The X Factor back on form

ITV1's ratings smash The X Factor was back on form on Saturday with a huge average audience of 9.8m (40.5%), 600,000 more than BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing.


The ITV1 entertainment show began at 7.45pm – overlapping by 15-minutes with BBC1's rival dance show – with 7.3m (29.9%) but by 8pm this has shot up to a high of 10.7m (44.3%). For the remaining 45-minutes The X Factor never dipped below 10.2m viewers.

Unsurprisingly, the commercial network's show was sizeably up on the channel's slot average of 5.7m (26.2%).

The X Factor was off key last Saturday (27 September) with a relatively poor 8.2m (35.9%) in the same slot.

The ITV1 picked up the spoils compared to its rival, BBC1's own talent show Strictly Come Dancing which began at 6.45pm. The corporation's 75-minute show was no slouch though with 9.2m (39.9%). The show managed to build to a peak of 9.9m (42.5%) at 7.30pm.

Younger viewers preferred The X Factor while upmarket viewers switched to Strictly.

Just over 14% of the BBC1 show's audience were aged between 16 and 34 while that age group made up 23.5% of ITV1's audience. ABC1 viewers accounted for 45.5% of BBC1's audience while that demographic made up 36.1% of ITV1's viewers.

The two shows also had a Sunday night outing as well with The X Factor once again picking up the spoils.

The 60-minute results show at 6.10pm claimed 9.5m (42.7%), with a peak of 10m (43.8%) at the end. Just over a third – 33.7% - of the show's audience were ABC1's while 25.2% were from the 16-34 age range.

The results show of Strictly Come Dancing at 8.10pm secured 8.4m (31.5%) over 50-minutes. Nearly half – 49.1% - of its audience were ABC1's but just 11.9% were aged between 16 and 34.

Source: Broadcast Now