‘Downton Abbey’ U.K. Ratings Rise, ‘X Factor’ Drops From Previous Week

ITV hit drama Downton Abbey and BBC ballroom dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday drew bigger overnight ratings than a week earlier, but fewer viewers tuned in to Simon Cowell‘s X Factor on ITV.

Downton Abbey, from NBCUniversal-owned Carnival Films, attracted an average audience of 7.9 million, for a market share of 32.3 percent of people watching TV in the U.K. at the time. That was up 160,000 viewers from the previous Sunday, according to ratings consultancy Attentional. The show’s overnight ratings, however, have been running behind last season’s.

Strictly was up 620,000 viewers compared to last Sunday, with an average audience of 9.1 million, the biggest of the night, it said. ?X Factor? dropped more than 200,000 viewers from the previous Sunday for an average audience of 8.6 million.

On the previous Sunday, X Factor had beaten the BBC dancing competition in the ratings for the first time this season by reaching 8.8 million viewers, compared with the 8.5 million. The ratings win for the music competition’s first live results show of the season was helped by performances from Pharrell Williams and Taylor Swift.

Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai