Wow, so merlin gained about 900,000 viewers from last week, and in the same slot! The repeat for LB:USA did fairly well as well so should have been very highly rated on friday!

Flipping heck! 11 million peak for XF!! That's amazing...and we're not even in the final stages yet!!

Though overall both ITV1 and BBC1 saw some strong figures last night with ITV1 staying above 4 million for the entire evening which is good for them and BBC1 remained above 5 million until 9:40pm. The X Factor is going to see amazing figures next week I think, with the results show up against a repeat of LB:USA.

A great night for ITV2 aswell, with Jack Osbourne getting more than the first showing which is good for him.

I would tend to agree with you, however although it hasent really been noted on here SCD has made it's best ever start aswell. I think it's more to do with TXF's popularity surge than SCD being in decline and unfortunatly for them unless they resort to game playing tactics, thats out of their control. Each ep of Strictly has been comfortably above what it was getting at the same stage last year and surely that has to be their main concern.

Week 1: 4.6m- 6.0m (4.6m being 07)

Week 2: 7.4m- 8.0m
Week 2 Results: 7.6m-8.4m

Week 3: 7.2m-8.5m
Week 3 Results: 6.9m-8.1m

Week 4: 7.9m-9.1m

EDIT: at those figures, Winter is well and truely here! 10m and 11m watching Strictly and TXF respectively, thats superb! (Especially the later)

I did put that SCD had been doing brilliantly, but then I edited it out because I wasn't sure if it was better/worse than last year Thanks for clearing that up for me

This is more like it, big Saturday night audiences for both main channels in the Autumn. When I don't see big ratings in the Autumn I worry.

Huge ratings all round there. That is X Factor's highest ever rated non launch or final show, and for the judges houses, which got 7.5m last year, that is phenominal. And an 11m peak!

Strictly did brilliantly too, being, as A Cillay said, significantly up on last year.

Woah really?!!

Though people singing in beautiful sunny locations has to be feel good TV at its best, surely?

I'm not surprised Strictly peaked at 7.40. They should have put the group dance half way through the males. I'm sure many people will have turned over after the 7th male dancer because the group dance isn't remotely important to the competition. The week after next will be the real test when we have 12 dancers v 11 singers and not much other filler.

Yes, especially when you compare these figures to Thursday night

So, what is the success of this years X Factor down to ? Cheryl Cole ? I think most had fears for it this year after Sharon left.

I see they were clever last night by keeping Cheryl's group until the end of the show, presumably helped to maintain audience throughout the programme and peak at the end.

I have to admit, I'm one of the people that thought this years X Factor was going to fail in comparison to previous years because there was no Sharon. I always thought X Factors ratings were so high because of controversy, most of which was caused by Sharon. But seemingly not, and ratings are higher than ever without Sharon. There is no doubt about it, Sharon Osbourne is a very popular woman (and a very hated woman at the same time) but the ratings really beg the question, is she as popular as people actually think?

I tend to agree. Fantastic ratings all round though, I dont think either main channel will be displeased, and good to see Merlin picking up again.
With regard to SCD-the male only/female only shows have never had the same feel as the mixed ones which presumably start next week.
That said, the benefits of winning the football contract will undoubtedly aid ITV next week and X Factor live will have the chance to get off to an even better start.

The 11 million peak for the X Factor is amazing - we aren't even in the live shows yet I think Cheryl Cole joining the judges panel and the absence of Sharon Osbourne may have caused the figures to rise..

Strictly also put up a decent performance. I wonder how its results show will do tonight. I am also very pleased with how Merlin is doing - a really enjoyable programme to sit down and watch on a Saturday night.

It will be interesting to see the figures for last nights Xtra Factor. Are they available?

Exactly. For ages we heard people saying that terrestrial television was dead. This was usually said by producers that made low rating shows or the channel bosses that commissioned them. But when The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who and Britain's Got Talent came along, people sat up and saw the viewers were there. They were prepared to lose people to lose viewers to other channels and assumed it was inevitable so accepted defeat.

But if a channel can come up with the right show viewers will comeback.

1.24m (6.8%)

I think terrestrial channels just have to work a lot harder nowadays as they face more competition from multichannel but like you say, as long as they bring out the goods, listen to the viewers and what they want and reinforce a 'quality over quantity' type attitude then ratings on terrestrial TV will still be of an extremely high standard.

Great Saturday night ratings for all channels, with the three minority terrestrial channels staying around average while BBC1 and ITV1 achieved great ratings. Even with a 20 minute clash XF and SCD did extremely well.

Is it possible that the huge success of Britain's Got Talent has helped the X Factor raise its figures. I'm pretty sure BGT brought in some completely new viewers to the reality/talent show format, and judging by the ratings they clearly enjoyed it. And the X Factor is quite similar to BGT (in the sense it's produced by the same company, it has Cowell) and maybe they decided to give the show a go. The ratings for XF08 (and SCD as well) are fantastic, and maybe 08 will be the peak year for these type of shows?

OMG! Good stuff for SCD and TXF! Amazing. But I think broadcasters must now find the problem to solve its summer schedules.

I do think something like So You Think You Can Dance could do well. It's been a success in American and Australia, and I can't see why it wouldn't bring in decent ratings over here during the summer. It would give ITV one big show guaranteed per season:
Q1- Dancing on Ice
Q2- Britain's Got Talent
Q3- So You Think You Can Dance
Q4- The X Factor

SYTYCD would probably be the weakest out of the 4- but nevertheless would probably bring in much better figures than shows like Who Dares Sings and some 10 year old movie repeats.

Is there anything for Friday night yet?

rzt can you put the ratings table up on the Doctor Who forum as well? Also did Hole In The Wall continue to tank last night?

Yes, this would be an interesting choice. Whilst we have singing competitions for ordinary people, I think it is time for a very good show for ordinary people too, and not with celebs all the time.

Yep, just have. Dunno about HITW, but considering DS didn't report it, it must have done terribly!

Regarding last night's peaktime shares, it must be the first time in a while that ITV1 has beaten the multichannel share- 28.8% v 27.3%. BBC1 was very close to beating it, which is really impressive.


Yep. Often during this summer I didn't have any incentive to watch ITV1 on Saturdays at all. In fact, TV in general on Saturdays were pretty poor. At least with a big show, it would draw viewers in to watch the channel and they might stick around to watch other programmes.

I am absolutely putting it down to Cheryl - I think she has completely revived the show this year and given it the boost it needed after four years.

Some incredible figures for both Strictly and X Factor. It's fantastic to see them both do so well. Loving this healthy competition.