BBC One and ITV1 In Weekend Viewing Battle

The X Factor was Saturday night’s big winner for ITV1, pulling in an average of 7.5 million adult viewers in the 7.30pm timeslot.

The programme, which saw the final rounds of auditions and the judges allocated their mentoring categories, took a 40.5% audience share, compared to the Lottery on BBC One, which took an almost 22% share.

Previously on ITV1, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway was watched by an average of 4.3 million adults, whilst Deal Or No Deal on Channel 4 attracted almost two million adult viewers.

ITV1 also saw success on Saturday night with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, which managed to attract 5.5 million adult viewers, a more than 27% share. Casualty on BBC One, however, managed to lure 5.8 million adult viewers on average, giving the channel a 28.5% audience share.

Coronation Street outperformed Emmerdale on ITV1 on Sunday night, being watched by an average of 8.5 million adult viewers after Emmerdale was seen by 6.5 million.

Casualty once again provided a boost for BBC One, gaining more than 5.8 million adult viewers between 8pm and 9pm, whilst retro medical drama The Royal on ITV1 managed 5.6 million on average.

ITV1 then fought back with Midsomer Murders, which was seen by more than 6.5 million adults compared to BBC One’s new Jane Eyre programme, which was viewed by an average of almost 5.6 million adults, giving the station an almost 25% audience share compared to ITV1’s over 32% share.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk