Simon Cowell wants to make 'X Factor' voting free to find more exciting winners.
'The X Factor' boss Simon Cowell is said to be "determined" to introduce free voting to the show in an effort to "engage" younger viewers and find more exciting champions.
The 54-year-old media mogul is said to want to engage younger viewers and hopes the loss in revenue from phone votes will be countered by a rise in ratings.
An insider told The Sun newspaper: "Simon is determined to introduce free voting this year because it will reinvent the show.
"It means millions more young people will be able to vote on favourite websites like Twitter.
"Viewers will feel more engaged and want to continue watching each week when they know their opinion will count."
Show bosses have reportedly been looking towards social media in an effort to see how the results would have been different for previous shows.
The source added: "We crunched the numbers and worked out that making voting free would create very different winners. We believe Sam Bailey would have been beaten by Luke Friend who only ended up coming third.
"One Direction would have beaten Matt Cardle in 2010 and Olly Murs would almost certainly have received more votes than Joe McElderry in 2009.
"It would help us create champions more popular with younger people who wouldn't necessarily have been prepared to pay to vote."
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