Yesterdays peak was actually up 0.3m from last years 5 min peak of 19.1m. 19.7m was the 1 minute peak last year. Yesterdays 1 minute peak wouldve been higher

What is unfathomable for those like me who cant see the reason for XF success is that 17.20 million is for two hours, alot of which was padding. There doesnt seem to have been an influx of viewers arriving just to see the result. If you are in the business of trying to come up with ideas for entertainment as a rival to Syco/Talkback/ITV it must be quite daunting.

Some interesting ratings info on The Walking Dead courtesy of Attentional as it bows out on FX:


The Walking Dead comes to Channel 5 next Spring.

Source: Attentional.

Yeah, absolutely. As has been pointed out the 'saturation point' of the show in terms of total reach isn't much different to last years. But yesterday, they somehow seemed to be persuaded to sit through two hours of the stuff.

It all comes down to whether viewers percieve it as 'event TV' IMO. If they do, then they'll happily watch, in huge numbers, the sort of stuff you can see on an average saturday night the whole year round - ie. a Take That performance. They stick with it, attribute it higher importance, simply because it occurs during an 'Event'.

The same principle applies to stuff like Children In Need (albeit on a smalller scale). The total viewership is much greater than the sum of its parts should suggest - because its got that 'Event TV' feel about it.

Oh right. It could be that last night's 1 minute peak was higher than 20 million then.

Also of note today, The Xtra Factor becomes the fourth most watched multi-channel programme of 2010 with an overnight audience of 2.31m, well up on last year's 1.8m. It will probably rise to third in the officials but no more than that, settling behind EastEnders Live and The Inbetweeners.

Dirty Dancing also did brilliantly for C5 with 1.92m (9.2%) over two hours and 5 minutes from 9:30pm.

Just for comparison, can someone who has them to hand re-post the match average overnights and peaks for the England World Cup games?

I vaguely recall that Eng v USA averaged 17.5m (?) and peaked around 20m; Algeria the following Friday about the same, and the two BBC games obviously lower due to afternoon kick offs but both still with high peak numbers.

C4's Elf dominated teatime again on commercial TV with 3.81m viewers including +1. Airing in the exact same timeslot last year, prior to The X Factor final, it brought in 4.85m. The film premiered with 6.3m viewers including +1 in 2008 according to official data.

Amazing. I didn't think it was possible for an entertainment show to ever get figures like that ever again. Over 17m for a two hour show is incredible and I don't think there's many other two hour shows that will be able to do that in the future. There was so much padding in last nights show too, makes the figure stand out even more and I'm not sure how anyone can find faults with the figure. Never thought I'd see Corrie getting 14m and XF getting 17m in the same week in 2010.

The only weak link seemed to be how much the audience dropped off for Life Stories! That figure is awful considering other editions have rated a lot higher with much lower lead ins. Benidorm would have done a lot better imo.

BBC1 held up very well indeed capturing the opposite audience to XF and CH5's promotion of Dirty Dancing seemed to pay off.

Does anyone know hoe E4 does? Misfits? Inbetweeners?

Yes the audience was prepared to sit through two hours in higher numbers than ever before-almost like a crowd waiting for a rocket launch. I have to admit that creating that kind of stranglehold is some achievement-largely because the audience isnt doing much more than waiting. i switched on for the result but no way was I going to watch whole show to get there. The fact that so many did is amazing and unbelievable.
And your right about BBC1-a repeat of AR and Gently doing very respectably given the circumstances.

Yes if you put Take That and all the other big names that have appeared on the show on a different programme-err, lets call it Top of the Pops (TOTP -quite catchy), it would struggle for 4 million probably.
XF has taken on an unforseen status above anything else in the last three years-Im sure no-one, not even Mr Cowell himself thought these figures were possible.

Does anyone know the 1 minute peak from last night?

Do you have numbers? Not seen them yet.

Spotted this blast from the past, btw, on the MediaGuardian pages...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004...asting.uknews1

The pub I was in last night had the TV switched off - no-body asked to watch TXF

Sunday 12th December Roundup
BBC One (inc. HD)
19:00- Strictly Come Dancing: 11.58m (41.1%)
* peak: 12.74m (44.06%)
19:30- Antiques Roadshow: 5.71m (18.4%)
20:30- Inspector George Gently: 4.15m (13.8%)

BBC Two
20:00- UK Championships: Snooker Final: 1.94m (7.8%)
* peak: 2.77m (21.07%) at 23:25

ITV1 (inc. HD)
19:30- The X Factor Final: 17.15m (54.92%)
* peak: 19.44m (60.48%) at 21:20
* most watched non-sports moment on British TV since OFAH in 2001
* up 1.7m (+11%) vs. last year's final average
* up 0.3m (+2%) vs. last year's final peak
* overnight series average: 12.9m (48%)
* most watched reality series of the century
21:30- Piers Meets Elton: a Life Stories Special: 5.7m (24%)
* 21:35-22:45: 5.41m (22.75%)

Channel 4 (inc. HD)
17:30- Elf: 3.81m (inc. +1)
20:00- Celebrity Come Dine With Me: 900k (2.8%)
21:00- Any Human Heart: 990k (3.5%) , +1: 68,900 (0.4%)
22:15- Desperate Housewives: 0.74m (inc. +1)

Channel 5 (inc. HD)
19:50- The One: 681k (2.2%)
21:30- Dirty Dancing: 1.92m (9.2%)

E4 (inc. +1)
21:00- Fantastic Four: 448k

Film4 (inc. +1)
19:15- Black Knight: 383k
21:00- Blade: Trinity: 453k

ITV2
21:30- The Xtra Factor: 2.31m (9.59%) , +1: 174,500 (1.13%)
* peak: 3.3m (inc. +1)

More4 (inc. +1)
22:00- Father Ted: 250k

The X Factor Final - 15 Minute Breakdown
19:30- 14.9m (49.4%)
19:45- 15.6m (51.5%)
20:00- 17.3m (54.6%)
20:15- 16.8m (53.2%)
20:30- 17.7m (55.8%)
20:45- 18.8m (58.8%)
21:00- 17.9m (57.2%)
21:15- 18.4m (58.5%)

Primetime Shares
ITV1 (inc HD): 40.1%
BBC One (inc HD): 18.8%
BBC Two: 6.4%
Channel 4 (inc HD): 4% (+1: 0.7%)
Five (inc HD): 4.3%

Most watched programmes of 2010 (overnights)
01 - 17.2m (55%) - THE X FACTOR (21/11/10) - ITV1/HD
02 - 15.6m (58%) - EASTENDERS (19/02/10) - BBC1
03 - 14.3m (61%) - WORLD CUP 2010: ENG V ALG (18/06/10) - ITV1/HD
04 - 14.0m (52%) - CORONATION STREET (09/12/10) - ITV1/HD
05 - 13.6m (71%) - WORLD CUP 2010: ENG V GER (27/06/10) - BBC1/HD
06 - 12.4m (47%) - I’M A CELEBRITY, GET ME OUT OF HERE! (05/12/10) - TV1/HD
07 - 12.3m (55%) - BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT (05/06/10) - ITV1/HD
08 - 12.0m (45%) - STRICTLY COME DANCING (05/12/10) - BBC1/HD
09 - 10.8m (37%) - DOCTOR WHO (01/01/10) - BBC1/HD
10 - 10.1m (38%) - DOWNTON ABBEY (07/11/10) - ITV1/HD
---------------------------------------------
Fantastic rating for TXF - 17.2m over 2 hours is exceptional. BGT 2009 Final averaged 17.3m over 30 minutes in the overnights but I think TXF will overtake that BGT's official rating once timeshift is taken in. 19.4m is the highest peak out of all these Cowell shows and the most watched non-sports moment on British TV since Only Fools & Horses in 2001. A shame it couldn't quite break the 20m mark but I suppose it wasn't too far away.

The series as a whole averaged 12.9m (48%) in the overnights according to ITV, up 1.1m compared to last year's series. Xtra Factor also posted a brilliant ratings, and with timeshift, should overtake Bionic Woman's record for the channel I think.

Under the circumstances, I think BBC1 held up brilliantly. SCD rated extremely well, on par with previous results shows, and then Antiques Roadshow was barely down compared to previous weeks and the George Gently posted a fantastic repeat figure. BBC1 as a whole held up better than last year's SPOTY schedule IIRC.

Piers Morgan's Life Stories lost a lot more viewers than I was expecting! I predicted 8m on the RPG so was expecting at least 7m to be honest. Pretty poor result there. Dirty Dancing on C5 rated very well as usual, well scheduled and promoted - should be in C5's top 5 of the BARB chart this week. Also a great peak for the Snooker Final.

The reason the peak was from 8.45pm was due to there being no adverts in that section.

* down 43% on Susan Boyle: I Dreamed a Dream last year.

Piers Morgan's a little quiet on his Twitter page this morning. Not mentioned the ratings for his show last night yet, I wonder why.

Still banging on about his fantasy 280 million a night on CNN though, the egomaniac that he is.

X Factor averaging 8 million over two hours . How on earth did we arrive at 17.20 million now?

And Wayne Garvie searching through Radio Times back copies for other hits-I think its safe to say nothing else was uncovered.

The BBC should commision a talent/reality format to come up with a new talent/reality format lol-or at least an entertainment format.

Anyhow Robbie-have a look at this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11969424

Does anyone think any of the Christmas offerings will force its way into the top ten?

I think Doctor Who could get higher than the rating it currentlyy has in the top 10, I also think The Royle Family could creep inside the Top 10 .. but nothing else seems to be capable of getting into the Top 10 for me.

Possibly The Royle Family if it can replicate its success of the previous two years. Apart from that and maybe Doctor Who moving up the list for its Xmas Day episode, I don't think there'll be any change to that.

Well, actually maybe the Apprentice Final will get into the Top 10 but it depends on how the rating is reported (whether it's for 9-10pm or 9-11pm including You're Hired).

Lol, we must be thankful I guess.

Susan Boyle is a member of the Cowell Empire (CE) and thus qualifies for a considerable rating. Elton on the other hand has cast verbal rocks at X Factor and is suitably chastened.

I agree- there is little scope for anything dramatic.

data for w/e 5th December 2010 is now available on BARB website

here's the stuff I would have posted if I'd had time

STRICTLY COME DANCING (SAT 1840) 13.03
STRICTLY COME DANCING (SUN 1930) 12.04
MIRANDA (MON 2032) 4.01
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (MON 2002) 3.58
THE APPRENTICE - YOU'RE FIRED! (WED 2200) 3.15
THE X FACTOR RESULTS (SUN 1959) 14.53
THE X FACTOR (SAT 1940) 13.73
I'M A CELEBRITY - GET ME OUT OF HERE! (SAT 2124) 12.37
FILM: FRED CLAUS (2007) (SUN 1725) 3.44
COME DINE WITH ME (WED 1659) 3.25
CSI MIAMI (TUE 2104) 2.36
FILM: ICE AGE (SAT 1820) 2.35
FILM: ICE AGE (SAT 1718) 2.18 (that split thing is annoying)

Others
I'M A CELEBRITY - GET ME OUT OF HERE: NO (SAT 2224) ITV2 2.13
XTRA FACTOR RESULT (SUN 2101) ITV2 1.95
EASTENDERS (THU 2200) BBC 3 1.69
WEST HAM V MAN UTD-LIVE (TUE 1930) Sky Sports 1 1.45