Oh for God sake even Judge Rinder was laughing it was a harmless joke. The PC brigade are out!!

Yes just like it's not The x Factor production team which decides, it's the public vote.

High end of my expectations for mcintyre, however secretly I would have loved it to be closer to seven, I'm guessing this will be sandwiched between the strictly final so could see a great final rating.

Blackpool always rates well and last night was no exception. There will always be differing opinions on the quality of the show. Let's not forget, that's all it is. A posters personal opinion. There is nothing factual, it's an opinion.

Surprised MM did so well. IAC did fine and XF is pretty static. Hard to see how it's going to improve much now.

Also regarding McIntyre I wonder if this series continues well, will they aim for 2 series next year, or will they be airing a new sat drama next autumn. I would either have two series or on extended run.

Isn't "His Dark Materials" lined up for the post Strictly slot next year? Must admit, it will be nice to have a fantasy drama following Strictly again.

Maybe next year, the BBC could be a bit more "naughty":

5.55pm Pointless Celebrities
6.45 Michael McIntyres Big Show
7.45 Strictly Come Dancing
9.10 His Dark Materials

And put Casualty on on Friday night.

According to The Sun (I know) ITV has signed for another three years of IAC

What's the cut off point for finishing filming the results show?

One show aired until 8.45pm this year didn't it? I guess the cut off is then.

I can't see how ITV are going to be competitve again on autumn Saturday and Sunday's. People say axe The X Factor but replace it with what? Whereas the BBC just have solid show after solid show.

Given that until Planet Earth came along they were winning Sundays 8-10pm that seems a bit pessimistic. It's not like Planet Earth will be back next year, it's very much a one off special. Victoria beat Poldark each week and XF results are still solid.

I agree about Saturdays, it is tough. The 6-8pm block is a nightmare for them. They need to just keep plugging away with new shows. Ideally they'd do what BBC1 has with McIntyre and find a hit in an easier time of year and then move it. Still easier said than done though.

A lot of the stuff aired in the results show is already filmed prior to the Saturday episode. The pro's opening number, the pop stars performances etc. All that is needed to be filmed are the results themselves, the dance off and of course "Len's Lens".

They could theoretically get it all done and dusted by 11pm.

Wow...nearly half the viewing audience for BBC Strictly. Excellent stuff. BBC Michael MacIntyre's Big Show did better than I expected. I was thinking it would get 4.5 million. Whilst not overly keen on Mac (I find him a bit silly/immature) I quite enjoyed it. The singing fireman at the end with his stunning voice, wow! There is a format there to work on and fine tune.

The format has been fine tuned. It flowed much better than S1, but I suspect that it is because of the format that the ratings were so good.

Assaulted? What you really mean is, you want the Ex Factor to have no competition. It is right that the BBC doesn't give The Ex Factor a free run because it won't improve if it does will it.

Delighted Mikey's Big Show did fairly well, was a fantastically entertaining show with the exception of Ellie Goulding. Although 'fairly well' comes with the caveat of it looking better for its low expectations rather than in terms of the actual middling number.

Only issue for me was the lip syncing on BBC One HD. Really annoying and a bit of a distraction.

How many episodes is HDM? 8? 10? 12? MMBS is 5 plus a Christmas special so if HDM is 8 or 10 episodes the two programmes could share the same slot across the Autumn. If HDM is 12 episodes, MMBS might be held back until January.


edit: Actually, if those programmes WERE in the schedule together, I imagine Strictly would be on before McIntyre and the two LE shows would be in the same slot they're in at the moment.

Outside the clash and ad breaks X Factor still has a 30%+ share. Hard for a new programme to match.

The repeats catch a fair few viewers, too.

SCD's consolidated are helped by all timeshifting/on demand being added to the one linear showing, whereas XFactor's are split between the first and the repeats.

It's good to knock Simon's smug smile of his face though isn't it. He dissed Strictly years ago saying his offering would essentially kick Strictly in the long grass in terms of ratings. Simon isn't laughing now is he.

In fairness, it was partly due to the amplified acoustics of the ballroom itself. It was a little grating for the viewer admittedly, but I guess sometimes things like this happen. It hasn't happened before and chances are it probably won't happen next year!

I personally find The X Factor live shows a huge improvement on 2014, certainly 2015 and 2013. It's a very fun show to watch now takes its self less seriously but however the production has been spot on. Last night was the best live show since the glory days I think.

...indeed, and what the Beeb has which ITV doesn't really is variety and quality.

All the tabloids do the same thing every day on Twitter reacting to a small number of tweets.
Impressed with the Michael McIntyre rating and I think the later time does help so I hope any future series stays at the later slot. Strictly as big as ever.

Oh it's been miles better-produced than 2015, I agree. But I think 2014 was possibly the best-produced series ever, the final 16 were all incredibly talented and the sets had a very 'high quality' feel to them, in terms of lighting, atmosphere etc. It felt really big-budget IMO and I don't think it'll top that again.

On a similar note, I think many get blinded by 'ratings nostalgia' over 2008-11. Folk need to see that, yes many were watching then, but they weren't necessarily the best productions.

Was there a problem with BBC One SD too then?