Cowell Puts His Money On Red Or Black

Following on from the news that new show Sing If You Can will be premiering next week on ITV alongside the new season of Britain’s Got Talent, it looks as though talent show kingpin Simon Cowell is looking to ‘try his luck’ in the gameshow market.

He is joining his production company Syco with ITV’s in-house production division (ITV Studios) take on a big-money project currently known under the working title of Red or Black.

The new series is not fully confirmed, but is hotly tipped to air for one week in September on ITV1, while Cowell is expected to come on board as executive producer.

This is a bit of a breakaway move for Syco on ITV, who have produced the talent shows (Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor) with Talkback Thames, but the different genre of show may excuse rumours of their relationship breaking down.

ITV Studios have recently been on the lookout for new shows to produce to add to their current roster including hit entertainment shows such as Coronation Street, Come Dine With Me (Channel 4), Dancing on Ice, and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.

The show itself is planned to feature 17,000 members of the public (to be chosen at random after paying £1 a ticket to enter the draw) as contestants at a giant roulette wheel live on national TV, with the number decreasing each night (by losing on the wheel) until only one remains on the final night for a big gamble on a £1M pot, although full details on the format are being worked out.

Popular presenting duo Ant and Dec are being lined up as the hosts of the week-long show, which is being planned for filming in either the O2 Arena or Wembley Arena (both in London (England)), with the large venues presumably being proposed to house the many contestants at one time.

A source said of the proposed show: “Simon is very excited about this programme. It will be easily the biggest show ever seen on British television. We’ve never seen anything like Red Or Black in the UK before. It is going to be big, noisy and expensive, a real telly event. It is not only a massive gamble for the contestant, but also for Simon and ITV, but they are confident it will be a big hit.”

The source also commented on the format, stating: “Simon has been working on the concept for some time and at last everything has fallen into place and the show is good to go. It is massive in the number of contests and also the huge prize on offer on the spin of a roulette wheel - a £1 million fortune resting on whether someone chooses either red or black. As the number of contestants gets smaller and smaller, viewers will get to know them like they do with Deal Or No Deal and The X Factor.”

ITV currently have a three-year deal for the talent contests run by Cowell, but while he had to postpone plans for a new World’s Got Talent all-star show this summer (due to his commitment to the new American version of The X Factor), could the channel, and Syco Productions, find Red or Black to be their next big collective hit?

Crazy Matt Cazzy into all things hi-tech, gizmos and gadgets. If its just out, i want it. Loves watching tv on every device ever invented that can handle it
Matt
View all posts by Matt
Matts website

Latest TV searches:

itv com/blackorred, red or black, itv com/redblack, itv com blackorred, itv com/blackandred, itv comredorblack, red or black simon cowell, Red and Black, red or black producer, itv blackorred

Related News:

  1. Cowell Puts Wham Man Into X Factor US
  2. ITV Keeps Key Shows In New Deal With Simon Cowell
  3. Simon Cowell Brings LA To LA
  4. X Factor Wait For Simon Cowell Delays UK Show
  5. X Factor Finalists All In The Money

22 Responses to “Cowell Puts His Money On Red Or Black”

  1. [...] Cowell has officially launched his new gameshow series Red or Black, after previous rumors of a new show coming from the music guru and acid tongued [...]

  2. David Cowley on May 6th, 2011 at 6:20 am

    where do you apply for the show?
    thanks David

  3. How and where do I apply for the show please.

  4. red or black, love roulette, want to go on the show win a million, got to give it to simon cowell, in the continued quest of global domination

  5. how do you apply to do the show please and what is involved??? thank you SUe

  6. olivia taylor on May 7th, 2011 at 1:18 pm

    I whant 2 be on this show

  7. catherine sloman on May 7th, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    would love to take part in the show, love roulette, let me know how I enter an i’ll be there x

  8. Sounds great really would love to win 1 million.Where do I apply?

  9. Would like to take part in this show as I consider myself fairly lucky. Lets see if I am!

  10. Hi I would like to come on show to give my three kids a good head start in life

  11. samantha regan on May 8th, 2011 at 7:11 am

    i would love to be on the new black and red show if you could email me on how to apply? look forward to hearing from you

  12. Count me in, where do i apply? Could do with a bit of fun.

  13. Let me know how to apply for the show please any one? Thank you

  14. can i please take part on this show it sounds really good how can i apply ?can somebody let me now please

  15. hi i would love to be on the new black and red show please can u email with application im giddy

  16. hi lucy here want to be on the show please can u let me have the info via email

  17. Stephen Beattie on May 8th, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    Could you please email details of how to apply for the Red and Black gameshow.thanx!

  18. I would love to know how to apply for a application, sound fun

  19. Sharon Graham on May 10th, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    Would like to know when and how do i apply for the show, never been on a game show before, would love the experience.

  20. what is it all about and how do we apply????????/

  21. Can you email me an application to apply please. Looks really fun. Thanks

  22. [...] said of the idea, which like last year’s Red or Black gameshow announcement seems to have appeared to the public out of nowhere: “We have been working on this show for [...]

Leave a Reply