The X Factor (Australian TV series)

The X Factor
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Genre	Reality
Created by	Simon Cowell
Presented by	Daniel MacPherson Luke Jacobz Matthew Newton
Judges	Kate Ceberano Mark Holden John Reid Natalie Imbruglia Kyle Sandilands Guy Sebastian Ronan Keating Natalie Bassingthwaighte Mel B Redfoo Dannii Minogue James Blunt Chris Isaak
Voices of	Nicholas McKay
Theme music composer	Jos Jorgensen Andy Love Simon Cowell
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	200 (as of 24 November 2015)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jonathon Summerhayes
Production location(s)	Various (auditions) Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Victoria (2005 live shows) Fox Studios, Sydney, New South Wales (current live shows)
Running time	60–120 minutes
Production company(s)	Grundy Television (2005) FremantleMedia Australia (2010–present)
Release
Original network	Network Ten (2005) Seven Network (2010–)
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	Original series: 6 February 2005 – 15 May 2005 Revived series: 30 August 2010 – present
Chronology
Related shows	The X Factor (UK) The X Factor (U.S.) The X Factor (New Zealand)
External links
Website

The X Factor is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The first season of the show premiered on Network Ten on 6 February 2005. Ten dropped The X Factor after the first season due to poor ratings. In 2010, the Seven Network won the rights to the show, and a second season went into production. The X Factor was renewed after the highly successful Australian Idol was no longer broadcast on Network Ten. The X Factor is produced by FremantleMedia Australia, and is currently broadcast on the Seven Network in Australia and on TV3 in New Zealand.

The original judging panel line-up in 2005 consisted of Mark Holden, Kate Ceberano, and John Reid. When the show was revived in 2010, the judging panel was replaced by Ronan Keating, Natalie Imbruglia, Kyle Sandilands and Guy Sebastian. Imbruglia and Sandilands did not return for season three and were replaced by Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Mel B. Redfoo and Dannii Minogue joined the panel in season five as replacements for Sebastian and Mel B. Sebastian returned to the panel in season seven along with new judges James Blunt and Chris Isaak, as replacements for Keating, Bassingthwaighte and Redfoo.

During the televised audition phases of The X Factor, originally the contestants sang in an "audition room" in front of just the judges, however, from season two onwards all auditionees sing on stage in an arena, in front of the judges and a live audience. The successful acts then progress to the next stage of the competition, "bootcamp" and later "home visits", where the judges narrow their category down to three acts who will continue to the live shows, where the public vote for their favourite act, following weekly performances by the contestants. The 8th Season will see the biggest changed implemented in the shows history, as it will revert back to "closed" auditions solely in front of the judging panel, before moving onto a "super bootcamp" format.

There have been seven winners to date: Random, Altiyan Childs, Reece Mastin, Samantha Jade, Dami Im, Marlisa Punzalan and Cyrus Villanueva. Winners received a recording contract with record label Sony Music Australia. In season three, the winner also received a management contract, and in season four, a Nissan Dualis car. Each winning contestant's single has charted within the top-ten of the ARIA Singles Chart, only Mastin's, Jade's and Im's singles have reached number one. There have also been a number of hit singles released by other contestants who have appeared on The X Factor. The show has received numerous awards and nominations, including five Logie Award nominations, of which it has won one for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program.

History

The X Factor was created by Simon Cowell in the United Kingdom and is based on the original UK series. Cowell then began to grow and expand the The X Factor competition franchise and in 2005, the Australian version of the show was launched on Network Ten, the same channel as the highly successful Australian Idol. However, due to poor ratings Network Ten dropped The X Factor after one season.

In 2010, once the seventh and final season of Australian Idol was completed, it was announced that Seven Network went into a "bidding war" with Nine Network to obtain the rights of The X Factor, which they later won and a second season went into production. Networks Seven and Nine both began the bidding war after expressing interest by attending a conference organised by Cowell. Andrew Backwell, Nine Network's director of production and development, and Tim Worner of Network Seven's head of programming, both attended the conference. Cowell wanted the Australian version to match his "own specifications", and said that it would cost at least $20 million for 21 hours of television. The X Factor was originally set to return in February 2011, but began in August 2010.

Format

The X Factor is primarily concerned with identifying singing talent, though appearance, personality, and stage presence. Dance routines are also important elements of many performances. Throughout the live shows, the judges act as mentors to their category, helping to decide song choices, styling and staging, while judging contestants from other categories. For each season, each judge is assigned a category and they mentor their three acts individually, with all acts having a shared amount of time with their mentor. Each of the 12 acts also have rehearsal time in the studio with their mentor. In some cases, if a solo artist is not strong enough, the judges will put together a group of solo artists which have potential to be great as a band. In season six only, a wildcard was introduced to add one more act to the live shows, thus making it 13 finalists.

Categories

In season one, the show was split into three categories: 16-24s (soloists aged 16–24), Over 25s (soloists aged 25 and over) and Groups (including duos). In seasons two–four, the 16-24s category was split into separate male and female sections, making four categories in all: Under 25 Boys, Under 25 Girls, Over 25s, and Groups. In season three, the minimum age for the Under 25 Boys and Under 25 Girls categories was lowered to 14. In season five only, the Over 25s was changed to Over 24s, with the Boys and Girls categories age group becoming 14–23. For Season 8, Bands are now able to audition, any can play instruments - they will be part of the Groups category.

Stages

There are five stages to the competition:

• Stage 1: Open auditions (these auditions decide who will sing in front of the judges)
• Stage 2: Judges' auditions
• Stage 3: Bootcamp
• Stage 4: Super home visits
• Stage 5: Live shows (finals)

Auditions

The first set of auditions is held in front of the show's producers, months before The X Factor is aired. The open auditions are not televised and anyone can attend. The successful auditionees chosen by the producers are invited back to the last set of the audition phase, which takes place in front of the show's judging panel and a live audience. If there are three judges present during the auditions, the act needs at least two "yes" votes (three if there are four judges present) to gain the majority vote. The judges' auditions are held on selected dates and locations in a number of major cities of Australia, and are broadcast over the first few weeks of The X Factor. The show is open to solo artists and vocal groups aged 14 and above, with no upper age limit. Only a selection of auditions in front of the judges are broadcast, usually the best, the worst and the most bizarre. During the first season of The X Factor, each act entered an audition room and delivered a stand-up unaccompanied performance of their chosen song to the judges, without any instrumental music playing. For Season 8 the closed room auditions will be brought back, where the contestants can sing with a backing track, acapella or with an instrument.

Bootcamp and super home visits

During the bootcamp stage (formerly lock down in season 1, and super bootcamp in seasons 4–6), each judge is assigned one of the four categories to mentor. It is usually held on three days. In seasons one, two and three, each judge was given 24 acts and had to decide on their 12 acts after day two, and their six acts after day three. Each judge was assisted by a celebrity guest judge who would help them choose their acts. In season one, the judges narrowed down their acts to five instead of six. In seasons four, five and six, all four judges worked together to collectively choose 24 acts (six from each category) for the next round, home visits, where they find out which category they will mentor. From season seven, bootcamp is now based around the five seat challenge, where each judge chooses their five acts to go through to the super home visits. Season 8 has saw the chair challenge axed in favour of a super bootcamp which will focus on individual workshops, with industry professionals guiding the contestants along with the judges. The contestants will then perform in front of the judges and a live audience.

From seasons two to six, the super home visits stage (formerly judges' houses in seasons 1–2, and home visits in seasons 3–6), saw the judges and their remaining six acts travel to four different places of the world. From season seven, all four judges and their remaining five acts travel to the same location. During the super home visits, each act performs one song in front of their mentor and celebrity guest judges. Afterwards, each mentor and their guest judges narrow down the acts to three for the live shows.

Live shows and winner's prize

File:XFactorPolandStage.jpg

Stage built for The X Factor live shows. All stages are the same throughout The X Factor franchise.

The finals consist of two live shows, the first featuring the contestants' performances and the second revealing the results of the public voting, culminating in one act being eliminated each week. The live shows are filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney. In season one, the shows were filmed at Hisense Arena (formerly Vodafone Arena) in Melbourne. In season two, the live shows were broadcast on Sunday and Monday nights, but moved to Monday and Tuesday nights for seasons three and four. In season five, the live shows returned to Sunday and Monday nights. In season seven, the live shows were once again broadcast on Monday and Tuesday nights.

In the initial performance shows, each act performs one song (two songs each during the Semi-Final and three songs each during the Grand Final) in front of the judges and a studio audience. The acts usually sing over a pre-recorded backing track, and backup dancers are commonly featured as well as stage props. Acts occasionally accompany themselves on guitar or piano. From the second season, each performance show has a different theme; each act's song is chosen according to the theme. The acts' mentors pick the song for them and critique their performance in order to get it perfect for the live shows. A celebrity guest connected to the theme is often invited onto The X Factor, and clips are shown of the guest conversing with the contestants at rehearsal. After each act has performed, the judges comment on their performance. Heated disagreements, usually involving judges defending their acts against criticism, are a regular feature of the show. Once all the acts have performed, the phone lines open and the viewing public vote on which act they want to keep in the competition.

The results are announced during the live decider show the following day, in aid to give the Australian public time to vote. The two acts that received the lowest number of votes perform again in the "final showdown", and the judges vote on which of the two to send home. In the first season, there would never be an even number, therefore one act would always be eliminated by a majority. However, once a fourth judge was added to the panel, this was possible and "deadlock" was introduced in case of a tie vote. If the final showdown goes to deadlock, the act with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated from the competition. The actual number of votes cast for each act is not revealed, nor is the order. The results show also features a number of celebrity guest performers promoting their singles or albums, usually their latest ones. The winner of The X Factor is awarded a recording contract with Sony Music Australia. In season three, the winner was also awarded a management contract, and in season four, a Nissan Dualis car.

Series summary

To date, Seven seasons have been broadcast, as summarised below.

     Contestant in (or mentor of) "Under 25 Boys" or "Under 24 Boys" category
     Contestant in (or mentor of) "Under 25 Girls" or "Under 24 Girls" category
     Contestant in (or mentor of) "16-24s" category
     Contestant in (or mentor of) "Over 25s" or "Over 24s" category
     Contestant in (or mentor of) "Groups" category

Season	Start	Finish	Winner	Runner-up	Third place	Winning mentor	Main host	Other host(s)	Judging panel
One	6 February 2005	15 May 2005	Random	Russell Gooley	Vince Harder	Mark Holden	Daniel MacPherson	Chloe Maxwell (Xtra Factor)	Mark Holden Kate Ceberano John Reid
Two	30 August 2010	22 November 2010	Altiyan Childs	Sally Chatfield	Andrew Lawson	Ronan Keating	Luke Jacobz	Matthew Newton (auditions) Natalie Garonzi (Xtra Factor)	Ronan Keating Natalie Imbruglia Guy Sebastian Kyle Sandilands
Three	29 August 2011	22 November 2011	Reece Mastin	Andrew Wishart	Johnny Ruffo	Guy Sebastian		N/A	Ronan Keating Guy Sebastian Natalie Bassingthwaighte Mel B
Four	20 August 2012	20 November 2012	Samantha Jade	Jason Owen	The Collective	Guy Sebastian		Johnny Ruffo (The X Stream)
Five	29 July 2013	28 October 2013	Dami Im	Taylor Henderson	Jai Waetford	Dannii Minogue		N/A	Ronan Keating Natalie Bassingthwaighte Dannii Minogue Redfoo
Six	13 July 2014	20 October 2014	Marlisa Punzalan	Dean Ray	Brothers3	Ronan Keating		Luke & Wyatt (The Fan Factor)
Seven	13 September 2015	24 November 2015	Cyrus Villanueva	Louise Adams	Jess & Matt	Chris Isaak		N/A	Guy Sebastian Dannii Minogue James Blunt Chris Isaak
Eight	2016	2016	TBA

Judges and hosts

Judges

Current X Factor judges

Guy Sebastian

Dannii Minogue

James Blunt

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Chris Isaak

The X Factor debuted in 2005 with Australian recording artist Kate Ceberano, record producer Mark Holden, and Scottish events manager John Reid as the judges. Ceberano's judging skills were compared to X Factor UK judge, Sharon Osbourne. When it was announced that The X Factor would return in 2010, British reality television star Peter Andre was linked to the role. However, he declined the offer as he did not want to be away from his children for so long. The judging line up was announced in May 2010 with Irish recording artist Ronan Keating, radio presenter Kyle Sandilands, and Australian recording artists Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia. On 16 March 2011, Sandilands announced that he would not be returning for the third season, stating that he left the show because "it's just too hectic, it's too much work". On 27 April 2011, the Seven Network confirmed that Mel B would be Sandilands' replacement, and Natalie Bassingthwaighte was confirmed as Imbruglia's replacement on 6 May 2011. Bassingthwaighte said she would focus on bringing an honest critique to the show and will guide "the artists through the competition", while Mel B said, "[The contestants] are either going to love me or hate me but it's going to be a fun ride. I'm really easy to get on with and I'm a hard worker. I'm firm but nice." Keating, Sebastian, Bassingthwaighte and Mel B returned for the fourth season in 2012.

In March 2013, Keating confirmed in an interview with News Limited that Sebastian and Mel B had left the show, but stated that he wanted them to return. Dannii Minogue was announced as Mel B's replacement on 12 April 2013, and Redfoo was announced as Sebastian's replacement on 21 April 2013. Keating, Bassingthwaigte, Minogue and Redfoo returned for the sixth season in 2014. In April 2015, Keating and Bassingthwaighte announced that they would not be returning for the seventh season in 2015. Redfoo also announced his departure the following month. On 3 May 2015, it was announced that Sebastian would be returning to the panel along with two new judges James Blunt and Chris Isaak. Minogue was the only judge from the previous season who returned.

Hosts and other personnel

File:Luke Jacobz X Factor.jpg

Luke Jacobz hosted The X Factor from series two until series seven.

When The X Factor began in 2005, Daniel MacPherson was the main host of the show and Chloe Maxwell was the host of spin off show, The Xtra Factor. Following the announcement that The X Factor was returning in 2010, the Herald Sun reported that MacPherson was favourite to fill the hosting role but was unable to commit because of his duties on Dancing with the Stars. On 30 May 2010, actor Matthew Newton was announced as the host. However, on 22 August 2010, it was revealed that Newton had to withdraw after an altercation in Rome with his now ex-girlfriend Rachael Taylor. Newton flew from Rome to Dublin, where he was to film segments for The X Factor with Keating. However, he was escorted back to Australia by a producer of the show after they decided he was in no state to film. He was then checked into Wentworthville's Northside West Clinic.

On 23 August 2010, it was announced that actor Luke Jacobz would take over as host and all original audition footage with Newton was removed with footage of Jacobz being shot instead. On 28 August 2010, it was announced that radio presenter Natalie Garonzi would host The Xtra Factor on 7Two. Season three finalist Johnny Ruffo joined the fourth season live shows as the host of the online live streaming show, The X Stream. Comedy duo Luke & Wyatt joined the sixth season live shows as the hosts of the online show, The Fan Factor. On 24 November 2015, Jacobz announced on his Twitter account that he would not be returning as the host for the eighth season in 2016.

Judges' categories and their finalists

See also: List of The X Factor (Australia) finalists

Altiyan Childs won the second season

Samantha Jade won the fourth season

File:Dami Im 2014.jpg

Dami Im won the fifth season

In each season, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses a small number of acts (three acts) to progress to the live finals. This table shows, for each season, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.

Key:

     – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

Season	Mark Holden	Kate Ceberano	John Reid	N/A
One	Groups Random Kaya The Brothership	16-24s Vincent Harder Jacob Butler Gemma Purdy	Over 25s Russell Gooley Roslynn Mahe Janie Shrapnel
Two	Ronan Keating	Natalie Imbruglia	Guy Sebastian	Kyle Sandilands
	Over 25s Altiyan Childs Amanda Grafanakis James McNally	Under 25 Girls Sally Chatfield Hayley Teal India-Rose Madderom	Groups Mahogany Luke and Joel Kharizma	Under 25 Boys Andrew Lawson Mitchell Smith Chris Doe
Three	Ronan Keating	Natalie Bassingthwaighte	Guy Sebastian	Mel B
	Groups Three Wishez Young Men Society Audio Vixen	Over 25s Andrew Wishart Mitchell Callaway Cleo Howman	Under 25 Boys Reece Mastin Johnny Ruffo Declan Sykes	Under 25 Girls Christina Parie Jacqui Newland Tyla Bertolli
Four	Groups The Collective Fourtunate What About Tonight	Under 25 Girls Bella Ferraro Shiane Hawke Angel Tupai	Over 25s Samantha Jade Nathaniel Willemse Justin Standley	Under 25 Boys Jason Owen Carmelo Munzone Josh Brookes Adil Memon
Five	Ronan Keating	Natalie Bassingthwaighte	Dannii Minogue	Redfoo
	Under 24 Boys Taylor Henderson Jai Waetford Omar Dean	Groups Third Degree JTR Adira-Belle	Over 24s Dami Im Barry Southgate Cat Vas	Under 24 Girls Jiordan Tolli Joelle Hadjia Ellie Lovegrove
Six	Under 25 Girls Marlisa Punzalan Caitlyn Shadbolt Sydnee Carter	Under 25 Boys Dean Ray Tee Adrien Nookadu	Groups Brothers3 XOX Younger Than Yesterday Trill	Over 25s Reigan Derry Jason Heerah Rochelle Pitt
Seven	James Blunt	Guy Sebastian	Dannii Minogue	Chris Isaak
	Over 25s Louise Adams Natalie Conway Dan Hamill	Groups Jess & Matt In Stereo The Fisher Boys	Under 25 Girls Mahalia Simpson Michaela Baranov Georgia Denton	Under 25 Boys Cyrus Villanueva Big T Jimmy Davis

Reception

Ratings

Season	Episodes	Premiere			Finale					Average viewers (in millions)
		Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Rank	Date	Live Decider Viewers (in millions)	Rank	Winner Announced Viewers (in millions)	Rank
One	13	6 February 2005	N/A		15 May 2005	N/A
Two	28	30 August 2010	1.186	#5	22 November 2010	1.363	#3	1.632	#1	1.2
Three	32	29 August 2011	1.319	#1	22 November 2011	1.721	#2	1.998	#1	1.4
Four	33	20 August 2012	1.598	#1	20 November 2012	1.881	#2	1.921	#1	1.50
Five	32	29 July 2013	1.633	#1	28 October 2013	2.251	#2	2.431	#1	1.56
Six	34	13 July 2014	1.226	#2	20 October 2014	1.378	#2	1.428	#1	1.14
Seven	28	13 September 2015	1.506	#1	24 November 2015	1.045	#2	1.204	#1	1.07

Awards and nominations

Year	Type	Award	Result
2010	TV Tonight Awards	Best Reality (Australian)	Nominated
	Poprepublic.tv IT List Awards	Australian TV Show	Won
2011	Logie Awards	Most Popular Reality Program	Nominated
	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Get Real Award	Nominated
	TV Tonight Awards	Best Reality (Australian)	Nominated
	Poprepublic.tv IT List Awards	Favourite Australian TV Show	Won
2012	Logie Awards	Most Popular Reality Program	Nominated
	Poprepublic.tv IT List Awards	Favourite Australian TV Show	Won
2013	Logie Awards	Most Popular Light Entertainment Program	Nominated
		Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program	Won
	Cosmopolitan Fun, Fearless, Female Awards	TV Personality (Dannii Minogue)	Nominated
	TV Tonight Awards	Best Reality Show (Australian)	Nominated
	Poprepublic.tv Awards	Favourite Australian TV Show	Won
		Favourite Concert Tour of 2013 (The X Factor Live Tour)	Nominated
2014	AACTA Awards	Best Reality Television Series	Nominated
	Logie Awards	Most Popular Light Entertainment Program	Nominated
	Cosmopolitan Fun, Fearless, Female Awards	TV Personality (Dannii Minogue)	Nominated
	Screen Producers Australia Awards	Reality Television Production	Nominated
	TV Tonight Awards	Best Reality Show (Australian)	Nominated
		Worst Male (Redfoo)	Nominated
2015	AACTA Awards	Best Reality Television Series	Nominated
	Screen Producers Australia Awards	Reality Television Production	Won
	AACTA Awards	Best Reality TV	Pending

Spin-offs

The Xtra Factor

The Xtra Factor was a companion show that was broadcast after the main live shows. In season one, The Xtra Factor was broadcast on Network Ten and hosted by Chloe Maxwell. After The X Factor was revived for a second season in 2010, Natalie Garonzi became the new host of The Xtra Factor on the Seven Network's digital channel 7Two. The show was not renewed when The X Factor returned for a third season in 2011. The voiceover for both series of The Xtra Factor was Nicholas McKay.

The show featured behind-the-scenes footage of The X Factor and the emotional responses of the contestants after the judges commented on their performances. A celebrity panel was usually featured, who gave their opinions on the contestants. The judges and contestants also answered phone calls from viewers, while Facebook statuses, tweets, and SMS messages appeared on screen. The Xtra Factor also showed extra auditions, bootcamp performances and the judges' houses performances.

During the finalists time on The X Factor, The Xtra Factor camera crew followed the finalists about during their day. The footage which was filmed throughout the week would be broadcast once the show went live, once a week. There would also be an exclusive interview of the act which had been eliminated during that week of the show, and an exclusive interview with the winner and their mentor.

The X Stream

The X Stream was an online live streaming show that was broadcast via The X Factor's official website during the season four live performance shows on Monday nights. The show began on 17 September 2012 and was hosted by season three finalist Johnny Ruffo. The X Stream featured behind-the-scenes footage of the green room where contestants stay before and after their performances, a view of them waiting backstage as well as the contestants' responses after the judges commented on their performances. They also answered questions from viewers via Twitter. The X Stream did not return in 2013.

The Fan Factor

The Fan Factor was an online show that was hosted by comedy duo Luke & Wyatt. It began on 13 August 2014 and featured an all-access pass to The X Factor. The hosts also answered questions and completed challenges that viewers sent in. New episodes were released via The X Factor's official website on Wednesday nights. The Fan Factor did not return in 2015.

Music releases by The X Factor contestants

Main article: The X Factor (Australia) discography

File:Reece Mastin 4, 2012.jpg

Season three winner Reece Mastin is the most successful contestant

After The X Factor winner is announced in the grand final, the winner receives a recording contract with Sony Music Australia and their winner's single is made available to download on the iTunes Store. A few weeks later, their debut album is released, which contains their winner's single and cover versions of songs they performed during the live shows. Since season three, the contestants' weekly performances are released onto the iTunes Store for a limited time only, which lead to a number of downloads and in some cases their performances appear on the ARIA Singles Chart. Some top twelve finalists of the competition are also offered record deals, while others release their music independently. Contestants that did not win but signed with Sony Music Australia include Johnny Ruffo, Young Men Society, The Collective, Jason Owen, Bella Ferraro, Nathaniel Willemse, Third Degree, Taylor Henderson, Jai Waetford, Dean Ray and Reigan Derry. Other contestants Christina Parie and Brothers3 signed with Warner Music Australia.

In November 2011, season three winner Reece Mastin became the first contestant to reach number one on the ARIA Singles Chart with the winner's single. To-date, Mastin is the most successful contestant, having released two top-five albums and three number-one singles (two in Australia and one in New Zealand). Season four winner Samantha Jade was the second contestant that topped the ARIA Singles Chart with the winner's single. Contestants have also achieved success on the New Zealand and South Korean charts.

Charity singles

The top twelve finalists of the fourth season recorded a cover of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" as a charity single, in aid of Sony Foundation's You Can program which aims "to build specialised and age-appropriate youth cancer centres across Australia". The single was released on the iTunes Store on 18 September 2012. It marked the first time finalists on the Australian version had released a charity single. The show's second charity single, a cover of Pharrell Williams' "Happy", was also released to help raise funds for the You Can program. It was recorded by the top six finalists of the sixth season with Australian pop group Justice Crew and released on the iTunes Store on 29 September 2014.

International broadcast

Country / Region	Channel
New Zealand	TV3

See also

• List of Australian music television shows
• List of Australian television series
• The X Factor

External links

• Official website