Simon Cowell to Receive 2010 International Emmy® Founders Award

NEW YORK, March 25,  2010  – Simon Cowell, a leading entrepreneur, on-air personality and respected impresario who has reshaped 21st century television and music around the world, will receive the 2010 International Emmy® Founders Award. International Academy President & CEO, Bruce L. Paisner, announced today that Cowell will accept the Award at the 38th International Emmy® Awards Gala, on November 22, 2010 in New York City.
 
Cowell is an A&R executive, producer and star of three of the highest rated television shows in the US and the UK. In 2002 he founded his UK-based media and entertainment production company, Syco. Cowell first became publicly known as a judge on Pop Idol and later American Idol. Meanwhile, with Syco, Cowell was responsible for developing two of the biggest hit formats in the world, in the Got Talent and X Factor franchises. In 2007, he became the first producer to simultaneously have the #1 program in the UK and the US as Britain’s Got Talent and America’s Got Talent topped the television charts. Got Talent is Europe’s leading entertainment format and was the fastest selling format in 2007 as well as 2008. X Factor, having recently completed season six was awarded ‘Entertainment Show of the Year’ by the 2009 UK National Television Awards. Cowell’s shows can be seen in more than 70 countries around the world and in January 2010 Cowell announced that he would soon be bringing X Factor to the USA.
 
 “Simon Cowell is an entrepreneur and performer in equal measure. He has built an international empire and in so doing has changed the face of television around the world,” said Bruce Paisner.

In 2009, Cowell was named No. 1 in Hollywood Reporter’s Top 50 Most Powerful in Reality TV, and one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top Entertainers of the Year. A 20-year veteran of the music industry with his own record label, Cowell is an A&R executive within Sony Records and is responsible for some of the biggest acts of the last decade including Leona Lewis, Westlife and Susan Boyle. Over the last 15 years, his acts have achieved sales of more than 150 million albums, and Cowell has had more than 100 No. 1 records.

“I’m delighted, said Cowell. “I’ve been very lucky to be able to make shows that I love.”

About The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a membership based organization comprised of leading media and entertainment figures from over 50 countries and 500 companies from all sectors of television including internet, mobile and technology. The Academy’s yearly schedule of events includes the prestigious International Emmy® Awards Ceremony held in New York, The International Digital Emmy® Awards at MIPTV and a series of industry events such as Academy Day, The International Emmy® World Television Festival and Panels on substantive industry topics. The Academy was chartered with a mission to recognize excellence in television produced outside of the United States and it presents The International Emmy® Awards in the following fifteen categories: Arts Programming; Best Performance by an Actress; Best Performance by an Actor; Current Affairs; Children & Young People; Comedy; Digital Program: Children & Young People; Digital Program: Fiction; Digital Program: Non-Fiction; Documentary; Drama Series; News; Non-Scripted Entertainment; Telenovela; TV Movie/Mini-Series. For more information go to www.iemmys.tv.

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