This is a complicated group of relationships and it was made much more complicated in 2005 when Idol was re-negotiated. Here's my interpretation, which might be wrong
of what I found out this afternoon. Some links are below.
The Idol Franchise is owned jointly by 19 Entertainment (Simon Fuller) and FremantleMedia. I think Crowell is a major owner of 19, but that was not in the information.
19 Entertaiment owns 19 Recordings which has the rights to Idols Recordings. They also own a number of other companies that manage entertainers including 19 Management, 19 Merchandising, and 19 Touring, all of which profit from the Idol buisness.
19 Entertainment is now owned by CKX, a company founded in 2005 when Robert Sillerman purchased 19 Entertainment.
FremantleMedia is a TV (and other media) production company. They appear to own part of the Idol franchise and run the production side of the business. They are huge worldwide and have many other activities other than Idol. They are owed by RTL group, a subsiderary of Bertlelsmann AG. In the UK, there is some type of relationship between Fremantle and Sony BMG-UK, but that was very vague.
Bertelsmann AG owns 50% of Sony BMG-USA, and the other 50% is owned by Sony Corporation of America. How's that for a convoluted corporate relationship?
Simon Crowell said in his 60 Minutes Interview, recently aired on CMT, that he has a $100,000,000 contract with Song BMG to provide artists and music for the Labels under Sony BMG. Simon has artists from sources other than Idol.
This is a guess, but I think 19 Recordings (which I used to think owned Sony BMG, but is actually only a subsiderary of 19 Entertainment) is actually the company that holds the recording contracts of the Idols, and 19 Recordings has an exclusive contract with Song BMG to handle the music production.
In Summary:
Bertelsmann AG owns 50% of Sony BMG and 90% of Fremantle Media (via RTL).
CKX Owns 19 Entertainment which owns 19 Recordings and other "19" companies.
19 Entertaiment and Fremantle Media jointly own the Idol Franchise (I think).
Sony BMG is a sister company to FremantleMedia under the Bertelsmann corporate umbrella, but has no ownership link to 19 Entertainment and the Idol Business. They provide the recording services via an exclusive contract with 19 Entertainment, probably via 19 Recordings.
Here are some links. Have fun!!!
CKX, Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
CKx, Inc. Investor Relations
Bertelsmann - media worldwide
Our Companies
19 Entertainment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
19 Entertainment
'Pop Idol' creator Simon Fuller sells 19 Entertainment for over $210 million - Reality TV World - News, information, episode summaries, message boards, chat and games for unscripted television programs
Fox re-signs 'American Idol' and judge Simon Cowell for at least three more seasons - Reality TV World - News, information, episode summaries, message boards, chat and games for unscripted television programs