yeah and hardly anyone reads them!

I know, I know.. Just saying it wasn't on "virtually every newspaper front page".

But obviously it does help having the front page headlines, especially in The Sun.

I reckon their total combined readerships must be about, er, 11.09m.

So there you have it - had those 3 papers not led on TXF (it being a slow news day in August), TXF would have been crushed by a combination of the lottery draws and Casualty, and attracted Channel 5 style numbers...

The sun is the biggest selling paper in the UK It sells millions follwed by the daily star.

The Xfactor had the main cover(surely there's more important news out there?) on the main papers
saying you will see Cherly Collapse.

I didn't/don't watch it but i dead hear people moaning about Auto Tune

If I were a neutral viewer and thought the xfactor was alright, I would get put of by the fact it's getting shoved in my face. I'll watch what I wanna watch not what the sun wants me to watch so i'll buy its paper.

However I can't stand Cowell anyway so I would never watch.

The fact that The X Factor is so popular really annoys some people doesn't it?

So once again, starting at 7:30pm did more harm than good. Had it started at 8pm, including HD, you'd be looking at near to 12 million.

BBC report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11051890

Pure comedy genius I love the way you weave every possible ratings cliche into your response.

Excellent figures for TXF. It just seems to raise the bar every year. I really hope it holds up this year after BGT declining so massively after some terrible scheduling IMO. If ITV use the same scheduling for the live shows like last series (Sat: 8-10pm & Sun: 8-9pm) it should hold up relatively well.

If you put the programmes in order of rating, it really puts The X Factor into perspective.

19:30- The X Factor - 11.09m (47.7%)

18:45- Odd One In - 4.35m (23.5%)
20:10- Casualty - 3.84m (16.0%)
21:00- John Bishop's Britain - 3.68m (16.9%)
21:30- Live At The Apollo - 3.68m (17.9%)
19:10- Tonight's The Night - 3.29m (15.8%)
20:00- The National Lottery: Saturday Draws - 3.27m (14.2%)
21:00- Magic Numbers - 3.25m (15.1%)
18:10- 101 Ways To Leave A Gameshow - 2.82m (16.6%)

TXF way out in front at 11m and then practically every other programme from 6pm to 10pm with a rating of 3-4m, regardless of what channel, what time and whether it clashed with TXF or not.

Why does DS have a total of 11.3m for TXF? Is there rating tape-checked? Is the 11.1m for the whole slot?

Yeah, TXF finished 5 minutes early. 11.1m is for the whole slot, 11.3m is for 19:30-20:55.

That tells you a lot then - that millions of people will be hyped into watching just one programme out of an entire evening's schedule and then find other things to do. I'm not sure that's exactly great news for ITV plc in either the short term or (more worryingly given how utterly dependent they are on the Cowell cash cow) for the long term given interest is already probably waning, as BGT showed.

How many come back next weekend is critical. Something makes me think it won't get 11m, even with a dire long-range forecast once again for next weekend...

It always seems that those that can't stand it take it far more seriously than those who actually watch it!

This isn't Russia. You cant order people to watch stuff. Imagine people choosing to watch what they want!


Yes under 11m would be a total disaster.

I reckon The X Factor has peaked. OK it will still get decent ratings, but I predict boredom will set in and ratings will be down on last year. It sounds like a long shot, but with Cowell concentrating on America he could ditch it this year.

you've been saying that for ages. Eventually you might be right. But your timing may be way off........

It will go eventually. But I predict sooner than later as Cowell isn't the type of man to allow a show to go into decline, he'll quit while he's ahead.

It's true. For all the talk of The X Factor dominating this thread it's the people who seemingly hate it that have had far more to say about the show than those who actually watch it.

Stunning ratings for TXF, wow, I didn't think it would be that high, well done ITV.

You'd think the advantage of MM following TXF would see a much higher figure.

Just a note - Britain's Got Talent's launch this year was up on last year, and we know what happened there...

We all saw how The Prisoner flopped. Lead-ins carry very little importance these days. Either people will watch it or they won't.

True, although it says something that last night's launch did better than any episode of BGT except the final. BGT felt stale this year, and was scheduled badly so ratings fell. It also didn't attract anywhere near the amount of hype that X Factor had. BGT is a hugely popular show, but I think from here on in X Factor will always be the bigest talent show, and BGT was boosted by SuBo last year.

Hope last night's rating kills of 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow. It was looking like it might have done enough to secure a second season, but it just doesn't deserve one and I hope the BBC take not of the criticism and realise sub-4m isn't worth the cost.