‘The X Factor’ UK ratings fall despite Rita Ora hire, no ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ competition

Every year, we hear the same old song from the British press regarding how “The X Factor” is dying off, and how Simon Cowell is supposedly infuriated that he is losing to his BBC rival in “Strictly Come Dancing.”

Given the ratings from Saturday’s premiere episode, it would be safe to assume that the press is having a field day across the pond. The new season, despite the hire of Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw as judges and Olly Murs and Caroline Flack as co-hosts, drew 7.6 million viewers for its premiere. These mark the show’s lowest totals for a first episode in a decade. This comes even in spite of no major competition from either “Doctor Who” or “Strictly,” which should make some executives wonder how it will fare when those shows both return and become competition.

Ultimately, we feel like much of the problem here is just something that Cowell cannot fix too easily. Singing shows are on the way out, and the format has become too formulaic. With “Strictly,” you get new celebrities every year who you may know from somewhere else. The “X Factor” contestants, meanwhile, all fall into familiar archetypes and perform similar songs to ones from past years. Also, you’re really not getting much bang for your buck watching the show at this point, either. Over the course of two and a half hours of programming this weekend, we’d argue that maybe there was about eleven genuinely good performances, and then a whole lot of wasted time.

We’ll still watch “The X Factor” extensively, but we’re starting to think what the show really needs is some time to take a break, and then some new producers to reinvent parks of the show. The new judges are just a bandage to the show’s deeper issues of being outdated in 2015.

You can read our review of the latest performance show now over at the link here. Also, you can sign up here to get some other updates sent right in your direction via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ITV.)