Just how much cash has been made from Pop Idol - and who gets it

A.� Pop Idol's creator, Simon Fuller, stands to make at least �10 million from the sale of the smash hit television format to the US. And when revenue from sponsorship, phone lines for voting, and royalties from the star created by the show are added to the format fee, the former Spice Girls manager and owner of Pop Idol producer 19 TV could make three times that amount in the US alone.

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Mr Fuller and Pop idol's executive producer Nigel Lythgoe have been in talks with US TV network, Fox. Fox will buy a minimum of 15 - and possibly up to 20 - episodes of Pop Idol, paying a format fee of around �700,000 for each and netting 19 TV at least �10.5 million in the process.

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Other revenues from the show, including sponsorship and reveues from voting lines phoned by fans, could bring in another �14 million. And if the American Pop Idol winner goes onto become the new Britney Spears, Fuller and his 19 Management group could earn another �10 million. Mr Fuller and Lythgoe are in talks with broadcasters in a number of other countries and more Pop Idol format deals are expected to follow the US signing.

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Q.� How many people eventually watched the show

A.� The Final of Pop Idol attracted 14 million viewers, including four times the number of under-25s who voted in last year's General Election.

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In the final show, 8.7 million votes were cast; the biggest telephone vote ever. The winner, William Young, surprisingly beat Gareth Gates, the favourite. Gates' single is being widely tipped as a number one, taking on George Michael who will release a single on the same day.

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By Katharine MacColl