After months of speculation, the U.S. version of 'X Factor' has officially been canceled.

There will not be a fourth season for the reality competition, which has seen poor ratings and the departure of several of its judges, including Britney Spears, Demi Lovato and, most recently, executive producer Simon Cowell, who just announced his return to the original U.K. version -- meaning that he would not be allowed to continue his work with the U.S. program.

Despite (or, perhaps, due to) a rapidly declining audience (according to The Hollywood Reporter, the third season saw an average of just 7 million viewers) and fierce competition with 'The Voice,' Cowell has been trying to revive the U.S. version of the show. He has thought of several ideas about how to re-configure the program, including potentially changing to a one-night format, instead of two live shows during the week -- a notion that FOX is considering.

"The ratings were not what we hoped, but this is a No. 1 brand around the world … and during that lifecycle, there's been markets where it's been down and had some very tough seasons, and they've reanimated it with producing changes and different ideas," FOX entertainment chief Kevin Reilly said earlier this year. "I've heard some of those ideas. They are interesting. If the show were to come back, it would not be in the current format we have."

While the prospect is on the table, there is no guarantee that 'X Factor' will make a return to U.S. television.

PopCrushers and 'X Factor' fans, are you disappointed to see the demise of 'X Factor USA,' or had the show just run its course?

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