- well, they may not be the biggest stars but they had their share of success soon after leaving the show

I'm sure the ratings will go up, it's just that Strictly's launch will have of course brought them down a bit

Yes.

They aren't selling millions of records but they are doing well for themselves.

Agreed. I think the ratings will be better without joke acts.

Shame it fell but I presume the SCD clash hurt it at the beginning. They should have moved it to 8:10pm. Nice enough figure nonetheless.


It's common in the industry for people to get signed and then flop. I'd have a guess that X Factor's track record is much better than most record labels.

I stopped watching after the Carolynne fiasco last series. Strictly is fun and never hypes itself to be anything more than a bit of weekend entertainment.

TXF has definitely become a victim of its own success!

Strictly's not a talent show though.

I would hope last nights rating remains the lowest point of the series.

I watch both SCD and XF - and SCD does have a nicer vibe about it, I agree. It's just pure entertainment - and before anyone starts, I'm not old either I like watching it before XF comes on.

The thing I noticed yesterday was that whilst the criticism can be harsh from Craig, it's also done with a bit of humour. When I turned over to XF yesterday and Gary was making fun of that DJ with the laptop, it was awkward to watch - this is the difference imo. But I like both shows

There's something very unpleasant about Gary Barlow, I find him quite arrogant, most of the time. In fact there's something quite unpleasant and contrived about the whole thing. It's obvious they hold some people who are very talented back for several years until there is a shortage of good acts and then invite them back. It's wrong and gives the audience the wrong impression.

I'm not really surprised Strictly beat XF last night, even by a small margin.

I record XF and spend the majority of time fast forwarding through the awful padding and dross. Really XF is only worth watching from bootcamp onwards.

The panel is so much better this year though, however I think the damage to the show has been done with regards the joke acts and people think the show is rigged after the whole Carolynne/ Rylan judges vote thing.

Strictly may have its faults, but generally it is far easier to watch and it never feels forced unlike the XF which feels the need to create constant drama out of nothing

Disappointed the ratings slipped last night

To be honest they need to get rid of Gary Barlow. He is terrible and like the above poster has said, there is something very unpleasant and unlikeable about him.

Next year they need to keep Nicole and Sharon, possibly bring someone younger to replace Louis and bring back Simon. Ratings problems solved.

Sharon said again very recently (matter of a week ago) that even if she wanted to return next year, she wouldn't. She said her loyalties are with her family and that her US talk show is what she focuses on the most in terms of TV. She definitely enjoys doing The Talk and I thinks he sees it as her main job. I thought that she'd come back if she was well received and if she enjoyed it, but despite the strong welcome back and her openly saying how much she loves the show, she still is adamant that she wont come back. It's a shame. I think the only reason why she would stay is if she gets a huge pay rise (she's on 2.5M at the moment so its unlikely considering ratings aren't much better) or if Simon comes back, which again is unlikely.

As for Nicole, she admitted that she had to be persuaded to return. I can't see her coming back I love Nicole, and I'd hate it if she left. Dermot confirmed plans that Gary will leave this year, but he might sidetrack and return, who knows?

I can honestly see a whole new panel which would be awful.

Of course, it's the official figures that matter more, and which will probably look a lot better.

So just to round up:

7.94m (36.3%) / 8.30m (37.9%)

Xtra Factor: 667k (3.3%)

Where did I say it was? I'd rather watch the celebrities learn to dance under the guide of an entertainment show than the likes of Rylan try to sing on a talent show. But each to their own

I think what could've also had an effect on the ratings was the fact that neither of the judges were tweeting along with the show, unlike last week, where Nicole, Gary and Sharon were... This spreads the word the show is on to their millions of followers, and so it'd have made a few more people tune in

Relieved to see the ratings fall again. Hopefully it will slip further next week.

If only they would listen to us

In previous years, there is usually always a bit of a drop between the first weekend and the second. I think that would be a fair comparison.

In 2010, the drop between the launch show, and the second show a week later was 1.3m (11.3m (49%) > 10m [45%]) but it did climb again. In 2009, it was only a small drop (9.9m (48%) > 9.8m [47%]) and it quite heavily rose the next week to 11.8m (benefiting from a football lead-in). So it's nothing new - it just looks poorer because it started from a lower base.

Sundays are usually higher. Last night's share of 36.3% equates to roughly 21.9m watching television in the 8pm hour. Last Sunday's share of 36.2% equates to 25.4m watching in the 8pm hour. Larger TV audience available on a Sunday.

Last week, the increase from Saturday to Sunday was approximately 430k (8.78m > 9.21m). Casting our minds back to 2009, the first year the Sunday audition show was brought in, there was an increase of 1.2m between the two nights (9.3m (38%) > 10.5m [41%]). But generally, there hasn't been a huge increase - usually in the 0.3m-0.5m ballpark.

But anything could happen. If we were to go on that, I think about 8.3-8.5m is likely for tonight.

You're "relieved"?

The best panel for sheer weight of viewers was Cowell/Cole/Minogue/Walsh. It reached its absolute peak then. I think its inevitable that Cheryl Cole will return despite whatever exists problem between her and Simon Cowell. If ratings are depressed again this year (and these early figures suggest they could be) then it increases the chances of a Cowell return too.

Mm, I think someone would have to be living in a cave not to know X Factor was on-especially as its repeated immediately after.

The overlap with Strictly was minimal. It might have affected the average but not the peak which was down on last week. There tends to be a dip between launch shows and the second week. Let's see what happens in week 3. X Factor was down slightly but not out.

Cheryl isn't coming back.

If the auditions continue to rate like they did last night, then hopefully they've got something good up their sleeves for bootcamp.

I mentioned this time and time again - they've got to put the focus of the show on the contestants, not the panel.

Accidental double post

From below 8m Saturday to above 9m last night exc. +1. They'll be pleased with that.

Very impressive rating

If only it had performed well on Saturday, we would've blown Strictly out the water.

9M for an audition show is great regardless of what series.