Simon Cowell’s 20-year reign as the king of primetime TV appears to be over, as ITV is to axe his latest project, Walk The Line.
He hoped that the show’s musical theme would allow him to reconnect with his Midas spirit and viewers.
Instead, audience numbers plummeted as low as 1.89 million in its six-night series last month. According to ITV, the possibility of a second series was ruled out.
End of the line: Judges, from left, Craig David, Alesha Dixon, Maya Jama, Dawn French and Gary Barlow
Cowell will not be surprising considering that Cowell was underwhelmed and decided to broadcast the show throughout the week rather than the Saturday slot which he had controlled since Pop Idol’s inception in 2001.
The 62-year-old – who enjoyed huge success with The X Factor, which ran for 15 series until 2018 – was so infuriated that he decided not to sit on the judging panel and was replaced by Gary Barlow.
Simon Cowell with David Walliams is shown above
An insider said: ‘After The X Factor ended, Walk The Line was the show Simon hoped would save him. Alas, that wasn’t to be, and it won’t be back.’
Cowell can no longer name the price for television executives who are looking to get big ratings.
Earlier this month, Cowell – who recently announced his engagement to long-term partner Lauren Silverman – wound down his firm, Syco Entertainment, and laid off its staff.
His music empire had been closed by him.
Cowell is being increasingly overshadowed and outshone by Ant McPartlin & Declan Donnelly.
Limitless Win has attracted five million viewers. Sources claim that they are currently producing two formats for ITV. They will, however, not be the stars.
‘They are turning from presenting to creating shows,’ said one source.
‘They have some exciting stuff up their sleeves.’
Cowell is, however, currently filming the next series of Britain’s Got Talent for ITV, which is presented by Ant and Dec.
An ITV spokesman said: ‘No decisions have been made on the future of the series at this point.’