TV Overnights: The X Factor wins a high of almost 13m viewers
The X Factor dominated the TV ratings once again this weekend, with a peak audience of almost 13 million viewers.
Sunday night’s X Factor decider won the highest figures – peaking with 12.8 million viewers during the pre-watershed prime time slot.
However, Saturday night’s performance show pulled in an equally impressive audience for ITV1 – 12.6 million peak viewers and a 45.4% average audience share.
As The X Factor continues to dominate newspaper and magazine headlines, as well as most conversations across the nation, viewers keep flocking to ITV1.
The channel also managed to retain the top spot post-X Factor on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories with the queen of Eastenders herself, Barbara Windsor, attracted 4.3 million average viewers and a 22.4% share from 10pm onwards.
On Sunday, ITV1’s new drama Downton Abbey also held on to the peak audience after The X Factor – pulling in a high of 8.7 million viewers and a 29.7% average share during the all-important 9pm to 10pm slot.
Despite ITV1’s strong performance during the prime time slots, other terrestrial channels did manage to get a look in this weekend.
BBC One did particularly well with Strictly Come Dancing, which secured 9.8 million peak viewers and a 40.3% average share between 5.15pm and 7.30pm on Saturday. The Sunday evening ‘eviction’ show also picked up more than 9.3 million peak viewers.
Meanwhile, BBC One’s new David Tennant drama Single Father attracted more than five million peak viewers and a 18.3% average share during Sunday night’s 9pm to 10pm peak hour.
The channel’s coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix also proved popular, despite the early start. Over 2.8 million peak viewers tuned in to see the formula one race – which saw BBC One bank a 45% audience share between 6am and 9am on Saturday morning.
The BBC’s Commonwealth Games coverage was also a popular choice among viewers. BBC One secured 2.3 million peak viewers and a 19% average audience share between 1pm and 5pm on Saturday, while the games banked more than two million viewers and a 16.3% average audience share for BBC Two between 12pm to 5pm on Sunday.
Five’s highlight this weekend was its Sunday evening 9 o’clock film The Da Vinci Code, which pulled in 2.2 million viewers and a 11.9% share. Meanwhile, Channel 4’s peak came with its Saturday night prime time film Die Hard, which picked up two million viewers and a 8.4% share.
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.