Simon Cowell to leave American Idol for X Factor

Pasadena, California: Simon Cowell, the acerbic Brit who has helped give American Idol some of its sharpest - and nastiest - moments, will leave the hit TV singing contest after this season.

The cantankerous judge said Monday that The X Factor, a talent show he created and which is popular in Britain, will join Fox's schedule next year. Cowell will be a judge on The X Facto" and its executive producer.

Cowell's decision is the biggest threat yet to what has consistently been the country's top-rated TV program and a true cultural force. This season, original host Paula Abdul has been replaced by Ellen DeGeneres.

But Cowell, with his caustic commentary, has long been seen as the big star of "Idol."

He said it would have been difficult for him to do both shows. While he makes a reported $36 million a year to be on "American Idol," he owns The X Factor and could make much more if the show takes off.

Cowell and top Fox executives made the announcement to reporters in Pasadena at a meeting of the Television Critics Association" they said they had reached an agreement only a few hours before.

"I was offered a lot of money to stay on," Cowell said. "But that wasn't the reason behind it. I wanted to do something different. I wanted a new challenge."

Cowell said launching a show that doesn't put an age limit on contestants - and allows groups along with individual singers - makes it very different from American Idol. The top age for Idol singers is 28.

Susan Boyle, 48, who was discovered on Britain's Got Talent, is an example of why age should be irrelevant, said Cowell, a judge on the British show he created and executive producer of "America's Got Talent" on NBC. Boyle became an unlikely sensation and released one of the year's top-selling CDs.

Cowell said there are many who want his old job. But while everybody is talking about the judges, he added, "Fundamentally, the most important reason we do this is to find talent."

Asked about bringing in Abdul as a judge on X Factor, Cowell replied: "I adore Paula. Whatever happens, I will be working with her in some capacity, because I miss her." But Victoria Beckham, a guest judge this season on Idol, won't be joining his new show, Cowell said without explanation.

Cowell apparently carefully chose his time to resign, saying he didn't want to leave American Idol at a time when it was fading in the ratings.

"You want to leave on a high," he said. "I'm very proud of what the show has achieved."

American Idol, which is entering its ninth season this week, has been the country's most popular television program for the past five years and has launched such stars as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry.

Yet viewership for American Idol has been shrinking since its 2005 peak when it averaged more than 30 million weekly viewers, according to research chief Brad Adgate of Horizon Media" last year's weekly audience averaged just under 25 million. The median age of viewers has shot up, from nearly 32 years old in the first season to about 44 last year.