The latest performances show, which featured the final five contestants taking on the songs of special guest Britney Spears, averaged a mammoth 11.88m (46.1%) between 7.35pm and 9.15pm. The audience is up significantly on the 9.42m (38.5%) who saw the equivalent episode in 2007.
Last night's X Factor peak was 12.78m (49.2%) at 8.15pm. The later results show, in which Spears performed her new single and Ruth Lorenzo was voted off, pulled in 10.69m and a remarkable 50% audience share.
ITV2's The Xtra Factor logged a live stage series best of 1.38m (10%) in the hour from 10.45pm. The pre-results show averaged 622k (2.9%) against I'm A Celebrity on ITV1, which was up to a healthy 9.63m (40%).
Before The X Factor, New You've Been Framed! averaged 5.01m (21.1%) and Harry Hill's TV Burp had a laudable 6.7m (26.8%).
On BBC One, Strictly Come Dancing continued to perform respectably. This week's performances show averaged 9.8m (41.7%) between 6.05pm and 7.35pm, down slightly on last week's 10.16m (42.6%) series high. The peak audience was 11.17m (44.4%) at 7.15pm.
ITV1's primetime share averaged out to 41%, up from 37.5% last week, while BBC One fell from 21.9% to 21.1%.
On BBC Two, new documentary After Rome: Holy War and Conquest - fronted by Boris Johnson - had a reasonable 1.81m (7%) from 8.05pm, then an extended edition of Have I Got News For You amused 2.23m (9%). The channel's share lifted from 6.2% to 6.5%.
Five's NCIS double bill brought in 900k (3.5%) and 1.26m (4.9%) from 7.25pm, then CSI: New York delivered an all-day high of 1.38m (5.8%). Law & Order: Criminal Intent followed with 997k (5.5%). The channel's overall share dropped from 5.1% to 4.5%.
Channel 4 had another disastrous night, dropping from an average share of 3.2% to just 2.6% in primetime. The concluding half of Animals in the Womb drew 0.54m (2.1%) from 7.05pm, then A Time Team Special: The Lost Dock Of Liverpool averaged 0.78m (3%). A repeat of Civil War drama The Devil's Whore picked up 0.62m (2.6%).
Ratings data supplied by Attentional
