Strictly dances off with Saturday X Factor ratings

ITV primetime drama 'Downton Abbey' pulled in a peak audience of 10 million viewers last night, while on Saturday night the BBC's 'Strictly Come Dancing' swept the floor with 'The X Factor', beating it by a clear one million viewers.

Strictly Come Dancing: Johnny Ball and his partner Iveta Lukosiute
Strictly Come Dancing: Johnny Ball and his partner Iveta Lukosiute

According to unofficial overnight figures, ‘Downton Abbey’ garnered an average audience of 9.46 million viewers between 9pm and 10pm on ITV1 and ITV1 HD last night, a 36.3% share and the highest rating show of the day. An additional 344,700 watched the period drama on ITV1 +1.

In good news for ITV, last year the equivalent episode of ‘Downton Abbey’ had an average audience of 9.04 million viewers on ITV1 and ITV1 HD, a 33.8% share, and an additional 280,500 viewers on ITV1+1.

‘The X Factor Results’ had a peak audience of 11.4 million viewers last night across ITV1 and ITV1 HD. With ITV1+1, the peak rose to 11.7 million, the biggest audience the talent show has achieved so far this year.

Across the course of the show between 8pm and 10pm, ‘The X Factor Results’ took an average audience of 9.37 million viewers across ITV1 and ITV1 HD, a 35.3% share. An additional 253,800 watched on ITV1+1.

‘The X Factor Results’ audience was down more two million from the equivalent show in 2011, which had a peak audience of 13.5 million viewers and an average of 11.35 million, which was itself more than a million down on 2010 audience levels.

Also on Sunday night ‘Strictly Come Dancing: The Results’ danced off with an average audience of 8.06 million viewers between 6.45pm and 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC One HD, a 32.5% share.

BBC One’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ recorded an average audience of 9.91 million viewers between 6.30pm and 8.30pm on Saturday, a 43.5% share. Strictly's audience was 800,000 more than the same week last year and beat ‘The X Factor’ by the biggest margin for six years.

On Saturday night the second live ‘The X Factor’ was watched by a peak audience of 9.9 million across ITV1 and ITV1 HD, down two million from a peak of 11.9 million during the same episode of 2011.

‘The X Factor’ had an average audience of 8.52 million viewers, a 35.8% share, between 8.15pm and 10.30pm across ITV1 and ITV1 HD on Saturday night. An additional 324,000 viewers watched the show on ITV1+1.

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