I agree totally.

Let us all get this into perspective, TXF still has the sort of ratings that any other entertainment show would barbecue its granny for. However, the relentless overkill and the fact it's been around for seven years mean ratings are down a bit. I stil reckon Cowell will let it run for another two series and if it's no longer number one in the ratings he'll cancel it.
However, I would think he'd be more concerned if the American version fails to take off.
On a different note a very tight RUWC should have persuaded 4 million to watch.This really has been a success for ITV1 and has made their usually dead morning weekend slots come to life. Roll on Brazil 2014 for the same, if not much bigger, effect if they bag an England match that kicks off at 10am our time.

The Live Studio shows are being provisionally arranged for April and May, it'll need to start before that for the other stages to be shown which are being recorded from mid January.

Moira Ross will be running it by then too...

I do think that's a bit Over the top Glenn i think it will run till 2016 at least. But i do think it will go like this one year Strictly will beat it then the next year X Factor will beat strict;y. A bit like Eastenders and Corrie now

Merlin overnight down vs. last week, but equal to last year (2010: 5.51m, 2011: 5.52m).
Does anyone know the ratings of the last two Friday repeats?

This is a problem the Voice might face. Some people (not necessarily yourself) have too high expectations. It's very very rare that a new show gets 10m in its first series, neither X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing managed it. And I highly doubt The Voice will get that sort of number either, even with all the promotion/marketing/cost etc. The newspapers, depending on their agenda, might start comparing its ratings to The X Factor and saying it's not doing as well. But at the end of the day, I think BBC1 would be extremely happy if it got 7-8m. Yes, it'd be at Let's Dance levels, but Let's Dance is a very popular show and just remember that's only about 5 hours. The Voice is going to be about 20-30 hours over the series so a 7-8m show for that many hours would be fantastic for them.

TXF could always do an Op Knocks and just keep going. It was only cancelled due to Hughie Green making political statements and annoying his bosses.

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I think it's could well do. I still think with X Factor not having any momentum and falling ratings Strictly could beat the final.

Halloween is on Monday 31st

When the tabloids have been telling everyone all week that The X Factor is in crisis both on and off screen it's no wonder the ratings have fallen. The tabloids are very powerful as there are millions in this country that believe everything they print.

From the BBC Strictly Come Dancing website...
Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey will be joining Craig Revel Horwood, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th November as a guest judge. After winning 'Dancing with the Stars' in the USA last year, Jennifer is excited to come to the "Mecca of spray tans and Tangos" to fill in for Len!

Forget that, then

Absolutely, there's a chance in the overnights. Not necessarily because of Halloween, but Strictly Come Dancing has risen +0.3/0.4m two weeks in a row and building momentum. With it facing easier competition next week, due to The Chase replacing Family Fortunes (which won't rate as well) and a smaller XF overlap, there's no reason to believe it won't go up by that sort of level again to about 9.8m. If TXF remains relatively stable week-on-week, as it's showing little sign of building momentum at the moment, then that would just about give SCD the overnight victory next week. That'll be a big moment for the two shows.

it's showing no sign of momentum becuase the ratings are lower this week. Rzt what do you think the chance is that Strictly could beat the final. I think it could be a great possiblity

The Strictly calendar must be different to The X Factor calendar Maybe its living in the past?

X Factor is down quite badly, but it needs a kick up the arse to revive it. I do think that the Strictly marathon (longer show now than X Factor - much longer without the ads) will tire out some of its viewers pretty soon.

Somebody said a similar thing to me about The Voice. Starting in January. That would be too soon after The X Factor so it would be wise to have some breathing space between them.

Also with Six Nations coverage I'm not sure The Voice could start until after it's finished.

It is driven by the Daily Mail

If it starts in the Spring and ITV have nothing to offer on the other side, it could still do well I suppose. Maybe ITV will wheel out Ant and Dec with another show for some competition- better not be red or black LOL

What time of year does BGT start

Wow. It really is happening. It's not a mirage.

TXF really is dying. Slowly of course, but the decline has set in. Which will prompt yet more media coverage in the coming week. Every paper I look at is now reporting TXF as (at one extreme) "ailing", "in crisis", "struggling" or (at best at the other end) "suffering falling ratings".

Most amusing reading all the damage limitation/expectation management from its fans on here, desperately trying to put into context the fact that SCD was only 300k away from TXF despite starting 90 mins earlier, and how SCD will obviously nose ahead on Halloween/Bonfire Night and might even beat the TXF Final (which is preposterous....).

Where's GeorgeS? He doesn't seem to post on here on Sundays any more. Can't think why....

I disagree. The Strictly shows are generally shorter than The X Factor.You set aside 2 hours to watch them, then there are the increased number of ad breaks. It must be a slog for a viewer. But people still watch both so the duration theory doesn't quite ring true.

But why is it preposterous robbie. Look X Factor has not got any momentum but Strictly has. There must be a chance.

Anyway you can't say it's in decline until next year. If that's lower then this year i will agree with you but i think it could be higher

I think X Factor's Final will still rate higher than Strictly's. But the margin of victory really depends on what kind of y-o-y drops it'll be experiencing around that time. If it's -10%, it'll probably be about 2m ahead of SCD's final. But if it's around -20% (like last night), the two finals will rate quite close to each other, bearing in mind SCD is down less than -5% vs. last year so far.

We're only talking about overnights, for a start. TXF timeshifts miles better than SCD does. So it is comfortably ahead, just not as much as it has been for the past few years.

To suggest TXF won't clear 14-15m for either 2 hour leg of its 4 hour final, when it has already got 12.5m and is still getting 11-12m a week in official terms, and holding up better on Sundays than Saturdays, is nonsense.

It's providing acres of coverage for the media.

X Factor ratings woe continues as Strictly Come Dancing wins head-to-head

I really don't know why everyone is surprised that X Factor is hemorrhaging viewers. When Cowell left for the US he made a choice and sent out a signal that he felt the UK X Factor was inferior to its US counterpart.

Basically he trashed his brand in the UK. If he can't be bothered with his show, why should anybody else?

Even if he comes back next year, I predict X Factor will never recover from this fiasco. It will have to be mothballed and a new show created.