Amazing how relatively low XF is. This the era where it was being regularly beaten by SCD I think.

Lol he might as well have sat in the audience-but even so Ola is something else.

Actually, it was the era where not only it was beaten by Strictly, but also directly clashed with it:

17:45 - Strictly Come Dancing: 7.73m
19:10 - Robin Hood: 6.61m
19:55 - Lottery: 6.63m
20:40 - Casualty: 7.33m
21:30 - Strictly Come Dancing: 7.91m
22:00 - BBC News: 6.48m
22:20 - Match of the Day: 3.95m

Strange how the tide turned, from BBC1 winning Saturdays when X Factor was on, to near enough the other way around. (well not fully, but mostly) Back then, it also looks a lot more competitive, as the 'fillers' were all above 6m, with the exception of Afterlife.

Thanks, folks. Blimey, Family Fortunes at 4.55pm!


It's a shame she will probably only be dancing for a few weeks this series!

I'm sure someone will come to this thread and tick me off for even mentioning it () but has there ever been a show that has shown the growth that X Factor has, now a full seven years later? I know shows have shown year on year growth but looking back those figures are minuscule compared to now.

What was the Lottery format?

1 vs 100.

Ah! Thanks.

Yes i think now we would be gasping in awe at all those figures-but the rise and rise of XF is quite startling given the peak figures now are pretty much double its average back then-all BBC shows has suffered.

(MOTD has maintained its audience though )

Fantastic start for Strictly.

Yes it is. Though I think thats her "punishment" for winning last series to be honest.

Looking back at these ratings is really interesting - we'd never see The X Factor about equal to Casualty and within 1m of Millionaire and the Lottery now! Family Fortunes at 4.55pm is an interesting one, as that was the first ever episode of this latest version, and I suspect ITV only saw it as ~3m filler but it exceeded their expectations. Also, it's intriguing to see what ITV changing their schedule had done to things three weeks later (they changed two weeks later but The Remembrance Festival altered BBC1's schedule that night):

BBC1
18:05 - Strictly Come Dancing: 9.66m
19:15 - Robin Hood: 5.67m
20:00 - The National Lottery - 1 vs 100: 6.60m
20:45 - Casualty: 7.17m
21:35 - Strictly Come Dancing: 7.73m

ITV1
17:50 - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?: 4.26m
18:50 - The X Factor: 9.22m
20:00 - All Star Family Fortunes: 6.72m
20:50 - The X Factor: 8.80m
21:25 - I'm A Celebrity: 7.31m

Only Fools and Horses is a show which had a massive surge of viewers throughout. Series averages for it were:

1981- 7.7m
1982- 8.9m
1983- 10.5m
1985- 15.2m
1986- 16.0m
1986-1988- 16.6m (Christmas specials)
1989- 16.7m
1989-1990- 19.1m (Christmas specials)
1990- 16.8m
1991-1993- 19.1m (Christmas specials)
1996- 22.3m (Christmas specials)
2001-2003- 17.4m (Christmas specials)

Basically, the audience nearly trebled in 10 years!

In terms of recent years, I don't think there's been a show in primetime which has grown as much as TXF.

Good point.

I'm wondering if that was the turning point for Millionaire? I think it might have got 8pm in summer Saturday slots since then, but has it ever scored an 8pm-ish autumn or winter slot on Saturdays since then?

That's a good start for Strictly, people like Gavin Henson and Kara Tointon seem to be generating significant tabloid coverage. Dancing With The Stars has done the same and it seems to have worked (Bristol Palin was a great pick).

According to an Only Fools documentary the "last ever episode" as it was meant to be in 1996 got a peak of over 28m.

I wonder how this Alan Sugar show is going to do tonight?

ITV seem to be pushing it - even moving X Factor to give it a good slot and I think it's the kind of show that will benefit from the lead-in. Nice of them to give some promotion to The Apprentice ahead of its premiere this week!

He also has his autobiography out. I wouldnt have expected him to spend so much time with Piers Morgan for the sake of it.

Serious isn't going to turn up on ITV I suspect, but logical step - if ITV can persuade OFCOM to make the necessary licence adjustments, would be to move the ITV Morning News to 6am, and start Daybreak at 6.30am - though although that would raise Daybreaks average figure, not sure it would raise the 6-8.30am figure as a whole.


I don't think they need to panic really - both TVam and GMTV got off to very rocky starts and were basically tweaked and developed on air over their first year or two before they became dominant forces.

Also would be interesting to see the demographic breakdowns for Daybreak and whether it is bringing in the more affluent viewers ITV were after.

Hasnt Daybreak lost viewers in London?

Very good SCD launch numbers, which bodes well for the series.

I wonder how the Daily Mail will spin that one as a disaster for SCD and BBC1? Presumably they will ignore Friday, and point out the size of the difference between the primetime Cowell-fest tonight and the teatime SCD, and note how humiliating that is for the BBC...


What about Countryfile?

A Sunday staple on BBC1 for years, its ratings went up by about 600% in a matter of weeks last year...


More like a desperate attempt to boost their failing post-9pm Saturday schedule, and an expensive much-hyped but much-flopped "big-name" format, by attempting to cash in on the publicity surrounding a returning smash-hit on a rival channel.

Based on last night's numbers, they should probably have re-run the Brucie one...





Gosh. A near 0.9m lead for Breakfast.

That multi-million pound relaunch has certainly paid ratings dividends.

For BBC1....

Also, on long-running shows making massive leaps forward in ratings terms, what about Top Gear?

Axed after 20+ years when audiences fell to around 2.5m from a 6-8m peak in the early 90s, the relaunched post-2002 show has returned to its 5-8m 1990s heyday figures. I can't think of another show that aired in the golden age of the late 80s/early 90s that is still going and still getting the sort of numbers it used to command in the mostly 4 channel era.

a very impressive start for Strictly, not often you see 9m ratings on a Friday. Looking back Afterlife almost at 4m, I bet ITV wish they could get that now. Prisoners ratings most have been totally humilating for them.

As for Daybreak I am aware its Friday so ive looked at the shares

Wednesday - Daybreak 0.7m (17.8%)
Thursday - Daybreak 0.8m (19.0%)
Friday - Daybreak: 0.67m (16.2%)

its share is down as well.

I do not think that is really true. To not watch TV at 9 pm you would have to be suggesting he has a very old audience.

The real issue is, in my view, that it was up against New Tricks and now Strictly - possibly both shows with similar audience profiles.

My mum is a Paul O'Grady fan and would have watched had it not been against these two shows - which are both amongst her must watches.

I get the impression from her friends the same applies to them.

Paul O Grady is an acquired taste and would never get huge figures but being up regularly against New Tricks has cost the show at least 1 million viewers I suspect.

In raw figures there are only a handful. X Factor (and BGT) have more or less trebled their audience but if you go by proportion of viewers, there are probably quite a few shows (moreso digital) that have 300%+ of their original audience.