TV Overnights: Both Downton & Strictly defeated by the never-ending might of The X Factor
Despite the hotly anticipated return of the BBC’s smiling and dance fest and ITV’s third series of Downton Abbey, a double helping of ‘underperforming’ The X Factor once again took in the weekend’s biggest audiences.
Friday
The weekend began, like it usually does, with a clash of high drama and uncontainable emotions. The soaps dominated over Friday night’s viewing, leaving little chance for other programmes to shine. The drama in Emmerdale kicked things off at 7pm on ITV1, bringing in 6 million viewers. This was followed immediately afterwards by the first visit to Coronation Street.
The majority of Weatherfield action focused on Tina attempting to rent out her womb for nine months to Gary and Izzzy, much to her boyfriend’s chargin. With all the serial job-hopping that goes on in that small street, you’d think there would be an easier way for a woman to make a bit of cash. The first trip to the cobbles netted 7.5 million viewers (a 36% share), the biggest audience of the night.
Afterwards on BBC One, Kat was busy cleaning up the mess of her latest phantom frolic (not literally, thanks be to God). As a devastated Alfie pushed his wife for answers, she remained stoic, frustrating 7 million viewers in the process. An average audience share of 32% tuned in to see the latest bout of procrastination in EastEnders at 8pm.
The second episode of Coronation Street at 8:30pm was down compared to the first but still managed to net 6.8 million viewers (a 30% share).
9pm saw the return of slimy friend of the celebrities, Piers Morgan. The right honourable king of publishing and television kicked off series eight of his Life Stories (ITV1) only by bringing in the longest serving James Bond! 3.5 million people (a 16% share) tuned in for an hour of congratulatory tosh as Roger Moore was told repeatedly how amazing he was.
Saturday
West London must have seen a shocking shortage of teeth whitening products and shirts designed for toddlers, as Saturday night witnessed the red carpet event that was the 2012 premiere of Strictly Come Dancing (6:30pm) from Television Centre. The 14 contestants sprang in to action, prancing sideways in front of the cameras, all the time smiling, SMILING for their lives.
Among the obvious faces to pop up (Ricky, Fern, A Dingle) were a few surprises (shouldn’t Jerry Hall and a Westlife have more exciting things to do?). The opening episode, which was host to the usual panto villains and some eye-melting clothing choices, secured 8 million viewers for the BBC, resulting in a 40% share.
Speaking of tired formats, The X Factor (8:10pm) waffled its way through another hour of the painfully convoluted ‘audition’ process, where contestants must arrive as a fully formed soap character or they have no chance of getting though. Poor old dead behind the eyes Leona Lewis wouldn’t get inside the building these days. The uniquely unmissable event was watched by 8.6 million viewers (a 37% share), easily beating its jazz-hands rival on BBC One.
Earlier, the last Time Lord’s latest movie of the week, A Town Called Mercy enjoyed a week on week increase of over 1 million viewers. Without the distraction of a minute Indian summer 6.6 million viewers watched Doctor Who‘s western adventure, securing a 29% audience share.
The usual mix of tears, blood and other bodily fluids helped Casualty pull in 4.5 million viewers at 9:10pm. An average audience share of 21% watched as another handful of silly civilians got themselves in all kinds of serious set-pieces.
Sunday
So, as it turns out, instead of getting fed up of the repetitive nature of The X Factor (ITV1, 8m), Sunday saw audiences actually grow. It was the final day of auditions, which meant anything could happen! Nicole Scherzinger was back, attempting the impossible task of filling the Dannii Minogue shaped-hole in the nation’s hearts. But with so much charisma and talent on offer, it was easy to confuse the two. The pioneering show grabbed 9.3 million viewers securely by the emotional glands, scoring the biggest audience of the entire weekend.
This was much to the disappointment of the Crawley family, who got all dolled up in their Sunday best to win back a legion of sceptical fans. Series two of Downton Abbey, while a commercial success for ITV, struggled to go down as easyily as the Titanic; it was clear the sprawling drama was rushed into production after the surprising global success of the first series. Last night was the opening episode of series three and it was clear that Julian Fellowes & Co. meant business.
8.7 million viewers tuned in for the arrival of Shirley McClane as an American socialite with little time for old world customs (or people). Highlights revolved around Shirley and Maggie Smith’s clashes, which was visually reminiscent of a very warm day in Madame Tussauds. Last night saw a rise of 500,000 viewers on series two’s opening episode. 8.6 million people ( a 34% share) tuned in to see the two screen legends battle it out.
Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks and key multi-channel stations.