'Strictly' beating 'X Factor' in ratings war

Strictly Come Dancing managed to retain its lead over The X Factor on Saturday, but ITV1 was on top for the night overall.

The BBC One dance show averaged 8.9 million viewers - a 40% share of the audience - between 5.50pm and 7.05pm, while X Factor pulled in 8.5 million over 90 minutes, albeit from a later start time of 6.40pm. The gap between the two rival series has narrowed, however: last week Strictly had 9.3 million over X Factor's 8.7 million. The latter also claimed a healthy 48% share of 16-34s.

The X Factor results show, which saw 23-year-old Alisha Bennett eliminated from the competition, drew an impressive 7.6 million at 8.55pm, topping Casualty, which had 6.2 million.

I'm A Celebrity rebounded to 7.6 million (35%) at 9.30pm, comfortably ahead of BBC One's The Omid Djalili Show (3.4 million) and news bulletin (3.6 million).