Aoife O' Brien and friends watch Jedward on 'X Factor'

It ALL started with a few details scribbled down on a pad of paper by TV exec Alan Boyd at the start of spring in 2001 after two guys called Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller called to his office. Boyd wrote down some key points about the new television format they were proposing; "judges", "never before have 50,000 people auditioned", "public vote", "prize", "live show", "karaoke". That memo was to become the spark that lit an unstoppable inferno of reality television; endless franchises and copycat versions of America's Got Talent and Popstars, and of course, the mothership that is The X Factor.


While ratings continue to rocket (if the number of people who will watch The X Factor tonight became a city, its population would be bigger than two New Yorks) and Simon Cowell presumably prefaces his day by rolling around in a large pile of money and kissing cardboard cut-outs of Jedward, one wonders, when did it get so gigantic? The X Factor has always been huge, but Leona Lewis winning two years ago changed the game, transforming the cliché of a reality TV song contest winner from a washed-up 'where are they now' article subject, to a global superstar. Suddenly, The X Factor went from an annoying jewel in the crown of dumbed- down TV, to the default conversation topic of 16 million people. Everyone... Watches...
The X Factor. In terms of a 'story' or a narrative for the media, this autumn/winter is all about the song contest.


But why and how did it get this big? Leona was a game-changer, for sure, but there are other reasons, too. Exhibit A is the recession. More people are staying at home on a Saturday night, delivering ratings to primetime viewing on a platter. Plus, we're subconsciously creating events out of cheap or free activities, therefore something like
The X Factor becomes important to us, as we're acting along with the presumption that it must be watched so we don't spend money on something else. Another reason is switching a social venue from outside the home to inside it. Because alcohol is now seen as an expense for people who previously didn't even bother checking a receipt for a round, pre-drinking is a part of lots of people's weekends, and The X Factor provides a social forum for what is frankly the rather dubious activity of getting tipsy before you hit the bar.


At the end of the decade, it feels as though along with music festivals, football matches, and government protests, watching The X Factor is the last mass collective experience that we have, so much so that we watch it together to increase that collective experience. Aoife O'Brien (15) from Ballsbridge in Dublin hosts anywhere from five to 20 of her friends on a Saturday night. "It's quite boring watching it yourself on your own and it's more fun together. Everyone watches it and we all talk about it, it's something that everyone does," she says. Aoife and her friends change and do their make-up during the breaks, and then head for Wesley disco.


It's a trend that runs through most demographics. Etain Kidney, in her late-20s, spends her Saturday night in the same way as someone 10 years younger. "We generally go to someone's house, mostly mine, have some food and wine and just bitch about everything! We think we're judges because we are extensions of judges in our own homes. It's almost a constructive activity to do before you go out," she says.


And then there's the knock-on effect. Take-away food sales rocket during the programme. One pizza company in England even started predicting which contestants would be in the bottom two by figuring out during what performances they took the most orders signifying that people were bored or distracted enough to order at that time. Publicans across the country are complaining that people are late in the door and business is down because no one leaves their houses until The X Factor is done. Such tremendous audience figures make The X Factor irresistible to advertisers, and agencies in the UK are comparing this year's final to the Superbowl in terms of showcasing ads and the high cost involved in doing so. "Every brand manager wants to be in on it but there's only so much space to be had," says Paul McCabe, managing director of MCM Communications. "But there is a lot of spin-off. TV3 is trying to make its website as 'sticky' as possible with polls and videos and there is space to advertise there." Ratings aside, The X Factor is particularly attractive to advertisers, McCabe says, because it's 'event' viewing, like football matches. NTL and Sky Plus mean you don't have to sit down at a designated time to watch a programme and when you do, you'll most likely fast-forward through the ads. "You're more likely to watch 'event' TV live – nothing is as anticipated as The X Factor on Saturdays and Sundays – and from an advertising view point, that's really important," McCabe, who doesn't like the phrase 'reality TV', says. "Reality TV is a dirty phrase. I prefer 'interactive TV' which allows the audience to be a participant and not an observer. It's in tune with how younger people consume media now. They're used to being the co-creators of content, doing something on the Mac and putting it up on YouTube. The X Factor has crossed over from trash TV to people having a more middle class appreciation of it. I would possibly attribute that to the twins because they add a bit of irony to it," McCabe says.


Real-time commentary aided by Facebook status updates and Twitter also aid the collective conversation, with use of both sites spiking during Saturday night's performances and the results show on Sunday nights, which can sometimes be annoying. Etain says: "I hate the fact that there's real-time discussion on Twitter if I miss it. The X Factor on a Saturday night takes priority over my social life, I cut myself off from people who have seen it if I haven't by turning off my phone or not looking at Twitter. Does that sound crazy?!" It doesn't sound crazy, it is in fact typical of how involved and addicted people have become to The X Factor this series. The Jedward element is huge for Irish audiences – note how their performance just happened to be on at half time during the Ireland v France match last Saturday – but it's not all Jedward, it's the whole production. The real question is, how will ITV and TV3 deal with the falloff in viewers when it's over? The X Factor has changed the mass consumption of television to such an extent that television is now going to have to change to figure out what can trump it. And you'd put bets on Cowell and Fuller being involved in whatever comes next.