TV Overnights: NZ rugby final scores a high of 5.5m for ITV1

New Zealand’s World Cup Rugby win attracted more than 5.5 million peak viewers for ITV1 on Sunday morning.

The early morning match, which saw the Kiwi’s just secure victory in a nail-biting game against France, banked over 3.6 million average viewers and a 34.2% audience share for the commercial broadcaster.

ITV1 also dominated the prime time ratings this weekend with The X Factor and Downton Abbey. On Saturday evening, The X Factor peaked with 9.2 million viewers, though the live show pulled in 8.7 million average viewers and a 33.9% share during the full 8pm to 10pm slot.

On Sunday, the competition continued with a higher 11.1 million peak audience, but settled on 10 million average viewers and a 36.1% share. The X Factor has come under scrutiny in the press in recent weeks as ratings continue to drop compared to previous series.

This weekend saw BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing beat The X Factor to top ratings on Saturday. The popular celebrity dance show achieved a peak audience of 10.4 million viewers on Saturday night and managed to hold on the peak ratings when it came head to head with The X Factor at 8pm.

Strictly‘s results show – broadcast between 7.30pm and 8pm on Sunday – also pulled in more than 10.1 million peak viewers.

However, this Sunday’s latest installment of Downton Abbey helped ITV1 dominate the prime time ratings – picking up 8.7 million peak viewers and a 30% average share between 9pm and 10pm.

Yesterday’s eventful premier league games ensured BBC Two secured the late night ratings. Match of the Day 2, which showed the Manchester United v Manchester City derby and the Chelsea v QPR shocker, scored a high of 4.8 million peak viewers and a 22.1% average share from 10pm.

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.