The X Factor 2016

Didn't realise it was that early - knew it was usually a while before broadcast but thought it was late November usually.

It doesn't seem to be Cowell's style to take ownership of the situation and axe the show himself (in his head there is still a chance the US version will return!) Obviously as an employer he's got his staff to think about because between them BGT and X Factor provide year round employment. I'd have thought it couldn't be long until the next singing format comes along, though it's difficult to see what other takes their could be on it.

Not sure that there are that many staff. Most of the people I know who work on the shows are freelance and don't work full time on them.

Isn't one of the biggest problems with X Factor that the whole charade is entirely inconsequential? There is absolutely no jeopardy or point to it anymore.

Auditions: some people get 'four yeses' only to disappear and never be heard of again, making the auditions fairly inconsequential. good contestants are brought in from stage school and pretty much guaranteed a place in the final.

Boot camp: they put so many people through they have to bin some of them off and at this stage we don't care about any of the contestants.

Six chair challenge: also pointless, because next week it's Judges Houses which might as well be called 'three chair challenge'. Why not cut out the middle man and go from boot camp to 'three chair challenge'?

Judges Houses: also inconsequential because you can get booted off, and brought back the following week as a wildcard anyway.

The live shows: winning is inconsequential because the decent finalists all get record deals anyway.

Yeah - One Direction and Olly Murs didn't win but are doing better than the actual winners from their years.

2004 : Winner was Steve Brookstein, who went onto do nothing. G4 were in the final three and released albums up until recently, they split and revived last year.

2005 : Winner was Shayne Ward, who has done barely anything in the ten years since The X Factor, apart from join Corrie earlier this year, which doesn't really showcase his music skills but more his terrible acting.

2006 : Leona Lewis won, made a name for herself here then ran off to America to be never heard of again. Ray Quinn was just behind her, and since went onto do Dancing on Ice and other projects. However, as said above, a lot of those that are memorable have already established themselves within the industry, such as Quinn who was a former Brookie star.

2007 : Leon Jackson won this year, and Louis Walsh forgot his name on an episode of Celebrity Juice once. Same Difference came 3rd, and have done pantomimes etc since.

2008 : Alexandra Burke won, and like Leona Lewis, later made a name for herself in the states. JLS were second and were world-wide hits.

2009 : Joe McElderry won, and will now turn up to the opening of an envelope. Olly Murs and Stacey Soloman were just behind him, and have had good careers since, notably Murs.

2010 : Matt Cardle won this year. One Direction were third, and are now the biggest boyband in the world.

2011 : Probably the only year a group has won and continued to be successful - Little Mix.

2012/2013 : Winners were James Arthur and Sam Bailey, both of which have disappeared since winning. Nobody from their series have made particular impressions since.

2014 : Ben Haenow (or Whonow?) won, Fleur East was clearly the most popular and a few weeks after the series ended, she was signed by Cowell.

Now ITV have bought The Voice, I think it's time that The X Factor is atleast rested, it's clearly a dire format that has been unsuccessfully rehashed over the years, and IMO, has met its end.

Some of your facts are wrong. Shayne Ward did have some hits, and was successful till about 2008/09. Alexandra didn't have success in the US. You've forgotten Jedward and Amelia Lilly.

I do agree with you though that the Voice should be replacing X Factor.

I totally disagree that The Voice is an XF replacement. It suffers from its own issues and when advertising and ITV's production values are brought into it, it too will struggle to maintain a substantial audience (i.e. improve XFs current figures)

Shayne Ward's success was nowhere near the level of 1D or Olly Murs. Alexandra Burke was a success in the US. Jedward were famous for being mocked, and didn't make the final three (hence why I didn't include them). Amelia Lilly was a one hit wonder.

I don't think that's ever been the problem. The whole draw of these shows is following the contestants through the weeks, picking your favourites, the drama over who will go through to next week and so on. I don't think the majority of X Factor viewers have ever really cared what happens after the final.

Has The Voice in its 4 seasons actually created a single successful artist - at all ?

No, but only because they failed to do what other shows did and release a single afterwards for the winner, which could have helped make impact.

The move to ITV may change all that, especially if it replaces X Factor and challenges for Christmas No.1

The X Factor has created a huge number of artists who went on to develop careers. The Voice UK has not. TVUK can not be considered as a replacement for TXF.