[James]

4 November 2012 Last updated at 14:58

Strictly Come Dancing soars ahead of X Factor

Strictly Come Dancing has trounced rival talent show X Factor in the most recent round of Saturday night ratings, by some two million viewers.

The BBC dance show, which aired from 18:30-20:15 GMT, pulled in an average of 9.8m viewers - while X Factor drew an average of 7.8m.

It marks Strictly's biggest lead over X Factor in six years, although there was no direct overlap in broadcast times.

X Factor, which aired from 20:20-22:05, was also down 2m on the same 2011 show.

The average audience has fallen by four million when compared to this stage two years ago, the last series which featured the show's creator, Simon Cowell, as a judge.
Audience share

Cowell left the show after the 2010 series to launch the US version of the programme, with Gary Barlow taking on the UK role as head judge.

This year, Barlow is joined by Tulisa Contostavlos, Nicole Scherzinger and stalwart Louis Walsh on the judging panel.

Both shows dominated the audience share during their respective broadcasts on Saturday, with the BBC One show winning an average of 43.3% of available viewers and the ITV1 show attracting 33.3% of available viewers.....

Strictly Come Dancing had 2 million more viewers. Average of 9.8m to X Factor's 7.8m.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20198974