X Factor finale was second most watched show of the year
An impressive 19.4m people tuned in to listen to Matt Cardle croon his way to victory on ITV’s Simon Cowell vehicle, according to figures published by BARB.
Stats show that the singing competition peaked with 19.44m viewers, equating to a 60.48% audience share, with an overall average of 17.15m tuning in for the 2hr long Sunday sing off.
Commentators have dubbed the show as X Factor’s “Super Bowl” moment, with the commercial broadcaster able to flog 30sec ad slots for anything from £200 - £250k.
Drawing the denouement out over two, two hour slots the broadcaster was able to cram in up to 24 30 sec slots every hour, drawing in top brand advertisers including Apple and Nintendo.
This was second only to the World Cup final broadcast on July 11 which topped 21.77m, or 72.7% of all viewers, although this was spread over BBC1 and ITV1.
Last years X Factor final peaked at 19.1m, with an audience share of 61.9%.