X Factor to be screened on a Friday as rivalry with Strictly Come Dancing continues
THINGS are certainly hotting up when it comes to the ratings war between X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.
It's been revealed that for the first time ever, the X Factor will be aired on a Friday night at the exact same time as Strictly's first live show.
ITV bosses have claimed they had had to add an extra Friday night show as a result of other shows on the network which have squeezed the time available.
The shows have had one battle already this year, when Strictly was the clear winner last Sunday night with a scene-setter programme in which contestants were unveiled and paired off with their professional partners.
X Factor boss Simon Cowell conceded on Monday - when overnight ratings showed the BBC programme's average audience was 800,000 ahead - that Strictly had won "round one" but clearly he's not willing to give up just yet.
Boot camp and judges houses are always longer shows, and this year we don't have the space to accommodate a long show on Sundays for these stages, so we have decided instead to strip the shows across three nights
It seems that the boot camp and judges' houses stages of X Factor will play across three consecutive nights, rather than having just the Saturday and Sunday night editions.
The launch of a new Sunday night variety show on the channel, as well as the screening of period drama Downton Abbey, means only one hour is available on the Sunday so the decision has been made to add the Friday edition.
"The plan to strip boot camp and judges houses' across three nights has been in place for some time," an ITV insider said.
"Boot camp and judges houses are always longer shows, and this year we don't have the space to accommodate a long show on Sundays for these stages, so we have decided instead to strip the shows across three nights."
However, the BBC are rather sceptical about their decision and believe that they would have known that its rival was a long-standing fixture.
"It's very odd as they claim they are doing everything they can to avoid clashes but are playing X Factor on a Friday night for the first time ever when Strictly's first live show has been on Fridays for years," a BBC insider said.
The schedules for both shows are to be finalised later today but are unlikely to change, with both X Factor and Strictly pencilled in for 9pm starts on September 26.