TELEVISION: X on fire: ITV hit show dominates UK charts

By Paul Williams

X Factor guests influencing shape of UK music charts

By Paul Williams

The unprecedented impact THAT THE X Factor is having on fourth- quarter sales is poised to continue until the end of the year, as the likes of Susan Boyle and Rihanna take their turns as guests on the ratings-topping show.

The ITV1 programme's weekly influence on the shape of the UK singles and albums charts was felt again yesterday (Sunday) as the previous week's guest performers Black Eyed Peas and Leona Lewis were expected to claim the top two singles sellers with Meet Me Halfway and Happy respectively, while earlier guests Robbie Williams and JLS were battling it out for top-two superiority on the albums countdown.

Last week's results show featuring Lewis and Black Eyed Peas delivered The X Factor its highest audience yet, peaking at 16.6m and a 54.4% share, with the record viewing figures further emphasising how the programme is able to influence music sales in a way no other promotional outlet can come close to emulating.

"In an age when there are very few truly mass-audience platforms left, The X Factor has become pivotal for those labels and artists seeking to reach the family-based audience that can be so important to album sales in the run-up to Christmas, when nearly half of all music purchasing takes place," says HMV head of music Rudy Osorio.

"The series has not only become a conveyor belt of new, mainstream pop talent, such as Leona, Alexandra Burke and JLS, but it clearly now acts as a major showcase for many of the key releases by other artists as well."

Shakira, who was due to perform her new single Did It Again on yesterday's results show, is next in line to benefit from exposure on the show, while The X Factor's effect on the singles market will be felt again on this coming Sunday's new chart following the release this week of the 2009 finalists' charity single, a cover of the Michael Jackson hit You Are Not Alone.

If You Are Not Alone does top the chart this Sunday it will be the fifth number one in a row to benefit directly from The X Factor, a pattern that began with the first results show broadcast on October 11 when both Robbie Williams and last year's winner Alexandra Burke performed.

"This is a music-based phenomenon and we as a business should be celebrating it," says Epic managing director Nick Raphael whose acts include JLS.

"X Factor is without doubt the best music show on TV, the best entertainment show and the highest-rated TV show of modern times," he adds. "The booking policy of the show is extremely thorough. Their booking policy is global superstars, acts that are associated with the show and those that are established in the UK. As there are only two slots each week they have to make a big impact."

Although star guests appearing on the first four seasons of The X Factor all experienced notable sales gains, the impact of this fifth season on the fourth-quarter market has been significantly greater as more and more viewers have tuned in.

Polydor president Ferdy Unger-Hamilton, whose artist Cheryl Cole topped the singles and then the albums charts after her X Factor performance, says the industry needs big TV shows to drive sales above and beyond what can be achieved at radio, noting, "Any TV show that gives you an audience of 14m or 16m is fantastic."

Others now set to capitalise during the remainder of the season will include Susan Boyle, who will perform Wild Horses on next Sunday's live final, a day ahead of the release of her debut album I Dreamed A Dream, and Rihanna whose new album Rated R is also out next Monday.

Meanwhile, the debut offering by this year's X Factor winner remains the firm favourite to top the Christmas-week singles chart, which would make it the fifth year in a row the show's victor has topped the festive countdown.

Season 5 Guests OCTOBER 11 Alexandra Burke, Robbie Williams OCTOBER 18 Cheryl Cole, Whitney Houston OCTOBER 25 Michael Buble, Westlife NOVEMBER 1 Bon Jovi, JLS NOVEMBER 8 Black Eyed Peas, Leona Lewis NOVEMBER 15 Shakira NOVEMBER 22 Susan Boyle NOVEMBER 29 Rihanna Other guests for the remainder of the season are still to be confirmed

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