Strictly averaged 10.4, peaking at 11.6m.
XFactor averaged 8.4m (inc+1), peaking at 9.6m.

It looks like another trouncing by Strictly over XFactor last night. Will XFactor have the lowest ever finals rating ever?

Poor XF

XF have got absolutely nothing that can compare with Artem's amazing and naked chest on Strictly.

At this rate, it'll have the lowest since possibly 2006 if it gets 10m in the officials, and 12m peak. If it peaks at 13-14m it'll be the lowest since 2007. We would be expecting the first part of the final to be the highest rated Saturday of the series. Last year, Strictly was beating XF on the Saturday most of the time, even the first part of the final, but the peak for the final didn't come close to matching the peak for the XF final, with only 13.3m compared to 15.3m for XF.

XF, while that rating is disappointing, at least it was up on last weeks show which had only 7.6m. I'm not sure if the 1D effect helped it much however. The ratings are just like they were before last week.

Ed Sheeran and Little Mix (last years winners) are on tonight. Can they give the results a boost?

Wow surprised Strictly is doing this well tbh

SCD have a very good lineup this year tbf.

Kimberly, Victoria and Louis all add charisma

Disappointing considering last nights show was the best in ages.

The damage has already been done,

Hardly surprising

Even without Bruce at the helm this week, Strictly still manages to be fun

X Factor needs a major overhaul and it is showing so much this year

The fact that Cheese Baloney and Rylan the performing seal are still there and polluting the show at the expense of the potential talent that should be there speaks volumes

XFactor is losing Itv millions of pounds in potential ad revenue this series due to the poor ratings. Even a show about midwives called Called The Midwife was getting better ratings than XFactor.

Even putting 1Direction on Saturday as a ratings boost wasn't enough.

Poor Simon

One Direction are overexposed now.

They are literally everywhere, people don't need to tune into X Factor to see them perform a song that the fanbase hates - when it's going to be on Youtube anyway.

So, you think it won't at least make 10m by the semi-finals?

The exact results show last year:

12.49m (41.87%) , +1: 166k (0.59%)
* peak (exc +1): 14.56m (47.02%)
* peak (inc +1): 14.8m (48%)

If we knock off 20%, tonight we could be looking at:

9.99 (33.50%), +1: 133k (0.47%)
* peak (exc +1): 11.65m (37.62%)
* peak (inc +1): 11.84 (38.40%)

Which seems realistic IMO. It'll get a bit of a boost from IAC.

I'm sorry to tell you this Hassan but XFactors ratings won't go up until the final. Ive been telling u this for the last 2months! People not watching the show already have no interest this year to join in watching midway through.

From Twitter:

XF peaks with 10.7m (av 9.1m) and I'm A Celeb launches with a peak audience of 11.6m (av 10.6m) - figs inc +1. Strictly won the night with 10.6m (41%).

So it was beaten by IAC for the first time in many years I think. Ouch. Viewers tuning in early for IAC didn't help either.

So 9m on average is just about reachable. Of course I'm not hoping for a sudden increase but the final would need to deliver a respectable peak (like the 13.8m BGT had this year).

Well ive loved x-factor for years, but its so dire now its untrue. Problem is i just dont care for any of the acts so im just not interested in watching at all. After last years crap, you think they would have realised they need to put more appealing contestants through.

I would have thought the likes of Union J and District 3 are appealing enough considering their fans would get anything trending on Twitter

The one thing the producers have sorted out this year is the scheduling, Saturday's show runs from 8:00 to 9:20, finishing well before 10:00. The ratings should therefore be no lower than this weekends.

These are the final consolidated peaks for the finals of all the series (from 2006), taken from the 5-minute data.

2006: 11.17m (48.2%) and 12.82m (56.5%)
2007: 12.79m (51.9%) and 13.15m (55.3%)
2008: 15.02m (53.4%) and 15.00m (60.6%)
2009: 15.14m (53.9%) and 19.28m (60.5%)
2010: 16.27m (53.9%) and 19.77m (59.1%)
2011: 12.84m (42.4%) and 15.71m (48.1%)

Quite interesting to see how much down the peak was last year from the year before but I don't think we'll be seeing a 4m drop in the peak this year.

like many others I've tuned out and for the last 2 weeks havent even watched the show on sky+. last night I couldnt even bear to watch the last 15 mins of the sing off. i suspect it will limp onto a 10th series but I dont think any amount of tinkering can revive the dying patient now

Stop being melodramatic. Yes, it's down on last year, yes it's rubbish this year but it's still in the top 10 programs. No way will it be cancelled next year if it maintains 8 or 9 Million people watching it.

Not exactly. If you count all TV, it was in 11th place for both the third and fourth live shows, and in 16th place for the fifth live show. Even though last year was down on the year before, it was still taking the third (the main show was getting beaten by Downton for the first few weeks, after Downton finished it was usually second) and first (results) spots in the ITV1 weekly ranking (not sure about all TV).

Most recent BARB week ending 4th November.

1. Downton Abbey - 11.76m
2. Strictly Come Dancing (Sat) - 10.95m
3. Strictly Come Dancing (Sun) - 9.94m
4. Coronation Street (7.30pm Mon) - 9.89m
5. The X Factor Results - 9.49m
6. Coronation Street (8.30pm Mon) - 9.32m
7. Coronation Street (7.30pm Fri) - 9.11m
8. Eastenders (Mon) - 8.76m
9. The X Factor - 8.75m
10. Coronation Street (Wed) - 8.57m

Single Entry Format:

1. Downton Abbey - 11.76m
2. Strictly Come Dancing - 10.95m
3. Coronaion Street - 9.89m
4. The X Factor Results - 9.49m
5. Eastenders - 8.76m
6. Emmerdale - 8.25m
7. New Tricks - 7.96m
8. Countryfile - 7.30m
9. Merlin - 6.88m
10. Ten O'Clock News - 6.19m

The X Factor: 8.23m (33.9%) , +1: 190k (0.8%)
* peak (exc +1): 9.16m (37.3%) at 20:45
* peak (inc +1): 9.36m (38.1%)