They weren't young judges, they'd just had a lot of work done!

I hope grimmy returns the favour to Louis about the ratings situation karma me thinks

I assumed more people would watch on a Sunday due to it not be a Saturday night when people tend to go out, I also forgot it was a bank holiday in England. Maybe that had an effect?

Don't the live shows usually do better on Sundays than Saturdays?

The ratings will continue to slide. There'll be more competition in the coming weeks and none of the curiousity factor from those who turned in to see the new panel.

It'll be back up but will take time I believe/hope as it deserves to be. The bank holiday weekend had an effect everywhere so it's stupid scheduling again from ITV.Don't forget last year's series was constantly getting high 7m's on its Sunday's for six chair challenge but the awful live judges houses ruined the flow.

Fairly sure it will fall lower as it didn't have that much competition this weekend.

Don't think the media are really that interested in the panel which is crucial

6.2 in total, what was without +1 ?

I havent watched it yet as never watch it live as hate all the adverts - seem to be too many these days!!

Adverts are a big problem.

Plus the novelty of Auditions and Judges houses with the "journey" and sob stories thrown down our throats has worn thin.

I only watch the live shows now and judge on talent and unbiasly.

8.28 million watched last night! Up nearly 1.5 million viewers from its launch! Just shows how the bank holiday tarnished it.

what did Strictly get?

A peak of 10 million

No surprise there then.

Strictly and GBBO are now the two big ratings juggernauts. I bet ITV must be seething, especially as they tried to poach GBBO from the Beeb and were thwarted by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywoods refusal to channel hop. ITV is really tacky and desperate these days, expect the ridiculous and very historically inacurate Victoria to take a hit from Poldark tonight as well

If they put GBBO on after SCD on a Sat night it would almost certainly eat into XFs ratings.

That's only 70,000 less than last year's final. It's not dead yet!

I wish people would stop comparing with Strictly, especially on pure numbers. It's completely different audiences. ITV gets far more younger viewers than Strictly, which are more valuable to a commercial broadcaster. ITV would much rather get 8 million with good demos than 9 million with bad demos. =

of course after olly murs disaster Dermot is managing better, but it's still behind Strictly

This isn't the US. Our TV isn't dominated by demo chasing (thank goodness) and if the 16-24 age bracket was really so important for ITV, would they really want three of the judging panel to be 55 or above?

You can bet your life demographics are a key factor in how much they can charge for their advertising slots though. The largest proportion of SCD's ratings are from over 65s.

Surely people still aren't trotting out that tired old argument that Strictly is for old people, are they?

SCD had a wide range of ages that watch the show which is why it gets such good ratings. It appeals to everyone.

Great figure for X Factor, what a jump. Simon and ITV will be thrilled.

Though will it prove to be a mistake airing that stupid audition for so long about the under cooked chicken? They finally managed to get more people watching and they air that, could turn people away again.

I think X Factor could climb from now on. It's the best panel they have had and the closest it's been back to the good old days for the show.

I wouldn't say its the best panel, Simon, Louis and Nicole work, Sharon has been completely irrelevant.

Incorrect. X Factor's audience roughly matches that of the UK population whereas Strictly's is much older. Because TV as a whole skews quite old X Factor is a younger than average TV show, but actually is pretty much in line with the population.

Last year on average around 25% of XF's audience was aged 16-34 whereas around 10% of Strictly's was.

EDIT: Just found the age breakdown of the X Factor and Strictly episodes that aired on Saturday 21 November last year:

Strictly Come Dancing
9% - 4-15
3% - 16-24
6% - 25-34
10% - 35-44
18% - 45-54
17% - 55-64
37% - 65+
Median - 57

The X Factor
12% - 4-15
9% - 16-24
16% - 25-34
17% - 35-44
18% - 45-54
14% - 55-64
15% - 65+
Median - 42

UK Population
15% - 4-15
12% - 16-24
14% - 25-34
15% - 35-44
15% - 45-54
12% - 55-64
17% - 65+
Median - 41

All excluding under 4s as they are not reported in the ratings.

The median age of a BBC1/ITV viewer is about 60, so Strictly is roughly in line with that whereas X Factor is a fair bit younger, hence why it is so valuable to them. Of course, the median age of those watching X Factor online, on catch-up etc will be lower than those who watch live.