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Simon Cowell’s DJ-Factor project canned again
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 2 November 2015
When you can’t even get your new pop talent contest onto Yahoo!, perhaps it’s time to consign the project to the televisual dustbin.
Simon Cowell has been trying to get a DJ version of ‘X-Factor’ off the ground for years, with past partnerships with Will Smith and then later SFX set up to achieve just that. But neither of those projects ever seemed to get to air, maybe – though not necessarily – because a DJ version of ‘X-Factor’ is a terrible idea for a TV show.
Which made it perfect for Yahoo! as it sought to make more TV-style original programming. And so earlier this year, the flagging web firm announced it would host ‘Ultimate DJ’, with Cowell set to work with EDM label Ultra Records on the project, and Yahoo!-owned Tumblr set to be employed as a voting channel. Somehow.
But last week the dream died. Despite very recently saying that the project was still due to go live next year, Yahoo! confirmed that ‘Ultimate DJ’ had been dropped, as the firm seemingly turns away from many of its long-form programming concepts, to focus more on its short-from video franchises.
No word yet on whether Cowell will have a fourth stab at getting ‘Ultimate DJ’ off the ground. Maybe MySpace would take it. I mean, do it right with a genuine site, I say.
