The X Factor dropped for two successive series but even then the ratings stayed consistent in a series and rallied for the final. So that's a positive for it. With The Voice ratings did drop and as true as all of that is, having one of the highest rated shows of the year is a real up yours to people that slagged it off. It's a bit like saying Michael Caine has made a lot of rubbish films and he'll just turn and say "Yes, but I've still got two Oscars."

I'm not either of them need much reinvention, ultimately it boils down to the acts. Though both series did see perceived favourites eliminated well before the finals.

The Voice needs to find a way to make the show seem like a 'too serious' The X-Factor, whilst TXF needs to strip down the razzmatazz

If ITV were brave enough to follow US version's live band approach, it would at least make the show seem less OTT. Though I guess people tune in for that rubbish, as they want to be entertained

one of which he didn't pick up in person because he was making Jaws 4

is that like Simon Cowell thinking Red or Black would be a good programme

Looking at DMN's rating breakdown it just shows how being before 7pm can make a small difference to a programme average. Strictly rated much better after 7pm. So the first part of the final next week will be interesting.


The Making Of A Lady was thrown to the wolves. Could have rated much better away from SPOTY. ITV should have put some factual on instead.

Jaws 4 says it all really!

You can do a lot of crap but if you have one moment of glory you can look to it. That's what The Voice can do. The trick is to try and get more moments of glory.

You were saying....?

Robbie seemed to think that 2012 was a normal year for sport and therefore SPOTY should have got a normal rating because it never rates any higher.

The rest of the thread knew that the UK have never had a sporting year like this before so knew it would get an Olympic sized audience.

Any chance people can stop going on about The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent or The Voice until such time as we get notification of one of those show's starting again, or at least until we get the Christmas ratings out of the way?

It's almost like those saddos in the Big Brother forum who manage to keep threads ticking over there, even when it isn't on air!

We're talking about the ratings for the year. It's relevant.

It dominated talk most of the weekend as well, not just today.

The Voice UK will now go down in history as a more popular show than XFactor in 2012. 12million to 11.3m [for their best rated shows]

I think there are just periods where there are no ratings around and there has to be something to talk about.

Erm I don't think so. At the end of the day both shows rated well at their respective heights this year, but TV did appallingly badly at its worst. To drop from 12m to 5m in a matter of weeks is terrible- very, very, very bad and there were no mitigating circumstances. The audience got bored. I predict the audience will never again hit the heights it did this year and suspect it's overall series average will be substantially lower for series 2, possibly leading to its axe...

X Factor on the other hand did badly in comparison to previous years, but it remained roughly consistent over the series and that consistency was still significantly higher than most of ITV's or indeed BBC's output with a notable few exceptions.

Indeed, Didn't The Royal Bodyguard end up quite high in 2011's top ratings table, and look what happened there!

I never said "2012 was a normal year".

Where did I say that?

Anyone speculating that SPOTY would get 10m was just wildly guessing based on how popular the Olympics were. I used the actual numbers, the consistent performance of SPOTY over the years, good and bad, to guage what it was likely to get, and took a punt on normality prevailing and people getting a bit over-excited about it all, as they are often wont to do.

So most folk got lucky, and I didn't.

C'est la vie.

Note that had it finished on time, it probably wouldn't have averaged 10m. How was I supposed to know it would run on till 10.30?

I wonder how many times Cowell has watched SPOTY so far, trying to find ways of SPOTY-ing TXF up a bit next year?

Amazing set, fantastic venue, Duchess of Cambridge as a guest, Emeli Sande, could we get Clare Balding as a judge, Seb Coe must be at a loose end now, what about Jess Ennis's amazing arse....

But the glimmer of hope is that 7m tuned in for the final and the scheduling was piss poor. If they improve the show and the scheduling I think it can rebuild it's self.

I agree with you however that it wont get nearly 12m next year and it may average lower. But if it's steady and increases throughout its run and the final averages higher she's a keeper. No way will it be getting super figures but I think a run of 7-8m starting with 6m and growing is enough to give it a second run.

Actually if it stumbled along with 5-6m you could say that BBC One has nothing else that can match that and they should keep it anyway. My guess is the Price may put pressure on the final decision.

I certainly don't think its as doomed as you say. There is still hope.

Ken

That would have been another great programme title.

I think I've found a new calling in life!

Super rating for SPOTY. Didn't think it would peak so high, 14.5m is HUGE and a terrific average too. SCD continues to perform very strongly. We should be looking at a 12m average for the Final on Saturday. How's it comparing y-o-y plesae? Anyone know?!

As for The Voice topping the TXF in the end of year charts. Is that really something to brag about after it went into total freefall during the live shows? Some shows were down to 4.5m. For all the troubles TXF's faced this year, at least its been consistent. The Voice's series average was 7.6m compared to TXF's 8.7m (inc +1: 9.0m). The Voice ratings were not consistent at all and went down every week once it went live which is why the series average appears low when compared with 11.99m for its top rating episode.

I'm surprised the BBC didn't go all Australian on us and like they did with the 100m back in the summer split the show into the main part then the final 10-15 minutes when the award was announced.

What were their respective series averages?

ETA: Just seen Roscoe's post - so TXF still had a higher series average. Says it all really.

I'm wondering if we'll get another Christmas Day without any 10m overnights this year. I think there'll be quite a few 9m ratings, but I'm not certain about a 10.

not many, there is very little Cowell can learn from SPOTY, given that the no 1 reason for its success is a very successful year of British sport, even outside of the Olympics. Cowell knows there is nothing that X-Factor can benefit from in that respect.

Meanwhile even if you take that out of the equation, SPOTY, is not a 20 week long marathon, with 1 sportsperson leaving each week, is a 100 metre sprint with the winner announced at the end. X-Factor can not do this.

I took a look in there and some of the threads are laughable, about housemates who were last seen ten years ago. Is it any wonder the show and its fans are treated with contempt?
However, on topic, excellent night for SPOTY, with a peak of 14.5 million and deservedly as this was a SPOTY that didn't struggle to find talent this year and was excellent from start to finish

Emeli Sande was on X Factor at least twice this series. She gets around...