Strictly Come Dancing slaughters The X Factor in ratings war... after Simon Cowell threatens to 'drop' his ITV show
Simon Cowell is set for disappointment when he wakes up on Monday morning.
TV ratings have just been released from this weekend and it's bad news for The X Factor.
Rival show Strictly Come Dancing not has not only beaten it, but it was also the most watched programme on the small screen all week.
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Disappointing: Strictly Come Dancing pulled in nearly two million more viewers than The X Factor on Saturday
The BBC competition series pulled in an impressive 9.5 million viewers whereas The X Factor managed to attract just 7.4 million.
According to figures released, Simon's ITV talent show was also embarrassingly 200,000 viewers down on the week before.
Compared to last year's equivalent episode, it was down 500,000.
A spokesman for the show said: 'X factor is averaging 9.4m consolidated across the series to date and has had a consolidated peak of 12.3m.'
Winning combination: Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have been working their magic on the BBC1 rival show
Happy: Judy Murray was in high spirits when she left the Strictly studios on Sunday
Miss popular: Despite not being one of the strongest dancers, Alison Hammond has been a hit with viewers
Smart move: Sunetra Sarker has boosted her public profile during her time on the BBC1 show
Meanwhile ratings for Strictly were up 300,000 on the previous week.
'Some thought the return of Simon and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini to The X Factor and Bruce Forsyth's Strictly departure would make a huge impact on the ratings,' a source told the Mirror.
'However, nothing could be further from the truth.'
Back in August, Simon admitted that if X Factor ratings didn't pick up this year, he would consider scrapping the show altogether.
Not looking good: The X Factor was embarrassingly 200,000 viewers down on the same episode the week before
A list help: Not even Ed Sheeran's impressive live performance on The X Factor was enough to persuade more viewers to tune in
'In this day and age when you look at the overall numbers, which are down, we’re very lucky that we’re still on air at the moment,' he told the Daily Star.
'If I’d been asked about the future of the show ten years ago I’d never imagine we’d still be making it in 2014.
'Once people get bored with it or if we get bored with it, for sure I’ll drop it.'
Strictly Come Dancing is next on BBC1, Saturday at 6.30pm while The X Factor is on ITV1 at 8pm - meaning there is just a 15 minute clash.
Never mind: Some thought the return of Cheryl Fernandez-Versini to The X Factor would boost ratings
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2809242/Strictly-Come-Dancing-slaughters-X-Factor-ratings-war-Simon-Cowell-threatens-drop-ITV-show.html#ixzz3HMv0Zgf2
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