Ratings Roundup: British Prime Time

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PREMIUM: ITV’s singing contest The X Factor pulled the biggest audience of the week September 16 to 23 in the U.K., with other ITV shows also taking top spots in the ratings chart.

With show creator Simon Cowell making a rare personal appearance, X Factor attracted 9.36 million viewers Sunday, according to research firm Attentional’s presentation of BARB overnight ratings. The figure includes the +1 timeshift channel. The show peaked at 10.8 million.

Downton Abbey, airing on ITV1 immediately afterward in a very strong Sunday lineup for the channel, was in third place for the week with a total of 8.42 million.

The X Factor also won on Saturday night with its Boot Camp edition pulling 8.3 million viewers as ITV1 again won prime time versus BBC One, which is the overall audience leader in the market.

The X Factor has been the British ratings champ for multiple seasons. The show’s finale was the top show of 2011 with 13.7 million viewers, even beating the Royal Wedding of William and Kate (13.6 million) on BBC One. But that figure was down significantly from 2010, when the concluding X Factor hit 17.7 million and even beat England versus Germany in the World Cup (17.5 million).

ITV1’s long-running soap Coronation Street on Monday (September 17) attracted the second highest audience of the week with 8.49 million, ahead of BBC One detective show New Tricks with 7.42 million, the best showing of the week for that channel.

BBC One’s soap EastEnders was close behind in winning on Tuesday with 7.32 million. In second place that night was Champions League soccer on ITV1 as Real Madrid versus Manchester United drew 4.68 million, the biggest sports score of the week.

Among imported shows, the main story of the week was the waning performance of U.S. series Dallas. The new version of the ’80s hit got off to a strong start on Channel 5 this month with a high of almost 3 million viewers. But the third episode on Wednesday (September 19) was down to 1.57 million and a share of 6.8 percent in the 9 p.m. hourly slot.

BBC One’s Countryfile on Sunday night was the top factual program of the week with an average of 5.63 million viewers and share of 20.6 percent.