Thanks Neil. Seems decent but the switch off afterwards for Chickens was small in week 1. Wonder what week 2 Trollied ratings were like.

What's working in The X Factor's favour is that it started later in The month, minimal competition and they've been pushing the show's changes and successful acts. So it should rate much better than last year's opener.

The Super Cup was exciting for once and went to penalties at 10.30pm so the ITV News on Friday didn't happen until around 11.05pm.

Score would you suggest if both Stepping Out and Through The Keyhole flopped, should they move them or keep them where they are? I think SO should be kept due to the fact it only runs for 4 more weeks, unless it really flops. And TTK could be shunted back to a later slot.

I'm not the one favouring BBC light entertainment - that's the definition of "limp-lettuce entertainment".

I just don't get why the guy inspires so much hatred - but as he pretty much said this week it's probably his critics that have made him the success he is.

What television actually needs is another Simon Cowell - not in the nasty judge mould but someone who like it or not can come along and launch a couple of big formats which will drive TV entertainment for the next few years, not just with their shows but also the shows they inspire. Until that person comes along I'm afraid it'll probably still be Simon Cowell whose face you want to smash in.

There probably isn't much they can do about Stepping Out with it being live so I'd keep it where it is, especially as, like you said, it is only a short run. They'll probably keep Keyhole where it is too. They could shift it a bit later I suppose but to be honest X Factor will be a bit longer in a few weeks when it hits bootcamp anyway so it probably will be on at 9.30pm then anyway, and I doubt they've got anything to replace it with at such short notice anyway. Besides, with an XF lead-in I can't see it doing horrendously anyway, just disappointing c3m numbers I expect. It'll skew young too so unless it really stinks the place out, which seems unlikely, I suspect they'll leave that one too.

Yes, BBC entertainment is currently so bad the BBC News channel is more addictive. I never said anything about BBC entertainment in my post. I also never slagged off ITV entertainment either. But when people praise how good Big Brother is and I'm A Celebrity is, it clearly demonstrates how unsophisticated the TV audience has become. With regards to Cowell he's loathsome. Why? Because he is a massive control freak who demands his own way. He "owns" the lives of those he made a success. He manipulates and criticises the press when they print negative things about him, yet is happy to put out into the press mindless, mundane lifestyle stories about him when XFactor is beaten by SCD. He despises the BBC one minute then lets his production company make a drama about a mental institution for them the next. (I won't be watching it). When Cowell is dead I suspect the truth will come out about him. He is no way a pure, angelic soul. getting his own way is paramount to him. Giving others success in his name is conditional. You sign with Cowell, you make a deal with the devil.

Sensible and fair.

Hype about the changes and some scheduling trickery will see it through these first few weeks. The true test comes later, especially when the live shows start.

If it's not down overall for the run by its end I'll be very surprised. Shows as old as X Factor don't suddenly lose that many viewers when the paramaters are largely the same through a mere "blip." It's surely on the way back down now. And if I was an X Factor fan, I wouldn't necessarily mind this. Especially if it helps to rediscover what made it a fun show originally, before it became a ghastly ratings obsessed machine.

Out of interest, why are so many posters so obssessed with The X-Factor that they can't actually notice anything else that's on TV other than Big Brother or Kieth Lemon? That's what this thread becomes until Christmas. It's like a Simon Cowell fan club thread.

It was the main thing on TV tonight. It also happens to be one of the biggest shows on TV and has undergone a revamp. Naturally therefore there will be a lot of discussion about it. If you don't like it then don't read it.

Nobody apart from perhaps people who hate Simon Cowell actually bring him up in the conversation. Most people only talk about The X Factor.

Search "Cowell" using the box at the top right...

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/searc...archid=4730107

Remarkable how often your name comes up. And it certainly doesn't look like a fan club. You see, it's probably worth pointing out at this stage that he isn't actually on the show. And it seems like those that have an issue with him are the ones intent on talking about him. Peculiar, that.

Throughout the year various shows dominate this thread (as does Christmas, which Robbie posts about intermittently from February onwards ). Usually shows which have variable ratings and/or which are financially vital to the channels they air on and play a huge role in the overall ratings health of their channels. Given that X Factor ticks all these boxes and launched tonight...

I saw Simon Cowell at least three times on tonight's X Factor

Well I'm one of the viewers who is happy with X Factor format changes. I like the fact that right from the start we're already getting a sense of competition and progression with the room followed by arena round. Though tbh I'm not sure how it'll go down overall as I gather a lot of casual viewers find the traditional 'talent and freak of the week' audition stage easily accessible so may find the Sunday arena shows with acts we've already seen a turn off? I guess we'll see in due course.

A ratings thread discussing one of the biggest rating shows on television? Well I never...

Is Keith lemon, funny or just annoying? Watched keyhole did I like it, not really sure. Who does it appeal to??? Surely the fans ok lemon will find it way too safe, and the fans of the original will hate what he's done to it???

Here's a suggestion for the autumn on this thread, every time you get annoyed about yet another person commenting on how poor eastenders is, or how the X factor is in crisis. Just start up a new topic instead of adding to the discussion about how people keep going on about it!!

My thoughts exactly. This forum isn't one of those where you have to keep stringently on one specific topic in a particular thread, thank god. We have the choice to join in a particular discussion or ignore and post about something else if it doesn't interest us.

What actually is this? I've been avoiding the X Factor forum as I'm trying to avoid seeing category and act spoilers.

Just noticed what remains is ninth most popular on iplayer, hopefully a good sign for tomorrow, I though it was great!!! I hope it rises, but I ain't hopeful, thinking about it, how often do we see a rising show?? This year I can only think of broAdchurch,

I think The Fall showed an increase in ratings across the run?

Oh yeah, pretty rare now though, autumn into winter will prob see a few due to weather, but of its own merit is rare

Every programme eventually fails, only soaps and Dr Who can reinvent themselves.

Even X-Factor can lose the public. However I don't think the first episode will be terrible numbers.

Stepping Out was boring. Who knows what that will get? It won't be much I think.

I watched a bit of Stepping Out, and I found it a bit boring, more so that there wasn't a result, but that's probably down to the fact I'm 16.

X Factor was pretty good, much better than last year's launch. But, Gary Barlow, that was the campest 'push over' of a chair I have ever seen on television.

Fruit Keyhole wasn't too bad either, but am I the only one who noticed that the ad breaks in between it were pretty short?

My prediction:

Stepping out - 5.5 million 26% share
X factor 9.9 million 44% share peak 10.4 million
Through the keyhole 3.8 million 22% share