LOS ANGELES (AFP) - US television network Fox said on Tuesday it was re-entering the crowded talent search market with a show provisionally entitled The Four.

It will be competing in the early evening family entertainment sector with ABC's reboot of former Fox juggernaut American Idol, expected next year, and NBC's The Voice.

The Four borrows from an Israeli format, pitting four winners each week against challengers picked by the audience.

The judges will pick the first four singers at the start of the season but their challengers will be chosen on a viewers' vote based on audition tapes sent in online.

Fox aired what was supposed to be the last episode of Idol last year, after 15 seasons during which it became the highest-rated US television show for a record seven consecutive years.

It axed the show amid rising costs and tanking ratings.