The man responsible for some of television’s biggest hits said he thought the BBC’s decision to schedule Strictly Come Dancing against The X Factor was unnecessary and questioned why the corporation decided to make the move and “become a really competitive broadcaster”.
The executive producer of ITV’s hit talent show, Richard Holloway, said the series have a “finite lifespan” but is such a successful format, it could be rested and brought back.
When asked how many years he thought The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent might have left before audiences tire of them, Holloway, the acting CEO of Fremantle Media and managing director of Thames, said: “You’ve got to say nothing’s for ever … an entertainment show will have a lifespan, whether it’s five years, two years or 10 years whatever it might be.”
But speaking at a Royal Television Society Futures event in London held to celebrate his 50-year career in TV, Holloway said he thought Britain’s Got Talent, which he also executive produces, “can run for many more years, it’s our most profitable show in terms of selling it around the world”.
“BGT as a format is a more engaging format it’s got more legs … it’s a multifaceted show, there’s a lightness of touch … The panel on BGT are amazing, which is why we’ve stuck with them.”
He added: “X Factor sells around the world a lot. It will have a finite lifespan but I think you then rest it then bring it back. It’s a bit like Family Fortunes and The Price is Right, things like that.”
Family Fortunes was a hit for ITV with Bob Monkhouse, Max Bygraves and then Les Dennis, before it was rested and returned to ITV in 2006.
However, Holloway said that although overnight ratings for The X Factor “have gone down year on year”, it is still hugely popular and “we’ve got to look at and appreciate that viewing habits have changed enormously, especially in the last couple of years.”
Although The X Factor last weekend soundly beat the return of Doctor Who and pulled in 7.3 million viewers, overall its overnight ratings were down by 10% during its third weekend earlier this month.
But as Holloway pointed out: “The consolidated figures for X Factor have been growing by 2 million for every show, which is a million more than the year before.
“So people don’t necessarily want to watch TV at the time of transmission and we’ve all got to appreciate that and consider it.
“All members of the press are obsessed with overnights, that’s the story … that’s what you guys do, that’s fine. However, it’s not at all the true story of where the numbers are,” said Holloway, also pointing out that 2.5 million people downloaded The X Factor app.
With the competition phase of the new series of Strictly kicking off this weekend, there will undoubtedly be a focus again on the clash between the BBC1 dance show and The X Factor.
When Strictly returned earlier this month, it had an overnight audience of 8.7 million viewers compared with The X Factor’s 7.5 million and when they went head to head for 20 minutes the BBC1 show was ahead by around 3 million.
In August, ITV director of television Peter Fincham appealed to the BBC to avoid a clash that would “clip The X Factor’s wings”. Fincham went as far as publishing broadcast times for the entire run of his show to try to ensure they were not scheduled against each other.
Holloway said he thought Fincham made his move to stop broadcasters spoiling “the enjoyment of the people watching the show but probably more importantly to ITV, it has a reaction in terms of the numbers for the show so X Factor gets hit when that crossover occurs … It’s unnecessary. The BBC has got every right to do it but … why do that?”
Hosting the RTS event, Family Fortunes presenter Vernon Kay asked Holloway why The X Factor kept changing, whereas Strictly has made hardly any tweaks.
“Because you want to keep on refreshing it to make it slightly more interesting … if we’d not made some of the changes … people would be tired it,” responded Holloway.
Changes have also been made to “make it appeal to a younger audience”.
He said more tweaks were made this year due to the scheduling of the Rugby World Cup, which is also on ITV, but that The X Factor is due to return to the previous year’s structure when it airs next year.
When asked what impact Netflix might have on entertainment producers, he said he thought that for Netflix there has “got to be a future there” in entertainment but he thought that due to its global nature, it would probably have to be “something like a challenge show” in the same vein as Fort Boyard, which Thames made for Channel 5 in its infancy.
