X Factor UK preps US debut on AXS

Music cable channel AXS TV is taking The X Factor UK into the US for the first time.

The channel has signed a deal with FremantleMedia International to broadcast the upcoming eleventh season of the show, which comes from Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment and FremantleMedia UK-owned Thames TV.

The new season of the UK show will feature format creator Cowell and singer Mel B, who both appeared as judges on the cancelled US version.

Distributor FMI is making a concerted push to spread the original UK X Factor series around the world and recently sold it RTL CBS Entertainment in Asia.

Ryan Seacrest, who presents one of Cowell’s other shows, American Idol, is a part-owner of AXS, along with founder Mark Cuban, CBS, Creative Artists Agency and Anschutz Entertainment Group.