X Factor back with 11.7m

The ITV1 talent show was the highest rated show of the week, with an average of 9.9m (47.9%) tuning in for the launch episode between 7pm and 8.30pm.

Of those who were watching at the time, 41% of the audience were ABC1’s, and 60% of the audience were female. The show was popular with people of all ages, with no one bracket taking a majority of the share.

But the opener was half a million viewers shy of last year’s mega audience of 10.4m (48.5%) that saw the one-hour launch episode between 7.30pm and 8.30pm  on August 16.

This year’s series has auditions performed live in front of a 2,000 strong audience as well as judges Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh.

The Xtra Factor, which followed for the hour after X Factor on ITV2 was watched by 1.2m (6.2%).

Competition wiped out

The X Factor affected almost every channel at the same time. Over on BBC1, Total Wipeout was wiped out, with just 2.6m (14.5%) tuning in for the hour from 6.40pm. The series so far has been averaging 4.3m an episode and scored a solid audience of 4.2m (24.7%) the previous week.

Other National Lottery games which filled out the rest of the slot against The X Factor were also well down on their usual audiences. The National Lottery Guesstimation was only watched by 2.2m (10.4%) while The National Lottery Draw drew just 3.2m (14.7%).

Across other channels, sports fared well for broadcasters offering an alternative. Coverage of the World Athletic Championships managed to hold its own, averaging 2.7m (17.1%) between 5pm and 8.15pm.

England’s push for Ashes glory helped Five secure a solid with 1.1m (5.3%) tuning in for cricket highlights between 7pm and 8pm. For the hour to 9pm, NCIS then attracted 1.3m (6.3%).

Over on Channel 4, a double episode of ER could not revive its audience share, with an average of 380,000 (1.8%) tuning in between 7pm and 9pm and 35,000 (0.2%) catching up on C4+1.

ITV continued its entertainment push with The Cube starting strongly for the hour to 9.30pm. The programme averaged 5.5m (26.7%), winning its slot. It began with 6.1m (30%) between 9pm and 9.15pm, but this dipped to just under 5m by the end of the hour, dinted by the 4.6m (23%) that watched Michael McIntrye Live and Laughing over on BBC1.