Cash factor

A costly Xtravaganza

Simon Cowell's company Syco is a co-producer of the UK commercial network ITV's show, with Talkback Thames, and both take a slice of the profits.

But the expense is heavy. A £6 million (Dh34.8 million) budget increase this year has helped buy a new vocal coach, fashion director, hairdresser and make-up artist, all on up to £1,000 a day. Each show has a record 116 production staff.

The finalists are paid no more than £200 a week but they do get to live in a £2,500-a-week mansion in North London.

Of course, one of the biggest costs is the judges themselves. Cowell is on a £6 million-a-year deal for The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent — that equates to around £115,000 per week.

Cheryl Cole earns £1 million a series and Louis Walsh £750,000, while Dannii Minogue, who was on maternity leave for the audition stage, is being paid £350,000.

Add all this together and you're looking at an average live episode cost of around £2 million.

The big-money ads

Advertising revenue goes entirely to ITV. Slots are already in high demand, with a 30-second ad costing £141,000. By the final, that will have climbed to £250,000. Last year's final was said to have earned £12 million in advertising for ITV.

The phone lines

Since text votes were eliminated (after several voting scandals) this is not as lucrative as it once was. Although around a million votes are cast on each of the live shows, the big pay day is the final when around eight million viewers vote.

It's good to Talk Talk

British telecommunications provider Talk Talk is the biggest sponsor and gets its logo on the beginning and end of each segment. For this privilege, it recently signed a three-year deal worth £20 million. Rival Nokia also has a sponsorship deal with the programme website worth around £300,000. All revenue from the site is split between ITV, Syco and Talkback.

Clothes and merchandise

The online fashion store Very is another big website advertiser, as well as sponsoring the Xtra Factor on ITV2. It shows viewers how to look like their favourite contestant while the Very virtual store stocks the full list of programme merchandise, from a £12 rug to a £95 karaoke pack. The deal sets it back £1 million.

Hair and make-up

L'Oreal is the big beauty sponsor of the website. It also provides free hair products and make-up for all the contestants and judges. The L'Oreal deal is worth a further £200,000 to the show.

The tour

Tickets for The X Factor 2010 tour went on sale even before the finalists were announced. The concerts will rake in around £3 million in ticket sales. You can double that with merchandise sold at the venues. The rest of the profits (the production will cost over £1 million) goes, you guessed it, to Syco and FremantleMedia, owner of Talkback Thames.