On a quest to be even bigger than ever - despite the loss of its star judges - this year’s X Factor live shows will be three hours long.
The three-hour reality TV marathons will top last year’s record of two and a half hours for the X Factor live final.
The Daily Mirror reported that an X Factor insider said: “The feeling is that the audience can’t get enough of the show and extending the programmes again seems the natural next step.
“The idea is simple. More X Factor will mean more viewers, more advertising space, more telephone votes and, ultimately, more revenue.”
Simon Cowell is thought to be engineering things to gain maximum profit from the show, despite no longer starring in it, with ad slots in the programme selling for up to £8,000 a second.
The insider added: “The final details are still being ironed out but there will definitely be more X Factor on screen this year than has ever been seen before. There are going to be longer shows and, hopefully, more of them.”
This year’s contestants will be judged by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa Contostavlos and Louis Walsh.