The preliminary numbers are in and the X Factor didn't do as well as we imagine FOX and Simon Cowell has hoped. The show averaged an 8.7 rating for the season premiere.
To put that into perspective, this past 10th season of American Idolpulled in a 16.4 rating, nearly double of Factor's numbers.
I can't understand why more Idol viewers did not at least try to watch the first episode, out of curiosity alone. Perhaps the rivalry between the 2 shows and the nasty spats which Nigel started have had an adverse effect. Americans are very protective of Idol and retain a real warmth for it. Even when Simon left, many thought it would finish the show off, so they almost rallied together to ensure it survived, regardless of whether it was a good show or not. The viewers stayed with them despite less than impressive winners since David Cook.
Most hardcore Idol fans seem to feel like they should reject XF out of loyalty, where as they don't see The Voice as a threat and are quite happy to compliment it. As usual when it comes to Simon, different standards are applied.
I think it was a very bad show putting it up against the mighty Modern Family. Anyone who is familiar with US TV will know how huge this show is and people are loyal to sitcoms. They will have watched this and POSSIBLY taped XF. Fox scheduling need shooting. The scheduling was always going to be key to success with a show that isnt a brand new concept - putting it against one of the very best series of the moment was an epic fail. It may actually do BETTER tonight with no Modern Family and a shorter episode. Im staying positive.
That is something positive to hang onto. When does Modern Family end, we need that off the screens ASAP?!
It's true that many people probably recorded XF, just as i do now. As you said Allie, there is no great incentive to watching it live, particularly if one of your fav sitcoms is up against it. Fox have been really dumb, but i think sometimes the time zones have a big impact in America. We could easily say "well schedule XF after Modern Family", but that would make the West Coast viewing start too late for a show like this.
I think it was a big mistake hiring Paula. This gives it an affinity to Idol that X Factor didnt need. And looking closely at last nights Twitterings, Facebookings and bloggings, no one was interested in Paula OR Saula really, apart from the usual hardcore contingent. Its worn thin already - probably before the show even aired. I still think he needed a NAME - a current, influential star on the panel. Nicole has had moderate success but she isnt THAT successful, popular or "relevant".
I hate to say this, but Cheryl actual made the panel slightly more interesting from the American point of view. Simon, Cheryl, Nicole and LA would have been preferable to the brief flashbulb of interest Paula will give the show. It would have made it less "Idol" and maybe sparked more interest from their demographic.
I cant see Simon making any more sweeping changes to the panel this season but he must have a contingency plan for poor ratings - I guess we will find out what it is soon.
if X Factor US Fails will Simon come back to his UK Shows
Can't see that happening, his pride would get in the way and Brits in general do not take kindly to people who fail in America and then come back home. They already accuse him of "abandoning" the UK, even though he still owns the shows and waited years before launching XFUSA.
I think it was a big mistake hiring Paula. This gives it an affinity to Idol that X Factor didnt need. And looking closely at last nights Twitterings, Facebookings and bloggings, no one was interested in Paula OR Saula really, apart from the usual hardcore contingent. Its worn thin already - probably before the show even aired. I still think he needed a NAME - a current, influential star on the panel. Nicole has had moderate success but she isnt THAT successful, popular or "relevant".
I hate to say this, but Cheryl actual made the panel slightly more interesting from the American point of view. Simon, Cheryl, Nicole and LA would have been preferable to the brief flashbulb of interest Paula will give the show. It would have made it less "Idol" and maybe sparked more interest from their demographic.
I cant see Simon making any more sweeping changes to the panel this season but he must have a contingency plan for poor ratings - I guess we will find out what it is soon.
I agree, we all said at them beginning he should have had at least one big name in there. I'm really surprised the first show didn't get big ratings, just on the curiosity alone. I think they took too much notice of the Paula fans, who as you say are only a small percentage of the overall population. I also think the Saula hype went overboard and possibly put off a lot of people, especially those who weren't keen on her in Idol.
He can't change the panel after all the Cheryl backlash, I really can't see what he can do, the PR has been in full force for months. I hope he has something up his sleeve as a back up plan.
It's by no means a consolation, but one small positive for Fox was that XF was their highest rated Fall debut for 5 years. Although i just checked and found AGT premiered with 12m on NBC, so XF should have got more. Perhaps as suspected the Fall really is a whole new criteria and poor self scheduling is suicidal.
I agree, we all said at them beginning he should have had at least one big name in there. I'm really surprised the first show didn't get big ratings, just on the curiosity alone. I think they took too much notice of the Paula fans, who as you say are only a small percentage of the overall population. I also think the Saula hype went overboard and possibly put off a lot of people, especially those who weren't keen on her in Idol.
He can't change the panel after all the Cheryl backlash, I really can't see what he can do, the PR has been in full force for months. I hope he has something up his sleeve as a back up plan.
I can't seen anything else left to try either. We just need to get to the lives asap and hope they are as good as ours, with great, fun production, choreography and mentor rivalry. Simon might have to settle for those ratings until the lives come around and hope that interest picks up thereafter through word of mouth.
Dont be too quick to write him off guys - once he is over the disappointment, he will be working like a beaver (? ) to turn this around. And sometimes a low start can kick start ideas and put into place other tactics that will drive the show to a higher level. Never underestimate Simon Cowell - he will give it everything he's got to make it a success - Im expecting fireworks .
Dont be too quick to write him off guys - once he is over the disappointment, he will be working like a beaver (? ) to turn this around. And sometimes a low start can kick start ideas and put into place other tactics that will drive the show to a higher level. Never underestimate Simon Cowell - he will give it everything he's got to make it a success - Im expecting fireworks .
Onwards and upwards...:)
I agree that he will bounce back, but I think it might take a while. This is not the news he wants to hear and considering how easily he gets depressed I do think this will hit him hard.
Dont be too quick to write him off guys - once he is over the disappointment, he will be working like a beaver (? ) to turn this around. And sometimes a low start can kick start ideas and put into place other tactics that will drive the show to a higher level. Never underestimate Simon Cowell - he will give it everything he's got to make it a success - Im expecting fireworks .
Onwards and upwards...:)
Very true, i'm just feeling a bit sad for him after all his efforts so far. He likes a challenge anyway and i know he will be up for it more than anymore. Interesting little fact that our XF debut got 6.5m and look how that grew.
I think the Judges houses could be a turning point. The US haven't seen this before and if they manage to bring in big names as their helpers that should help. I think they might have to break the rules though and leak the names before it airs.
I think the Judges houses could be a turning point. The US haven't seen this before and if they manage to bring in big names as their helpers that should help. I think they might have to break the rules though and leak the names before it airs.
I'm hoping Tessa was right with her "rumours" . I know they were not "current" but they were "legends" and may pull in a different viewer. To be honest there is only a limited amount of good talent that is "current"
Having reserved judgement until i've watched the show, it's a no from me, it lacks any form of excitment, there's no spark from any of the judges and they all look totally bored.
Yes it's early days but I still would of expected the wow factor still waiting.
Simon seems to have turned into a headmaster rather than a naughty school boy trying to stir things up.
Bring back the real Simon, ditch Paula reinstate Chery.
I'm really enjoying it, i don't see any difference between this and the UK show. The Cheryl issue is even more puzzling as she behaved exactly the same as she did in the UK, so if Fox & Simon were happy enough then to offer her the job after watching hwer in the UK, then there was no reason to fire her.
I really hope more people tune in tonight, because it has the potential to be as big as our show. LA Reid is a fantastic judge, absolutely love him and it's great to see someone elses approval mean as much as a yes from Simon.
I enjoyed it more on the "proper" telly I have to say. I do wonder if it will capture the imagination of the Americans like it did here. Following the Twitter feed tonight there was so much love and warmth from UK people having Simon back on screen and the show seemed to get a much more excited, interested and "buzzy" response than from the Americans last night. I guess thats to be expected a little - for us its like pulling on a comfortable pair of familiar slippers - its all warm and fuzzy because its what we want our XF to be like again.
I do worry that Simon is a year too late with launching it in the US though - too long gone from Idol, with The Voice nicking a lot of XFs "unique" selling points has obviously had an effect. Lets hope it finally "clicks" with the US audiences though - it has the potential to be huge still.
I'm really enjoying it, i don't see any difference between this and the UK show. The Cheryl issue is even more puzzling as she behaved exactly the same as she did in the UK, so if Fox & Simon were happy enough then to offer her the job after watching hwer in the UK, then there was no reason to fire her.
I really hope more people tune in tonight, because it has the potential to be as big as our show. LA Reid is a fantastic judge, absolutely love him and it's great to see someone elses approval mean as much as a yes from Simon.
I'm so pleased someone else loves LA Reid as much as I do. He is a breath of fresh air and his persona demands respect. I'm wondering if they just showed Cheryl's good bits, they probably didn't want to add fuel to the fire by putting in any parts that didn't work. I still say he needed a big name female on there.
It's extremely gratifying that a scripted comedy finally beat an overhyped karaoke contest. Thank you, #ModernFamily fans!
6 hours ago
I regret if my earlier tweet was taken as criticism of the singing show that featured the mentally-unstable man swinging his penis around.
38 minutes ago
I'm really enjoying it, i don't see any difference between this and the UK show. The Cheryl issue is even more puzzling as she behaved exactly the same as she did in the UK, so if Fox & Simon were happy enough then to offer her the job after watching hwer in the UK, then there was no reason to fire her.I really hope more people tune in tonight, because it has the potential to be as big as our show. LA Reid is a fantastic judge, absolutely love him and it's great to see someone elses approval mean as much as a yes from Simon.
Don't think we will ever find out the truth about what happened there Now, you see i was watching more for LA's reaction than i was Simon's ,for me he was the shining star on that panel and even Simon paled a bit into insignificance:o LA rocks :cool: I'm not sure that is how the panel is meant to work though. You could see LA was hacked off at some of the sh*te the others wanted to put through. Maybe because it was the early auditions he hadn't realised it's an entertainment show more than a talent show. I wonder what his reaction to Jedward would have been . Overall i think the talent was better than ours probably because they have more to choose from with it being a bigger country. It was my first time seeing Saula and so far it's ok .
Don't think we will ever find out the truth about what happened there Now, you see i was watching more for LA's reaction than i was Simon's ,for me he was the shining star on that panel and even Simon paled a bit into insignificance LA rocks :cool: I'm not sure that is how the panel is meant to work though. You could see LA was hacked off at some of the sh*te the others wanted to put through. Maybe because it was the early auditions he hadn't realised it's an entertainment show more than a talent show. I wonder what his reaction to Jedward would have been . Overall i think the talent was better than ours probably because they have more to choose from with it being a bigger country. It was my first time seeing Saula and so far it's ok .
The ratings are still slightly confusing. 12.14m seems to be the settled figure, yet all old press reports i've read said The Voice got 11.8m, but they won the key demo.
After the initial disappointment, Mike Darnell is right, it is a very solid base and for any other show it would be fantastic. The ratings must improve though, no excuses and i honestly feel that they deserve to improve. It just goes to show how vast a country the US is when even the supposedly most famous reality TV star cannot draw more viewers out of curiosity alone. In a way, it will only inspire Simon. He will have to work even harder for this one, but it will be worth it in the end and i'm not worried about Fox dropping it, as it's still by far a ratings hit for them. No other show gets compared to Idol (Simon shouldn't have himself, but that's Simon).
I might now downscale my expectations to 15m for the lives for season 1, but that would still be very good. For me, i loved it as much as Simon on the UK show and having LA Reid along makes it even more worth watching.
I enjoyed it more on the "proper" telly I have to say. I do wonder if it will capture the imagination of the Americans like it did here. Following the Twitter feed tonight there was so much love and warmth from UK people having Simon back on screen and the show seemed to get a much more excited, interested and "buzzy" response than from the Americans last night. I guess thats to be expected a little - for us its like pulling on a comfortable pair of familiar slippers - its all warm and fuzzy because its what we want our XF to be like again.
I do worry that Simon is a year too late with launching it in the US though - too long gone from Idol, with The Voice nicking a lot of XFs "unique" selling points has obviously had an effect. Lets hope it finally "clicks" with the US audiences though - it has the potential to be huge still.
What do you mean it's what we want out XF to be like again. I Think our UK X Factor is really good if not better then Last year and yes even though i like Simon Cowell i do think it's better without him. Britain's got talent in another matter though i think he needs to be on that show.
I think it was a big mistake hiring Paula. This gives it an affinity to Idol that X Factor didnt need. And looking closely at last nights Twitterings, Facebookings and bloggings, no one was interested in Paula OR Saula really, apart from the usual hardcore contingent. Its worn thin already - probably before the show even aired. I still think he needed a NAME - a current, influential star on the panel. Nicole has had moderate success but she isnt THAT successful, popular or "relevant".
I hate to say this, but Cheryl actual made the panel slightly more interesting from the American point of view. Simon, Cheryl, Nicole and LA would have been preferable to the brief flashbulb of interest Paula will give the show. It would have made it less "Idol" and maybe sparked more interest from their demographic.
I cant see Simon making any more sweeping changes to the panel this season but he must have a contingency plan for poor ratings - I guess we will find out what it is soon.
AGREE. Simon has spent months telling us his program is so different from AI and then he puts Paula on the panel. That's so old AI...even they have moved on with Steven Tyler and JLo.
I've heard so much about Cheryl I was looking forward to seeing her. But Simon (and it was Simon, not FOX) decided to fire her...not very nicely, I might add, and she was never even given a chance. Every reason he has given for firing her has turned out not to be true. And then he replaced her with Nicole, who is not very popular over here.
I just can't figure out, how Simon, who did such a good job with the UK panel...did such a very poor job with the US one.
Hopefully, it will last another year and he'll make some changes on the panel. Until then, I'll be watching another channel...me and millions and millions of Americans.
Comments
I can't understand why more Idol viewers did not at least try to watch the first episode, out of curiosity alone. Perhaps the rivalry between the 2 shows and the nasty spats which Nigel started have had an adverse effect. Americans are very protective of Idol and retain a real warmth for it. Even when Simon left, many thought it would finish the show off, so they almost rallied together to ensure it survived, regardless of whether it was a good show or not. The viewers stayed with them despite less than impressive winners since David Cook.
Most hardcore Idol fans seem to feel like they should reject XF out of loyalty, where as they don't see The Voice as a threat and are quite happy to compliment it. As usual when it comes to Simon, different standards are applied.
That is something positive to hang onto. When does Modern Family end, we need that off the screens ASAP?!
It's true that many people probably recorded XF, just as i do now. As you said Allie, there is no great incentive to watching it live, particularly if one of your fav sitcoms is up against it. Fox have been really dumb, but i think sometimes the time zones have a big impact in America. We could easily say "well schedule XF after Modern Family", but that would make the West Coast viewing start too late for a show like this.
I hate to say this, but Cheryl actual made the panel slightly more interesting from the American point of view. Simon, Cheryl, Nicole and LA would have been preferable to the brief flashbulb of interest Paula will give the show. It would have made it less "Idol" and maybe sparked more interest from their demographic.
I cant see Simon making any more sweeping changes to the panel this season but he must have a contingency plan for poor ratings - I guess we will find out what it is soon.
Can't see that happening, his pride would get in the way and Brits in general do not take kindly to people who fail in America and then come back home. They already accuse him of "abandoning" the UK, even though he still owns the shows and waited years before launching XFUSA.
I agree, we all said at them beginning he should have had at least one big name in there. I'm really surprised the first show didn't get big ratings, just on the curiosity alone. I think they took too much notice of the Paula fans, who as you say are only a small percentage of the overall population. I also think the Saula hype went overboard and possibly put off a lot of people, especially those who weren't keen on her in Idol.
He can't change the panel after all the Cheryl backlash, I really can't see what he can do, the PR has been in full force for months. I hope he has something up his sleeve as a back up plan.
I can't seen anything else left to try either. We just need to get to the lives asap and hope they are as good as ours, with great, fun production, choreography and mentor rivalry. Simon might have to settle for those ratings until the lives come around and hope that interest picks up thereafter through word of mouth.
Its a possibility. I think that he would probably do something else instead and move away from XF.
Onwards and upwards...:)
I agree that he will bounce back, but I think it might take a while. This is not the news he wants to hear and considering how easily he gets depressed I do think this will hit him hard.
Very true, i'm just feeling a bit sad for him after all his efforts so far. He likes a challenge anyway and i know he will be up for it more than anymore. Interesting little fact that our XF debut got 6.5m and look how that grew.
I'm hoping Tessa was right with her "rumours" . I know they were not "current" but they were "legends" and may pull in a different viewer. To be honest there is only a limited amount of good talent that is "current"
Yes it's early days but I still would of expected the wow factor still waiting.
Simon seems to have turned into a headmaster rather than a naughty school boy trying to stir things up.
Bring back the real Simon, ditch Paula reinstate Chery.
I really hope more people tune in tonight, because it has the potential to be as big as our show. LA Reid is a fantastic judge, absolutely love him and it's great to see someone elses approval mean as much as a yes from Simon.
I do worry that Simon is a year too late with launching it in the US though - too long gone from Idol, with The Voice nicking a lot of XFs "unique" selling points has obviously had an effect. Lets hope it finally "clicks" with the US audiences though - it has the potential to be huge still.
I'm so pleased someone else loves LA Reid as much as I do. He is a breath of fresh air and his persona demands respect. I'm wondering if they just showed Cheryl's good bits, they probably didn't want to add fuel to the fire by putting in any parts that didn't work. I still say he needed a big name female on there.
It's extremely gratifying that a scripted comedy finally beat an overhyped karaoke contest. Thank you, #ModernFamily fans!
6 hours ago
I regret if my earlier tweet was taken as criticism of the singing show that featured the mentally-unstable man swinging his penis around.
38 minutes ago
LOL!
Don't think we will ever find out the truth about what happened there
I agree 100%.
After the initial disappointment, Mike Darnell is right, it is a very solid base and for any other show it would be fantastic. The ratings must improve though, no excuses and i honestly feel that they deserve to improve. It just goes to show how vast a country the US is when even the supposedly most famous reality TV star cannot draw more viewers out of curiosity alone. In a way, it will only inspire Simon. He will have to work even harder for this one, but it will be worth it in the end and i'm not worried about Fox dropping it, as it's still by far a ratings hit for them. No other show gets compared to Idol (Simon shouldn't have himself, but that's Simon).
I might now downscale my expectations to 15m for the lives for season 1, but that would still be very good. For me, i loved it as much as Simon on the UK show and having LA Reid along makes it even more worth watching.
What do you mean it's what we want out XF to be like again. I Think our UK X Factor is really good if not better then Last year and yes even though i like Simon Cowell i do think it's better without him. Britain's got talent in another matter though i think he needs to be on that show.
AGREE. Simon has spent months telling us his program is so different from AI and then he puts Paula on the panel. That's so old AI...even they have moved on with Steven Tyler and JLo.
I've heard so much about Cheryl I was looking forward to seeing her. But Simon (and it was Simon, not FOX) decided to fire her...not very nicely, I might add, and she was never even given a chance. Every reason he has given for firing her has turned out not to be true. And then he replaced her with Nicole, who is not very popular over here.
I just can't figure out, how Simon, who did such a good job with the UK panel...did such a very poor job with the US one.
Hopefully, it will last another year and he'll make some changes on the panel. Until then, I'll be watching another channel...me and millions and millions of Americans.