S. and British versions) and Simon Jones, head of FMusic TV, part of FremantleMedia, the company that jointly owns and produces the Idol format globally. South Africa and Poland have had their versions, the Netherlands is deep into its own, versions in Norway and Belgium (Idool) started this month, and a pan-Arabic version is scheduled for February.

Idol not only helps Fuller discover new talent but also lets him feed all the various parts of his mini-conglomerate, including an artist-management company, a TV-production company and a music publisher. He has first option to sign whoever wins (indeed, whoever makes the top 10), taking a 15% to 20% cut of the winner's income. He can then deploy one of the songwriters he manages including Cathy Dennis, who with Rob Davis co-wrote the Kylie Minogue hit Can't Get You Out of My Head to pen tunes for his singers. (Dennis helped write Clarkson's No. 1 single.) And there's revenue from merchandise, like T shirts, and from Idol concert tours.

Some industry watchers predict that Idol will generate as much as $155 million in the next three years in Britain alone, including ad revenue and record sales. In the U.S., Fox paid about $1 million an episode for American Idol's 25-show run, and such a sum seems very reasonable in retrospect. Ford, Coca-Cola, AT&T;, Clairol and Old Navy, among others, have signed on as advertisers for this year's version.

Though he has amassed a fortune selling access to celebrity, the never-married Fuller has kept a low profile by industry standards. In spite of the frenzy always surrounding him when among industry types, he is literally pulled in all directions his tanned face often sports a mellow half-grin. He is personable and loves to touch, offering hugs and hearty handshakes to anyone within reach.

Of course, Fuller's brand of evanescent, assembly-line pop has been blamed for an alleged decline in more original music. But pop has always been disposable that's part of its tacky charm. Says Ged Doherty, president of BMG Music Division U.K.: "What reality TV has shown is that if you give the public something they actually want, they will buy it in the hundreds of thousands."

Not all music reality-TV stories have a happy ending. Hear'Say, the band formed from Popstars in 2001, split up after being jeered in live performances. But the reality shows undoubtedly will keep coming until the public has had more than enough. CBS just launched an updated version of Star Search, the talent show for singers, models and comedians, with Arsenio Hall playing the old Ed McMahon role of host. The USA network is prepping Nashville Star (guess what kind of music). Endemol is trying to sell a U.S. version of the Soundmix Show, which looks for the best imitators of famous acts.