Any song that he doesn't like must be banished from the charts immediately.

Fair enough, but the whole process of calculation now is spoiled (in my opinion anyway) by the effect of streaming. Apparently Clean Bandit wouldn't have been number one without it. It seems an age ago we had the Rage against the Machine drama, clearly we don't need the same point to be made again as far as XF is concerned.

For me the magic of the Christmas No 1 is a thing of the past anyway.

What evidence is there that I was "relishing"? I merely stated a fact I had seen in a news article. If I'd have said "thank god the single bombed" - that would be relishing. You do come out with some absolute rubbish sometimes Dan. I've defended X Factor somewhat this year, but some things can't be defended (you prove this frequently - abusing people because you have no logical arguments).

Yes, I did think what with X Factor somewhat out of the question for No. 1 that there'd be more of a push for the charity singles but none of them troubled the top 40 in the end. Only one song which aimed for the Xmas No. 1 did that and that was The Dave Clark Five (although considerably more successful in Scotland). They're changing the streaming ratio next year so it'll be interesting to see what that does.

In an effort to get back on topic... I saw a trailer for The Lion King during The Chase today. Channel 4 have moved The Last Leg to 9pm tonight, good move I think. I am worried they will run this show into the ground next year but hopefully they won't. Then again, we saw what they did with Million Pound Drop...

Ratings Thread Game: Win £20 Amazon voucher

Back for a second year, something fun to round off the year in addition to the ongoing Prediction Game run by Fudd. All you have to do is predict which of the two shows in the below matchups will rate higher on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in the overnights and whoever gets the most right will win a £20 Amazon voucher, sent electronically via e-mail. So a valid e-mail address needed and an Amazon.co.uk account as well to win the prize. If there's a tie, then the winner will be the person who submitted their entry first. Good luck! And happy Christmas to all Ratings Thread members.

Xmas Eve
1. A. Pointless: Christmas (BBC One, 6:30pm) / B. Blankety Blank (ITV, 6:30pm inc. +1)
2. A. Birds of a Feather (ITV, 8pm inc. +1) / B. Peter Kay's Christmas Comedy Shuffle (BBC One, 10:05pm)
3. A. The Yorkshire Vet at Christmas (C5, 8pm inc. +1) / B. 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (C4, 9pm exc. +1)
4. A. David Walliams Celebrates Dame Shirley Bassey (BBC One, 9pm) / B. Grantchester (ITV, 9pm inc. +1)

Xmas Day
5. A. Frozen (BBC One, 3:10pm) / B. The Great Christmas Bake Off (BBC One, 4:45pm)
6. A. The Lion King (ITV, 3:10pm inc. +1) / B. Maigret's Dead Man (ITV, 9pm inc. +1)
7. A. Doctor Who (BBC One, 5:45pm) / B. Emmerdale (ITV, 5:45pm inc. +1)
8. A. Home Alone (C4, 6pm exc. +1) / B. Dad's Army (BBC Two, 8pm)
9. A. Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 6:45pm) / B. Mrs. Brown's Boys (BBC One, 10:30pm)
10. A. Coronation Street (ITV, 8pm inc. +1) / B. EastEnders (BBC One, 9:30pm)

Boxing Day
11. A. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (BBC One, 4:30pm) / B. Captain Phillips (ITV, 9pm inc. +1)
12. A. Revolting Rhymes (BBC One, 6:30pm) / B. Witness for the Prosecution (BBC One, 9pm)
13. A. Still Open All Hours (BBC One, 8:30pm) / B. Outnumbered (BBC One, 10pm)
14. A. Gordon Buchanan: Elephant Family and Me (BBC Two, 8:30pm) / B. Big Fat Quiz of the Year (C4, 9pm exc. +1)

Deadline for entries: 9am Christmas Day.

Previous winners
2015: D.M.N.

More dull rules...

To be fair to XF, it's more difficult for the winner's single to get to number one nowadays thanks to streaming. Matt was number one on iTunes for about a week and debuted at number one on the sales-only chart. So it's not all bad.

I understand what the original point you were making was, that the winners single isn't as huge as it once was. I don't think Simon (or Syco for that matter) will be disappointed though as Little Mix, James Arthur and Louis Tomlinson were also in the top 10 in the singles chart. Little Mix and Olly Murs were in the top 10 in the albums as well.

Because apart from RATM you knew who was going to win, so not really a race.

if it has become a thing of the past it may have been ruined by Talent shows.

Not sure it is now though.

I wanted to join in last year. I like this idea, but if any of my predictions are anything to go by (I went for 10.2m for Sports Personality of the Year!) I don't fancy my chances, but I'll give it a go!

Do we have to post these on the thread?


That, and only four days of sales. Plus, no physical copy this year which I'm sure would have added another 10,000 sales at least. The problem for them is that as it's a Christmas single there's less chance of it trickle selling throughout the year (less so than previous singles) - sales will dive quicker in the new year.

Isn't Matt Terry signed with Sony and not Syco?

That's right, he's signed with RCA, not Syco. I think the point still stands though (Syco/general X Factor is doing well).

Haha! My predictions haven't been too clever recently either, to be fair.

Ideally yes. You may PM them if you wish, though.

I do agree there is still money in it. As I said almost every week during the autumn, XF is still profitable to ITV and Syco, even if ratings haven't been overly spectacular.

Well, I'm just gonna go straight in there. Fingers crossed!

Xmas Eve
1. B.
2. A.
3. B.
4. B

Xmas Day
5. B.
6. A.
7. A.
8. A.
9. B.
10. B.

Boxing Day
11. B.
12. A.
13. B.
14. B.

These excuses are bit irrelevant, the fact is it used to sell many 100s of 1000s. In the end the post was just saying that it proves that the show isn't as relevant, and these pld acts doing well proves it once was much more.

Not sure why the comment was jumped on.

I hate all talent shows but I'm pretty sure lack of chart success has been used (rightly) to bash the Voice. Even though X-factor is still more successful then that, but that ain't saying much.

My guesses for the competition:

1. B
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. A
9. B
10. B
11. B
12. B
13. A
14. B

I doubt I'll get many right but still.

Gosh, that share is quite something isn't it?

10 years later and it's bowing out with little more than 200,000 and 2% share for special episodes at different locations around the UK. A truly unbelievable collapse!

Regarding the spoiler....

Thanks. Presumably no special sign off from Noel then?

Will be interesting to see how his future C4 projects do.

1 - B
2 - A
3 - B
4 - B
5 - A (oh blimey, this one is tricky!)
6 - B
7 - A
8 - B
9 - A
10 - A
11 - B
12 - A
13 - A
14 - B

I see X Factor is still causing petty squabbles.

For the record, after my winnings last year, I spent some of my voucher on this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C6LS64I/

Some of you might need it if you type a lot in the next week.....

My attempt at doing the double below...

Xmas Eve
1. A. Pointless: Christmas
2. A. Birds of a Feather
3. A. The Yorkshire Vet at Christmas
4. B. Grantchester

Xmas Day
5. B. The Great Christmas Bake Off
6. Maigret's Dead Man
7. A. Doctor Who
8. A. Home Alone
9. A. Strictly Come Dancing
10. A. Coronation Street

Boxing Day
11. A. How to Train Your Dragon 2
12. B. Witness for the Prosecution
13. A. Still Open All Hours
14. B. Big Fat Quiz of the Year (C4, 9pm exc. +1)

Thanks Dancc (& Fudd)

Xmas Eve
1. A. Pointless: Christmas (BBC One, 6:30pm)
2. B. Peter Kay's Christmas Comedy Shuffle (BBC One, 10:05pm)
3. B. 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (C4, 9pm exc. +1)
4. B. Grantchester (ITV, 9pm inc. +1)

Xmas Day
5. B. The Great Christmas Bake Off (BBC One, 4:45pm)
6. B. Maigret's Dead Man (ITV, 9pm inc. +1)
7. A. Doctor Who (BBC One, 5:45pm)
8. A. Home Alone (C4, 6pm exc. +1)
9. A. Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 6:45pm)
10. A. Coronation Street (ITV, 8pm inc. +1)
Boxing Day
11. A. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (BBC One, 4:30pm)
12. B. Witness for the Prosecution (BBC One, 9pm)
13. A. Still Open All Hours (BBC One, 8:30pm)
14. B. The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (C4, 9pm exc +1)

Xmas Eve
1. B. Blankety Blank
2. A. Birds of a Feather
3. B. 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
4. B. Grantchester

Xmas Day
5. B. The Great Christmas Bake Off
6. B. Maigret's Dead Man
7. A. Doctor Who
8. A. Home Alone
9. A. Strictly Come Dancing
10.B. EastEnders

Boxing Day
11. B. Captain Phillips
12. B. Witness for the Prosecution
13. A. Still Open All Hours
14. B. Big Fat Quiz of the Year

Five of the current top 10 are XF acts and Clean Bandit were one of the duets in the Final. The recent dominance of the XF on the charts has been pretty extreme.