Somebody posted this on the xfactor thread so i thought i would do the same.

Xfactor seems to be beating SCD by a longmile. 15 million they got compared to the 8.5 million on SCD. It is kind of sad because i remember when SCD used to be the thing and xfactor was behind at one point or even so it used to be quiet close and only a couple of million between them.

I understand that xfactor will appeal to younger people and to be fair they had a megastar in Whitney on last week and Cheryl Cole preforming but the gap seems to be getting bigger each week.

Many say it is down to the sacking of Arlene and i do agree with them now. When she was a judge ratings were never down and to much controvesy is going on behind the scenes such as the row with Anton and so on. The BBC should be worried and must regret what they did to Arlene no matter how lovely Alesha is.

Having always been a viewer of both (even though my heart always belonged with Strictly), I am surprised because I think the X Factor's been absolutely awful this year.

Mind you, my point of view and the public's point of view are rarely in synch.

I think Strictly has had terrible PR this year and it more a combination of factors more than anything specific thats affected the ratings... The Arlene sacking/Alesha appt, poor celebrity selection, Anton and his runaway mouth, the schedulingutting it up against the X Factor itself. The BBC are idiots, they are trying to be overly competative and its backfired on them.

Having said all that, I dont get the X factor appeal at all, so many of my friends watch it and I just dont get the appeal. Im firmly in camp strictly.

I wish BBC would forget this ratings war there is room for both I think there is a backlash to the time clash to be honest - people have been forced to choose and whilst I have stuck with Strictly I do resent it .

The long SCD show with no break for the results show is tedious too - A shorter show not clashing with the X FActor and I bet the viewing figures would have been much closer

X Factor may have been helped by having a live Sunday results show that has virtually no competition on other channels.

More people are interested in singing than in dancing, so the potential X Factor audience is bigger. I think 8-11 million is the peak for Strictly - it can't push higher into the teens the way X Factor can.

X Factor is winning because, although the producers are showing arrogance by allowing the celebrity performers and contestants to blatantly mime, the overall package is ticking off all the entertainmment boxes. Strictly, however, is stuck in the past. Brucie has outstayed his welcome, Tess is a lightweight without a mind of her own, and too much time is wasted on training excerpts and the same old tired running gags. Time to put it out to pasture, along with Brucie and his syrup.

If you are interested in music most people will be interested in singing but it will be a smaller subset of those people who are interested in dance. SCD figures are very good considering it is a niche interest. If there were a dance show drawing higher numbers than Strictly then they should worry.

Exactly - I don`t see heel and toe, kicks and flicks discussions much attraction for the younger and family audience as opposed to someone like J & E etc.,

I think the reason the X Factor Sunday night show is doing so well is quite simply because there is nothing else on, and its basically a live entertainment show where you can see big name stars peforming. Robbie Williams, Whitney Houston, Cheryl Cole and Leona Lewis will be on in a few weeks. There are rumours of Madonna and Christina Aguilera appearing as well. SCD never get names like that!

Im suprised SCD is not doing as well this year though as they are usually neck and neck or near enough. I do think the show needs a facelift. Bruce needs to go for starters. He's too old. Bring in Graham Norton or Paul O Grady or even John Barrowman to replace him. Get rid of Tess too. She's useless. Id consider introducing new dances as well. I watched Dancing with the Star last night and they have the lambada and the charleston on that!

Well, I know for sure that they'd be one fewer viewer if they let the Barroman anywhere near Strictly...

Personally I don't understand the appeal of X Factor, I'd much rather watch dancing than singing, but that's just my opinion. I do still follow X Factor to find out who goes, but mostly just so I can join in the conversations.
I think Strictly would benefit from being moved to Sunday nights, seeing as it is a more Sunday night kind of show (more so than X Factor anyway). Either that or put it on a different time of the year when X Factor isn't on, or move it to earlier on Saturdays so it doesn't clash.

I have to admit im normally an ardent strictly fan but im starting to prefer The X factor this year. As much as i like Bruce i do agree with the majority in that its time for him to go.
I think Alesha should replace Tess too, i do like Alesha as a judge but i think she'd be far better as a presenter who gets to interview the couples as shes a bubbly personality. I think someone like Alan Carr would be quite good in Bruces place or maybe Graham Norton and Alesha together.
I also think they need to put one of the pros on the judging panel preferably Karen Hardy.
And less couples theres far too many in the initial stages.

The sacking of Arlene and installation of Alesha was a crazy decision in terms of the show's demographic and struck completely the wrong note before the series began. Hey BBC why don't you semi-alienate the female viewers of the over 40s age category because, let's face it, every time Bruce Forsyth fluffs a line or mangles a joke, the implicit ageism and sexism of the decision to replace Arlene and not Bruce screams out at the audience.

My daughter likes X-Factor and I like Strictly. As she is 12 we let her watch it then I watch SCD when she is in bed. That will affect the ratings figures but I suspect a few parents do this.

I love my peacful Sat night with a glass of wine after her bedtime....bliss

I doubt thats the reason. Do you honestly think had Arlene stayed SCD would be getting 13 millions viewers right now? If anything the whole arlene/alesha thing got them more publicity initially but its never been about the judges its always about the couples on SCD...

XF is starstruck young people performing for a starstruck young audience. Parents, or at least mothers, like to have their darlings at home on a Saturday night so they let them choose. They may or may not video Strictly to watch later.

There are 2 separate questions: why are X Factor and Britain's Got Talent so popular - and I think it's because they are very easy, undemanding TV, they have the illusion that you are seeing the people 'change their lives' and therefore that you are helping them by voting, and there are lots of car crash moments (particularly, bizarrely, with the big star guests) that you can talk about the next day in a 'did you see that?' way. It is event TV and Simon Cowell knows how to do that.

Then there is the separate question of whether SCD is struggling this series. It's certainly under attack and the BBC were unlucky/stupid to let the X Factor publicity machine paint them as at fault for the clash, as if nothing can be scheduled opposite the X Factor, just when the papers are sick of kicking ITV and want to have a go at the BBC for a change. The papers' war with the BBC is nothing to do with SCD but it's as good a target as any other.

The ratings are good. Not as good as XF but what is? Bruce feels under attack, which I think is affecting him, and the obvious scandal would have damaged the fun, fluffy mood of any show. I think they are lacking so far many 'Did you see that?' dances - Jo and Joe haven't been great, but they haven't been tell your friends hilarious bad. The good are very good, but rarely 'wow' good. And it's much too long. I think, as I've said on other threads, once we're down to about 9 celebs and the dancing improves (they start to remember them would help), if Bruce can calm down and they don't have any more scandals/bad luck, imo it will be the same show it always was and get its usual ratings. But it's never going to get 14 million.

Agree. with this. Bruce is a bit excruciating to watch nowadays and seems to be under the impression that it's 'his' show! To the point of telling off the judges on air!! I seriously believe that he is detrimental to the show now and has to go.

Also, XF live on a Sunday was a stroke of genius as others have said - there's no real competition. Cowell's contacts in the music industry are really showing as he's managing to get some very big hitting names to appear on XF (even if they are a bit shambolic!).

And the sacking of Arlene (plus the diabolical way it was handled) and the resulting bad publicity HAS damaged SCD's profile IMO. Some people I know (and hear of) are still quite angry about the way an older woman was replaced for the 'dolly bird' ( their words not mine!) with no judging/real dance experience and have refused to watch it this year I don't think it was particularly love for Arlene, they just thought it was ageist and sexist. And I DO tend to agree with them but still watch Strictly - it's still MY favourite

And a word about DWTS!!! I absolutely LOVED the Charleston and would be very, very excited if they use it on SCD It was brilliant, so exciting!!




I agree. Does anyone take into account recordings? There must be loads who watch one and record the other! I record both so my hubby can watch them as he's usually at work.

I wanted to watch both this year but BBC ruined that. I'm sticking with strictly for now because I like that more out of the two but some of my friends have chosen x factor over strictly.

DS says:

In the most recent schedule clash, The X Factor pulled in 3m more viewers than Strictly. The talent competition had an audience of 10.86m between 8pm and 10pm, while BBC One's dance offering attracted 7.84m from 7.35pm to 9.45pm.

That's nowhere near the 15 million quoted in the OP for TXF (which I thought might be an amalgamation of the Sat+Sun figures?). By contrast, just under 8 million seems healthily close to the well-informed Monkseal's estimates.

Frankly, they didn't think through their competition when moving the two shows together. The SCD offering is a prime-time show involving talent, a well-established format that has 'water-cooler' appeal - just like TXF. Putting the two head-to-head is going to result in losses because they're competing for a similar audience at a similar time.

What a bunch of divs - the first rule is to be different from the competition, not the same!

Xfactor is just better thats all.

Also, it has Simon Cowell in it which is always a ratings grabber

No idea why especially as XF is repeated so many times so there's nothing to stop people watching both - and most people are able to record. It's not as if the acts on XF are especially marvellous this year (I'm not saying they are "no good", just not exceptional).

I watch both and haven't found XF to be particularly exciting. Must be said I am less excited about SCD this year too but, for me, SCD has the edge.

Each to their own. Who cares? Both shows get a lot of viewers even if one has more than the other.

My thoughts exactly.

Not renewing Arlene's contract has absolutely nothing to do with SCD's ratings. Although you'd barely realise now in the light of mass short memory loss induced by the media, she was far from popular with the public and behaved extremely badly last year.

However, the way the BBC managed her exit from the show was atrociously handled and this badly damaged the Strictly brand which was only just recovering from Sergeant-gate, voting fiascos and a series in which the public was at loggerheads with the judges and producers. Swiftly followed by increasingly negative coverage about Alesha, aggressive scheduling, then the mini-dramas surrounding Anton and then Brendan, SCD7 is still struggling to foreground what it is supposed to be about - a celebrity dancing competition.

All of this will of course have the anti-BBC media rubbing their hands in glee ...

Strictly's PR has been in decline for a year now. Clearly nobody knows how to do the job and BBC management hinder, rather than help. Ending the schedule clash would go some way to improving SCD's ratings - but it needs to go back to the dancefloor and cut the backstage dramas completely, none of which have helped the show at all.