idol by the numbers

- billions?: the american idol empire starts with fox, but several companies benefit big time including superagent firm CAA, text message specialists cingular, (payola) sponsor coca-cola among other licensor/ees. variety breaks it down by industry (via tvtattle)

- #1: britain's original pop idol will young tops a radio listener popularity poll, beating out such luminaries as the beatles (#34), rolling stones (unlisted--while i think they're overrated, that's ridiculous), and even the spice girls (#4).

personally, AI jumped the shark for me when i saw mr young knee-bend (a la the bradys) as he crooned a pretty lame song during the kelly clarkson cycle. ever since, i've been shocked that a show with relativelypoor music product could maintain such interest...i've even rooted against it