Strictly Come Dancing beats X Factor

Strictly Come Dancing once again surged ahead of the X Factor last night with a lead of over 1 million viewers in a strong night for BBC One with the latest episode of Merlin also seeing a rise in ratings.

Much will once again be made of Strictly Come Dancing‘s ratings victory over the X Factor last night and not by a slim margin either – the BBC dancing series had over 1 million viewers more than the ITV singing competition – that’s according to early ratings data. Strictly Come Dancing had an average audience of 11.6 million viewers compared with 10.4 million viewers for the X Factor – is the public’s love for the series ebbing away?

Meanwhile BBC One’s fantasy drama Merlin also ratings rise again with the latest episode, Lamia, pulling in 5.6 million viewers. And for those who are interested I’m A Celebrity..Get Me Out Of Here! had 7.9 million viewers.