Syco's television operations were founded originally as Syco Television, primarily operating in the UK and US with key franchises The X Factor and Got Talent. It was launched by Simon Cowell in 2003. Following Cowell's purchase of Sony Music Entertainment's stake in the business in 2020, Cowell went on to expand his existing TV arrangements with NBCUniversal in 2021. The new deal will see a range of non-scripted series for the streaming service Peacock developed (though this does not include Walk the Line). As part of the deal, Cowell will appear as a judge on AGT: Extreme, a spin-off from America's Got Talent.
The X Factor, which launched in September 2004, was one of the most popular television shows in the UK. Syco and Fremantle Media launched The 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.
Internationally, The X Factor is produced individually in 41 countries including major markets like France, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Australia. Additionally, The X Factor USA is screened in 166 countries around the world.
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 the series 3 final to see Diversity crowned winners.
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America's Got Talent matched a series high 4.6 rating amongst adults 18–49 in the summer of 2011 for its sixth 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.
Other projects
Syco produces other shows outside its key brands. In 2011, ITV series Red or Black? was met with mixed reaction. Syco were also behind American Inventor which ran for two seasons on ABC and the unsuccessful Celebrity Duets on Fox. In addition to its major formats, Syco also produces entertainment specials. This includes I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story, which broke ratings records in the US on TV Guide network and scored 10 million viewers on ITV in the UK. In 2013, Syco and Optomen launched ITV series Food Glorious Food, which aired on Wednesday evenings in the UK.
Syco Entertainment were the executive producers of the film One Direction: This Is Us from director Morgan Spurlock and One Direction: Where We Are from director Paul Dugdale, which follows the life of pop sensations One Direction. The band had come third in the 2010 UK X Factor series, before being signed to Syco.
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's Rolling In It.
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. The series was inspired by Simons Cowell's interest in the crime series Making a Murderer, and The Jinx. The Investigator: A British Crime Story was broadcast globally via Netflix until 21 August 2021. The series looked in to the murder of Carole Packman who disappeared from her family home in Bournemouth in June 1985. Carole's husband, Russell Causley was convicted of her murder in 1996 and again in 2004 following a successful appeal.
You Generation
In March 2013, Syco in partnership with YouTube, launched The You Generation channel which is listed as the 'world's first global audition'.
La Banda
In May 2014, Syco and Univision announced an upcoming TV show called La Banda which will focus on searching contestants from Hispanic America to find the "ultimate Latino boy band" with the winner receiving a recording contract for Sony Music Latin and Syco.
I Can't Sing!
2014 saw Syco launch I Can't Sing!, a parody musical based on The X Factor. After technical issues and poor critical reception, the show was pulled from the West End of London less than two months after it opened. Cowell later said of the venture that occasionally things did not work out and that they had been too ambitious trying to launch a new show in the West End.
Current productions
America's Got Talent (2006–present)
Romania Got Talent (2011–present)
Former productions
American Inventor (2006–2007)
Britain's Got Talent (2007–2025)
America's Got Talent: The Champions (2019–2020)
America's Got Talent: Extreme (2022)
America's Got Talent: All-Stars (2023)
America's Got Talent: Fantasy League (2024)
Britain's Got More Talent (2007–2019)
Britain's Got Talent: The Champions (2019)
The X Factor (2004–2018)
The Xtra Factor (also called The Xtra Factor Live) (2004–2016)
The X Factor: Battle of the Stars (2006)
The X Factor: Celebrity (2019)
The X Factor: The Band (2019)
Celebrity Duets (2006)
Grease Is the Word (2007)
I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story (2009)
Red or Black? (2011–2012)
That Dog Can Dance (2012)
Food Glorious Food (2013)
The You Generation (2013–2014)
La Banda (2015–2016)
Planet's Got Talent (2015–2016)
Your Song (2017)
The Greatest Dancer (2019–2020)
Walk the Line (2021)
X Factor Romania (2011–2018: 2020–2021: 2025)
