Saturday night’s launch of X Factor was fantastic viewing, I think you’ll all agree. In fact, we know you all agree, because 9.5 million of you tuned in to watch the first show which featured the previously reviled Louis Walsh being welcomed back into the fold. The very pretty Brian Friedman apparently the first casualty of this years talent show – he didn’t have any.

Despite the fact that ITV gave their BBC rival show DanceX a damned good kicking in the ratings, ITV would do well not to get complacent.

Not three months ago, Big Brother opened to its largest audience figures ever. And then watched their viewers fall away quicker than a wannabe’s clothes.

All this proves that in reality TV, there is no winning formula. Channel 4 and Endemol are discovering that the hard way and it looks increasingly like public patience is running out with the Big Brother format. The general consensus has been that this year’s BB has been the worst on record – backed up by a resounding panning from television critics and shockingly low audience figures.

The X Factor isn’t immune either – and the producers are savvy enough to recognise this. Whether the Friedman episode was a publicity stunt or not, bringing back Louis Walsh was the best decision they could have made. They’ve also made a few other potentially winning changes:

1. Hiring Dermot O’Leary to replace the charmless Kate Thornton. Having met him briefly last week, I can say that his energy and enthusiasm were intoxicating. He’s more than ready for Saturday night primetime.
2. Danni Minogue as a judge. We’ve all got such short memories – didn’t most of us say the same thing about Sharon Osbourne? What were her qualifications? Yes, she’s Ozzy’s manager, but you didn’t know that at the time! I think Danni will claim her place on the panel – let’s give her a chance.
3. Four judges: For the first time ever, the judging panel will be made up of four judges, and you have to get a majority vote of three to get through. I’m seriously hoping this’ll act as quality control – the talent on last year’s show wasn’t a patch on season two’s Brenda Edwards, Andy Abraham and all. Hopefully no Ray Quinns this year.

As most of you know, Unreality TV was started back in 2005, primarily to write about X Factor. It’s our favourite show, and we want it to continue to be great. I’ll miss Ben Shepherd on the Xtra Factor, but here’s hoping Fearne Cotton lives up to expectations – I haven’t seen that one yet.

And although it’s not as long in the tooth as Big Brother, we hope the format stays fresh and interesting.

[tags]X Factor 2007, Simon Cowell, ITV[/tags]