X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing avoid clash

by Katy Garland, Brand Republic 19-Sep-08, 11:35

LONDON - The BBC and ITV have rescheduled episodes of 'The X Factor' and 'Strictly Come Dancing' to avoid a clash of the talent shows which would have sparked anger among fans of both shows.

To avoid an overlap of the shows, tomorrow night's 'Strictly Come Dancing' will start at 6.10pm ending at 7.30pm when 'The X Factor' will begin, with the BBC's new drama 'Merlin' going up against 'The X Factor' instead.

Although an overlap has been avoided this week, on the following Saturday 'Strictly Come Dancing' will run 20 minutes into 'The X Factor'. The first finishes at 8.05pm and the second starts at 7.45pm.

The second bootcamp episode of the ITV series has been moved to Sunday night at 7-8pm.

This is not the first time ITV have moved an episode of 'The X Factor' to a Sunday and is not set to cause any problems with the voting and results announcement because it is a bootcamp episode rather than a results show.

The scheduling change does however now mean that 'The X Factor' will replace the final episode of ITV1's show 'For One Night Only', which will be rescheduled at a later date.