Demands: Simon Cowell has asked ITV for more money to stage the X Factor before agreeing to return to the channel



Simon Cowell plunged the future of The X Factor into crisis last night after revealing he had yet to sign a deal with ITV to bring the show back next year.



The music mogul has demanded increased investment from the broadcaster of up to £500,000 an episode.

The hit show has enjoyed record viewing figures in excess of 14 million.

This weekend’s final is expected to attract 20 million, featuring performances from Robbie Williams, Michael Buble and George Michael.



The 2009 X Factor has been the most lavish series yet with the live shows costing between £1.5 -1.7 million to screen every week.

But Cowell, 50, is understood to want ITV to push the budget up to as much as £2 million an episode next year.

His own £20 million three year deal expires at the end of this month.

Speaking yesterday, the multi-millionaire - whose personal fortune stands at £130 million - said: ‘The way things stand next year we have no deal in place for The X Factor.

‘Part of the reason the show has been so successful and I credit ITV for this, is they invest money in the programme to make it better.



‘When we do a negotiation with the network it is not about salaries for the people on it. The issue is how much money are you going to invest over a period of time.



‘There are a lot of other things like what show are you going to be following, what time of night, all those sorts of things.



‘Until we resolve that, it is difficult to say [if it will return]. We have to make sure if we do bring it back, it is better than this year.’



Cowell is now expected meet with producers and ITV to finalise terms of his own deal and the future of his top-rated shows on the network in the new year.



Lavish: Production of The X-Factor costs £1.7million to put on each weekend

He added: ‘We will make the decision when we have had a break from the show. It is a long show. We will take a break, then we will sit down and talk about what we want to do [in the New Year].’

The move puts the ailing broadcaster in a difficult position as it will not want to lose one of its most popular stars and its best performing series - but it may struggle to find the extra funding.

The broadcaster has slashed more than a third of its 5,500 workforce to cut costs because of financial constraint and the budget for shows has been cut by £135million for the next two years.

Cowell’s decision to publicly raise his concerns will pile pressure on the broadcaster to find a solution to ensure it returns The X Factor next year but it is expected the two sides will secure a deal.



He is currently negotiating a pay rise for appearing on American Idol from £22 million a series to around £30 million, but he is also in talks to secure a larger fee – perhaps as much as £35-40 million by taking The X Factor there.



Cowell, joined by his fellow judges, Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogues, also criticised rival talent show, the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing claiming ‘no one was watching it’ and asking “who has won it?” – even though it has not finished yet.



The BBC1 show, which has its semi-finals this weekend, pulls in audiences of 8-9 million, but has been beaten by The X Factor when the shows have gone head to head.

Cowell also said some of the shows on the public service broadcaster were ‘indulgent’ and ‘boring’.



Meanwhile Cowell branded an internet campaign to try and stop the X Factor winner scoring the Christmas number one as 'stupid'.

The X Factor creator and judge said the Facebook campaign, which he saw as a personal vendetta against him, was 'cynical' and 'dismissive' of the show's viewers.

Scroll down to watch a MailOnline video report



Rage Against Reality TV: The Facebook page calling on members to prevent the X Factor winner becoming this year's Christmas number one

The Facebook group, which currently has 548,000 members, is calling for a mass purchase of Rage Against The Machine's 1992 single Killing In The Name in an attempt to make it this year's UK Christmas number one. The page was set up by two music fans, Tracy and Jon Morter, who said they would 'love to see a Christmas No.1 containing the word "f***".' It asks members to start buying the song as a download from this Sunday, the day the X Factor winner is announced. But speaking at a press conference today, Simon Cowell said: 'If there's a campaign, and I think the campaign's aimed directly at me, it's stupid. Me having a number one record at Christmas is not going to change my life particularly.'

The final three: (L-R) Olly Murs, Stacey Solomon and Joe McElderry said they are looking forward to this weekend's grand final Accompanied by his fellow judges, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh, and the remaining three finalists, Stacey Solomon, Joe McElderry and Olly Murs, he added: 'It does however change these guys' lives and we put this opportunity there so that the winner of the X Factor gets the chance of having a big hit record. 'I think it's quite a cynical campaign geared at me which is actually going to spoil the party for these three. 'I also think it's incredibly dismissive of the people who watch and enjoy the show... to treat our audiences as if they're stupid and I don't like that.' The three X Factor 2009 finalists...



Geordie duo: Cheryl Cole is keeping her fingers crossed for her act this weekend



Girl power: Stacey Solomon will be giving her all for mentor Dannii Minogue



Here come the boys: Simon Cowell stands proudly next to his act Olly Murs



Speaking ahead of the impending final, Stacey said: 'I feel like this is the best week ever for pressure because we're in the final three. First, second, third. We're going to get a medal. I feel like I've come right to the end..... and the pressure's nice. I feel really relaxed and really happy.'

Joe said: 'I just hyperventilate before I go on and just put all the nerves into the performance.'

And Olly added that he was looking forward to the final, in which one act will be leaving at the end of Saturday night's show, and the final two will battle it out on Sunday.

He said: 'I'm just going to go out there and enjoy it, have fun, have a really good night.'

Cowell said apart from the winner, he had not yet made any plans in regard to who he might sign to his record label

But he praised the final three competitors and said: 'What I like about these three singers is they're the guy and girl who live next door. They haven't come from ghastly stage school backgrounds, they haven't had an awful lot of experience.

'These three people, who under normal circumstances would find it really hard to get a recording contract, suddenly have got a shot.'

And he also said no decision had been made about the next series, because a deal had yet to be finalised.

Cheryl was asked whether she would return to the show if her act Joe won the competition and how much Cowell would have to pay to keep her.

She said: 'I would actually take a few months to have a good think about it... he is (Simon) on his best behaviour... nothing to do with money.'



