14 Million Watch X Factor Finale
14 million viewers tuned in to watch Alexandra Burke fight off the competition in the finale of The X Factor on Saturday night. The ITV1 show, which itself came out on top, peaked at 53.14% of audience share.
The Girls Aloud Party, which bridged the main show and results, managed to maintain the majority of viewers, peaking towards the end with 10.3 million viewers.
In the end an impressive 13.8 million came back to watch JLS and Eoghan Quigg go home without the recording contract.
Meanwhile Strictly Come Dancing couldn’t generate as much excitement as its reality rival, despite the producers making the last minute announcement that all of the final three couples will be making it to next weeks finale.
At its peak 10.5 million people watched the BBC’s surprise decision to carry over phone votes this week to the final with a share of 42.3%.
Friday night saw Coronation Street inching ahead of EastEnders on BBC1. The first episode, which saw Maria’s suspicions increase, pulled in 9.2 million viewers. EastEnders at 8pm managed 8.3 million, a 38% share of the audience.
The second episode of Coronation Street at 8:30 saw viewers beginning to dwindle with 8.4 million people coming back for more Weatherfield dramatics at its peak.
On Sunday the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year started out with four million viewers but slowly built up over the two hour event as tensions soared. Finally, 8.4 million people tuned in to watch cyclist Chris Hoy surprise many and grab the award.
Meanwhile, Channel 4’s ability to cash in on The X Factor final, with a rerun of Peter Kay’s Pop Factor, didn’t quite do the trick. The show began with three million viewers and it was downhill from there.
It didn’t stop Kay’s brave attempt at once again undermining The X Factor in single sales with an attempt to launch Geraldine McQueen’s Christmas single after the closing credits. Earlier this year Kay beat actual X Factor winner Leon Jackson in the singles chart with his parody song.
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