Simon Fuller Branching Out

Simon Fuller, the creator of the “American Idol” franchise and chief exec of 19 Entertainment, is expected to announce he’s forming a new company outside the orbit of parent CKX.

While he insists he’ll remain fully involved with “Idol,” the move to start something new begs the question of CKX’s prospects for growth.

“I want to build a new company and do great things,” Fuller told the New York Times. “I don’t want to run somebody else’s company.”

That “somebody else” would likely refer to Robert F.X. Sillerman, the former concert promotion rollup king who is chairman and CEO of CKX, which purchased 19 Entertainment in 2005 and acquired a majority of Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Sillerman told the Times that CKX had the right to invest in Fuller’s new venture and “relieve Simon of the pressures of managing a large enterprise and let him focus his energy on creating things.”

It’s worth noting that 19 Entertainment assets, including “Idol,” “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Superstars of Dance,” accounted for more than 75 percent of CKX’s revenue and operating profit in the first nine months of 2009. And CKX’s acquisition of 19 Entertainment included a five-year non-compete for Fuller that expires this year.

But Fuller told the paper that “the relationship between me and 19 is going to be very close,” and any new venture would complement rather than compete with his old company.

Apparently referring to Simon Cowell’s announcement that he’s leaving his judge’s seat on “Idol” to begin producing an American version of “X Factor,” Fuller said his new company and CKX will be “joined at the hip.”

“We’ll go to great lengths to make the transition harmonious and positive,” Fuller told the Times.