With SCD approaching crunch time - do they keep the dancing pit pony for ratings purposes and lose all credibility as a dancing show - I'd be more worried about the momentum on the BBC show.

Dont really see why we need any amazings, wows or s today. X Factor increases marginally because the final is two weeks away and the weather was terrible for most of the country. I would have been shocked had it not increased.

TXF of course peaked against Armstrong & Miller this week rather than the less badly-rated Casualty. So no surprise it peaked a tad higher.

Not sure about the Widdecombe theory. Are you seriously suggesting that millions tune in to SCD from the start, watch it through until Widdy comes on and then switch off?

She's going to make the final! It's Chris Parker all over again!!

The rating for X-Factor is huge considering it was on for almost 2 hours. It just keeps on getting bigger.

Well as its been stated often, SCD is an entertainment show. I would be more worried for Cowell if Wagner wins. Any credibility for that programme when it moves to the States flies out the window...

It had nothing to do with weak scheduling, The X Factor peaked between 8.30pm and 8.45pm opposite the National Lottery, and infact fell to just under 13m for the final 15 minutes versus Armstrong & Miller.

The Widdecombe Theory is quite a plausible one - I do it, people on Twitter do it - peaks suggest viewers do switch off after she's performed.

The irony - when your show's credibility is set to be shot away to buggery by viewers continuing to keep no-talent Wagner in until the final, just to spite Cowell. He might even win, fatally undermining the whole format.

Although cynics like myself will say that this is a deliberate ploy by Cowell to keep up the interest, tabloid obsessive coverage and ratings right to the end - when one of his bland young things will win, bag the festive No 1, a moderately successful album next year, and then obscurity.


I think last night may be one of those occasions when circumstances worked against that premise. Normally, TXF would have finished before 9.30 at the same time as Casualty. Last night, ITV padded it out by another 15 minutes, thus climaxing when A&M came on and Casualty die-hards will have been flicking around.

Had TXF finished at 9.30, I suspect it would have peaked lower and the whole-slot average would have gone slightly down week on week.

Robbie,
Whats the difference between a peak and a climax?

My wife watches the whole show, I pop in to watch Widdy and then leave the room!!.

If they wanted credibility as a dancing show, they wouldn't have signed her up in the first place.

Why would anyone want to watch the rest of Strictly?

TV Burp had 6.4m (24%) yesterday, including HD.

Its 2010 Autumn overnight series average has been: 6.1m (24%). That compares to the 2009 Autumn overnight series average of 6.2m (25%). So very similar in the end, and with timeshift a more likely option for this series due to the clashes against a stronger SCD, this series might even be more popular in the official figures.

:sleep: Hilarious

Saturday 27th November Overnights
BBC One (inc. HD)
18:00- The Impressions Show: 3.94m (18.0%)
18:30- Strictly Come Dancing: 11.26m (42.6%)
* peak: 12.8m (46%) at 19:35
19:45- Merlin: 5.90m (20.9%)
20:30- The National Lottery Draws: 4.34m (15.7%)
20:40- Casualty: 4.72m (17.1%)
21:30- The Armstrong & Miller Show: 2.47m (9.6%)
22:00- BBC News: 3.59m (14.6%)
22:20- Match of the Day: 4.40m (23.8%)

BBC Two
19:30- Johny Kingdom's Year of Birds: 1.41m (5.1%)
20:00- Dad's Army: 1.88m (6.6%)
20:30- American Dream: 1.15m (4.2%)
21:30- Have I Got a Bit More News For You: 2.57m (10.1%)

ITV1 (inc. HD)
19:15- Harry Hill's TV Burp: 6.4m (24%)
19:45- The X Factor: 13.6m (49%)
* peak: 15.0m (54%)
21:40- I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!: 9.9m (41%)
* peak: 10.6m

Channel 4 (inc. HD)
19:30- Grand Designs: 718k (2.6%)
20:30- Apocalypse: Second World War: 1.02m (3.7%)
21:30- Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street: 1.34m (6.5%)

Channel 5 (inc. HD)
19:45- CSI: NY: 642k (2.3%)
20:45- NCIS: 961k (3.5%)
21:40- CSI: 910k (3.8%)

ITV2
21:40- Xtra Factor: 479k (2.0%)
22:40- I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here Now!: 1.12m (6.8%)

You do realise that Kate Garraway, Kenny Logan, Chris Parker, Julian Clary, John Sargent have gotten further.

One word Wagner!


Nice to see you back after your Daybreak sulk yesterday

Well, that is up to the voting public. For it is they who are keeping AW in the show. Never seen this dancing pit pony though.

And the SCD ratings seem to be very good (and are still much better than last year), so the viewers still seem to like or enjoy what they see.

Seeing and most of the country is having heavily snow(not seen any here yet) and it's very,very cold i guess people wanted to stay in the warm
I this XFactor will be high tonight seeing as the every talentless Justin Bieber is performing.

6.4m for TV Burp , didnt it get 7.9m two weeks ago?

Its down 1.5m in 2 weeks, its seriously tanking!

it's become so unfunny and samey of late.
lastnights was one of the worst i've seen.
It really wasn't that funny at all and was once one of the only decent things on ITV

Ouch. Don't blame Armstrong & Miller's poor rating on ITV1, when BBC2 actually beat BBC1 it seems during that slot.

Another very good rating it has to be said for Match of the Day, doing very well this season.

Another huge figure for XF. Even though the Saturday shows are stabilising now, it's still considerably up on last year and there's no other show that can pull in 13m+ for 2 hours every Saturday consistently. 13m+ figures only seemed the norm for the Sunday shows last year. This year seems to have stepped up a notch with Saturdays hitting 13m and Sundays hitting 14m.

Also 10m for IAC is great. I get an overnight average of 9.2m so far (and that includes the CIN dip). I'm pretty sure this is up on last year. Has anyone got averages for last years series? And maybe previous years?

Really surprised to see TV Burp's average pretty much level with last year and pleasing to see yesterdays episode above 6m, despite a full on clash with SCD, something it's avoided for the past 2 weeks. So really there hasn't been much of a decline at all, if any. Some of the elements have been dragged out, which can be annoying sometimes, but he's just appealing to a wider audience now, because I know that the kids love the studio gags.

4.7m for Casualty-that's pretty respectable against XF isn't it? I seem to recall it rating in the low 4's most of the time. Let's hope it can pick up after XF finishes. Ouch for A&M though-looks like IAC will have a very easy time hitting 10m, possibly 11m for the final next week.

3 Great rated programmes in 1 night
and Harry Hill and Merlin getting excellent ratings against juggernaught shows.


And not a soap in sight

Why don't you ask the millions who do?

It is just as credible as The X Factor as in it's not credible at all. It is a light entertainment show that I realise shouldn't be taken seriously or I'd pop a vain. It is nowhere near as cynical as The X Factor where contestants and panellists are just Simon Cowell's b*****s.

A programme where judges have personal vendettas and cheat so their act stay in even though they might be crap. A programme that shamelessly finishes just in time to release a record one week before Christmas to get the Christmas number one.

Neither show has much credibility but Strictly has a hell of a lot more than The X Factor!