ITV today announces a new five-year commissioning deal with Syco Entertainment and Thames (part of Fremantle UK).

The agreement extends ITV’s successful and long standing relationship with Simon Cowell and Thames for a further five years, which will see him and his shows appear exclusively on the channel until at least 2024.

The partnership will ensure Britain’s Got Talent continues on ITV until 2024 and also sees The X Factor return in 2020.

Simon Cowell says:

“I am thrilled our relationship with ITV is to continue for the foreseeable future. ITV has always been home to Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor – and me! - and this long-term commitment shows the mutual respect in our partnership.

I would, of course, like to thank Carolyn and Kevin for their ongoing support plus all the teams at ITV, Syco and thames for their hard work and dedication.”

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Director of Television said:

“We are delighted to have secured Simon for another five years with ITV.

His track record speaks for itself. He creates shows that bring the nation together, celebrating the talent and diversity of modern Britain and giving ordinary people with extraordinary talent the chance to find fame.”

Amelia Brown, Managing Director Thames, says:

“The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent are shows full of heart, enjoyed by the whole family. Both celebrate talent of all kinds, from all walks of life and after 15 and 13 years respectively, we’re proud to make programmes which are much-loved staples of the ITV schedule. We are thrilled to continue our long-standing relationship with the network to bring these shows into people’s homes across the UK.”

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Notes to editors:

Simon Cowell’s quote refers to ITV Chief Executive Dame Carolyn McCall.

Both Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor have an exemplary reputation for finding stars and unearthing talent who are now some of the UK’s best loved household names. Acts such as One Direction, Leona Lewis, Little Mix, Olly Murs, Alexandra Burke, James Arthur, JLS, Diversity, Susan Boyle, Ashley and Pudsey, Paul Potts and Lost Voice Guy were all discovered by one of the shows and in total, acts discovered by The X Factor have sold more than 400 million records globally to date.

The 13th series of Britain's Got Talent fully consolidated with 8.5m viewers and a 39% share. The Britain's Got Talent final consolidated with 9.7m viewers and a 41% share of viewing.