Well, not really. 10.1m on BBC1 at 20:10 but XF only started with 6.4m. It must have grew rapidly over the hour to start relatively low compared to the 8.3m average it recorded.

I wonder how it will do tonight. Stronger competition for sure. 7.5m maybe?

Sounds about right. Being up YOY is very probable, which is the main thing.

Interesting wonder if viewers of xfactor didn't stay til the end due to that whole chicken thing people seem to be complaining about wonder if it made them switch off

Last years 4th episode averaged 7.1 (inc +1). So hopefully it can top that.

It's such a shame they didn't launch XF this weekend. 8.3m for the launch would have been decent and might have been a touch higher if it was the 1st episode as opposed to the 3rd.

X Factor peak - 9.2m

Cowell will think he's dreaming, Fincham will be cursing somewhere.

XF/BGT always peak around 9pm or just before and tail off from there. It still had 8.9m watching at 9.10pm so I don't think it caused them a problem. It certainly got a mixed reaction online, but those whinging seem to think the show was taking them seriously and presenting it as some sort of sob story when it clearly wasn't.


Maybe, although in a way I think it looks better to have had a big week 2 bump. It's been a long time since XF rose in week 2. 2012 was the last time and that was only by 0.2m. Last night was its biggest week 2 rise ever in the overnights.

Since day 1 many people have banged on about how XF should be a serious singing competition, yet its best ratings come in comedy years (admittedly with a bit of balance with good contestants). If you want a completely straight singing competition, try the dullness of The Voice.

The BBC extended the length of TVUK episodes so they could dominate a couple of hours of the schedule. The problem is the places where on ITV the adverts would be, the BBC filled it with inane chatter and judges consistently saying "We're looking for star".

Everything about TVUK on the BBC was cringey. The chatter behind the scnes with Emma, the chat between the judges.

I don't think it'll be that different on ITV, but it will be interesting to see how many stop watching something they sat through on the BBC. I imagine the adverts will be a big factor.

Blimey, a rating or two to make us go . Thank you autumn, we owe you plenty.

We'll see if TXF can keep it going from here as at the moment it's a bit of an outlier in the data set, but certainly highly encouraging. And I'm not sure chickengate will be that much of a hindrance if it got people talking, which it clearly did.

Newzoids capitalised nicely and that scheduling looks okay despite some reservations beforehand. Strictly meanwhile defied all expectations of it on its return. It always amazes me how well the launch episode does considering the lack of performances.

Great episode of X Factor tonight, if not the best of the series so far! I reckon it'll be up on last week for sure and could possibly result in another boost for its third week.

X Factor used to perform amazingly on Sunday's but in recent years it's done awfully. Anything above 7 million will have me shocked.

Can imagine the sun headline tomorrow
poldark shafts Victoria
then in tiny little font ratings wise...

I've watched both. Personally preferred Victoria.

Sunday 7 September 1997

Schedule changes included:
The first episode of the new series of London's Burning was replaced by a Poirot repeat.
A repeat of the film Strictly Ballroom was shown in place of BBC1's drama Bright Hair.

ITV
12:30 - F1: Italian Grand Prix Live: 3.83m
15:10 - Regional variations
18:15 - News (?)
18:30 - Survival Special: Mountains of the Snow Leopard (R) (?)
19:30 - Coronation Street: 12.42m
20:00 - Heartbeat: 14.07m
21:00 - News: 13.19m
21:15 - Agatha Christie's Poirot: Hickory Dickory Dock (R): 7.51m

BBC1
16:05 - EastEnders (R): 2.66m/3.61m/4.32m
17:25 - The Clothes Show (?)
17:50 - News and Weather: 6.75m
18:10 - Regional news
18:15 - Songs of Praise from Liverpool Cathedral (?)
18:55 - Oh, Doctor Beeching!: 6.54m
19:25 - The Antiques Inspectors (?)
20:10 - Full Circle with Michael Palin: 5.64m
21:00 - Film: Strictly Ballroom (R): 5.39m
22:30 - News and Weather: 4.03m
22:45 - Everyman: Mother Teresa
23:35 - Film: The Thirty-Nine Steps (R)
01:15 - Weather
01:20 - Closedown

(?) Not in the Top 70 (under 6.06m)

BBC2
11:30-19:45 - Sunday Grandstand:
15:00 - 1.68m
15:10 - 2.12m (Cricket)
16:55 - 2.62m (Football Highlights: Scotland v Belarus)
17:05 - 2.50m
17:15 - 1.95m (Cricket)
17:45 - 1.38m (Gymnastics: World Championships)

22:10 - Film: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (R): 1.72m

C4
14:45-16:50 - Film: The One That Got Away (R): 1.53m
18:30-20:00 - Athletics: IAAF Grand Prix: 1.80m

C5
All programmes under 0.76m

Sky 1
18:00 - The Simpsons: 0.95m
21:00 - The X Files: 0.39m

Sky Movies
19:00 - Film: Operation Dumbo Drop (Premiere): 0.56m

Sky Sports 2
19:00 - Live Tennis: US Open: 0.49m

Yes I thought Victoria was good tonight. Its no DA, but its a good Sunday night drama.

The X Factor was fantasic tonight. The best episode yet. If it can keep this up it could just finally have halted the decline.

After a good few years, it seems that TXF are FINALLY giving the audience a show that they want to watch. It just makes you wonder why they didn't do it sooner. This last throw of the dice should have been what happened at least two years ago.

Just watched X Factor. What a show.

This is shaping up to be the best series since 2010.

Love the judges, the comedy elements. Contestants and the talent.

Good ratings 7.6m is great for them. I think next week it will rise again.

From rzt

BBC One
20:00: Antiques Roadshow - 5.24m (22.7%)
21:00: Poldark - 5.13m (22.7%)

ITV inc +1
16:30: World Cup Qualifier: Slovakia v England - 5.24m (31.6%)
* peak - 7.76m (39.3%) at 18:50
20:00: The X Factor - 7.64m (33.1%)
* peak - 8.35m (34.6%) at 20:50
21:00: Victoria - 5.33m (23.5%)

Solid figure, up YOY by over 500k!

Bit of a surprise that. I think most would have had them firmly the other way around!

Great for both however, particularly Victoria being less established than Poldark and airing on commercial TV.

I think Victoria being on episode 3 probably helped. Most people who started watching it will stick with it instead of starting a new show on Sundays and timeshifting Victoria. Seems ITV did the right thing in getting the headstart on it.

It is indeed good that both channels can put decent drama on and get decent ratings.

Anyone know what Poldark series 1 opener was?

Well that's a surprise. I honestly thought Poldark would be over 6m and Victoria below 5m. The promotion for Poldark has been everywhere, so I naturally thought this would give it a bigger audience.

Victoria might not be DA sized hit, but its a hit.

The channel bosses were semmingly right not to be worried about two dramas going head to head.

Poldark had 6.95m (29.0%) for its series 1 opener. From memory, I think Mr Selfridge was up against it.

BBC1
Countryfile: 5.80m (29.2%)
Antiques Roadshow: 5.24m (22.7%)
Poldark: 5.13m (22.7%)

BBC2
Dragons' Den: 2.18m (9.6%)
New York: America's Busiest City (R): 0.89m (4.5%)
A Very British Deterrent: 0.75m (3.2%)

BBC4
Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice (R): 0.32m (1.4%)
Storyville: My Nazi Legacy (R): 0.25m (1.9%)
BBC Proms 2016: The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: 0.17m (0.8%)

Channel 4 (exc. +1)
Speed with Guy Martin: 1.86m (8.1%)
Film: The Wolf of Wall Street (Premiere): 0.73m (6.9%)

#SpeedWithGuyMartin was back on C4 at 8pm with strong 2.2m/9.6% (inc. +1) @NorthOneTV http://www.overnights.tv

Live coverage of the #ItalianGP averaged 2m yesterday with a peak of 3.1m viewers. Won highest share of inds, 16-34s and ABC1s over its slot
Channel 4 Press@C4Press

Channel 5 (exc. +1)
Most Shocking Celebrity Moments of the '90s: 0.63m (4.2%)
Cricket: 0.60m (3.0%)
Inside the White House (R): 0.38m (1.7%)

Surprised at the 9pm results. I thought Poldark would be ahead by a decent margin, looking at something towards 6m with Victoria in the high 4s. ITV will be pleased with that. Poldark got a good rating too but I think they'd have liked a bit more given that it was the premiere and all the hype it's had. Both will consolidate really well though, I'm sure.

Another good result for The X Factor. I'm not entirely sure why the Sunday audition shows don't do as well as the Saturday shows but nonetheless it was way up on last week and nicely up on last year too. They'll be happy with that. It was the best show so far so hopefully it keeps it up. Solid as ever for BBC1's 7-9pm block and very good for the football.