The X Factor down 1m viewers on Sat while Strictly soars
Montenegro’s botched attempt to steal group H glory from England dominated the schedule on Friday night, with the World Cup Qualifier proving to be the biggest hit of the day. An average audience of 6.9 million viewers tuned in for the entire event, with coverage kicking off at 7:30pm from Wembley stadium.
While only 5.2 million people watched the half hour pre-game chit chat, the audience jumped to 7.5 million at the 8pm kick off. As Roy Hodgson’s team beat the away team into submission the audience climbed to 8.7 million in the closing minutes as Sturridge’s penalty secured a 4-1 victory for England.
Friday night also played host to a grudge match of another kind as Emmerdale and EastEnders dusted themselves off and jumped into the ring for one last scrap before the week ended.
First up was Emmerdale at 7pm on ITV as nerves were a bit frayed as news of Cameron’s escape reached the village. The anti-logic law of soaps almost guarantees the fugitive will return to the very last place he should be, with Friday’s build up netting 6.7 million viewers and a 35% share.
An hour later on BBC One was the final trip of the week to EastEnders (8pm) as Janine tried to keep her mentally unhinged ex away from their daughter. Unfortunately the drama was highly affected by the wave of patriotism dragging people over to ITV – only 5.3 million viewers caught up with the latest half an hour of shouting and the usual hysterics from Walford’s finest, resulting in a 23% share and the day’s third biggest audience.
Saturday evening brought a complete change of tune as the broadcasters rolled out their flashiest arsenal and the grim stench of rotting soaps was replaced with a whiff of glamour and the musty aroma of adventure.
BBC One’s spangled armageddon, Strictly Come Dancing got the ball rolling at 6:30pm as viewers settled down for two hours of manically happy faces and bungled dance routines. Putting those death rumours to rest, Saturday’s glut of easy viewing saw the return of presenter Bruce Forsyth which helped the show become the biggest hit of the weekend.
9.8 million viewers caught up with the feature-length sized slice of sashaying and twirling, securing a whopping 43% share. The fact that the final half an hour overlapped with ITV’s The X Factor (8pm) damaged Cowell’s never ending karaoke soap opera enough to keep it in second place. Although the audience did pick up once Strictly Come Dancing ended, the average audience was already greatly affected.
7.8 million viewers watched as the final 12 acts took to the stage for the first live episode this series, racking up the drama and hype to unbearable levels. This is a massive week on week loss of 1 million viewers.
The faux emoting and selection of expressive clichés (you know – exactly like every series before) was the night’s second biggest show and secured a 33% share.
Saturday’s third favourite show came in the shape of harmless family fun Atlantis (8:30pm)- it’s Like Game of Thrones without the intrigue, violence or sex. The third episode of BBC One’s show about a teenager from our time who is forced to hang out with Mark Addy while being chased by mythical creatures, brought in 4.7 million viewers and netting a 20% share.
Sunday brought a surprise reversal of fortune as The X Factor Results (ITV, 8pm) bared its teeth and furiously fought its way past its rival on BBC One. You might think announcing which act isn’t coming back next week would be a short affair but ITV have turned procrastination into an art form (and a Sunday night hit).
9.2 million people watched as the broadcaster managed to fit a few advertisements into the actual programme as Cher and Ellie Goulding were on hand to prolong the proceedings by attempting to flog their latest wares. However, the impressive audience and share wasn’t enough to top Strictly‘s performance on Sunday.
Earlier at 7:30pm on BBC One, the dancing competition’s audience had fallen slightly, with 8.3 million viewers tuning in to see Vanessa Feltz being thrown under the bus.
Despite the rival shows both attracting impressive audiences, when looking at the Twitter activity it becomes clear that the fans engage with their shows in completely different ways. While Strictly Come Dancing generated a usually-impressive 418 tweets per minutes, The X Factor‘s eager fans made sure their voices were heard in the digital stratosphere.
9pm saw the fourth episode of international mega hit Downton Abbey headed to the dizzying bright lights of the big smoke. Just under 9 million viewers watched as Ladies Rose and Edith hit the West End, looking for their nearest quality Wetherspoons, resulting in 36% share.
While the weekend viewing might have been pretty predicable, Sunday did hold a small surprise as viewers were finally treated to the week’s final offering of Coronation Street (ITV, 7pm).
As Nick and David’s baby daddy storyline looked like it was finally wrapping up, last night’s extended Weatherfield fun also saw Roy host a fairly depressing get together at his flat (50% of guests being terminally ill will do that, though), netting 7.5 million viewers.
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.