X Factor makes its ratings move

Aucklander Eden Roberts became the first contestant to be eliminated from The X Factor during last night's live show. Photo / Supplied

TV3 talent show changes Monday time slot as audience falls and soap pulls in viewers.

The X Factor's Monday shows have shifted to a later timeslot, ending the competition for viewers with Shortland Street, the juggernaut of locally-made programmes.

TV3 would not say whether the move from 7.30pm to 8pm was because of the TV2 soap opera, only that the new timeslot was "due to audience demand". Shortland Street lengthened its Monday night programme to an hour two weeks ago making it clash with TV3's talent show.

The X Factor will now go head-to-head with Australian reality cooking show My Kitchen Rules which pulled 496,960 viewers last week.

MediaWorks director of programming Mark Caulton said in a statement they were seeing "a fabulous audience response on Sunday nights, but it has become clear that an 8pm timeslot on Mondays will better suit our viewers". Reality police show Drug Bust will now screen at 7.30pm.

"We believe this change will best serve fans of The X Factor as we head into the live shows."

Audience figures show the singing competition has been dropping viewers in its Monday night slot and is down 132,730 since its premiere a month ago.

The first time The X Factor screened on a Monday, the Shortland Street hour beat it by almost 62,000 viewers. The TV3 reality show had more than 266,000 fewer people watching. Figures from last night's show television ratings were not yet available.

On Sunday, the TV3 programme started its live shows with 401,840 tuning in.

Last night, 18-year-old Aucklander Eden Roberts became the first act kicked off the live show, leaving 12 remaining acts.

She was in the bottom two alongside Hamilton duo Toni Turner and Stacy Awheto, from rap group L.O.V.E.

"This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I've learned so much ... and that's purely been because of the people. Everyone here has been so inspiring."

She thanked her mentor Daniel Beddingfield. "You've put your heart and soul into us girls and it's just incredible."

The British star also praised the young singer. "You're amazing and everybody knows it now that they've seen you perform live a number of times."

Meanwhile, satirical website The Civilian sparked a Twitter frenzy yesterday when it posted a fake story saying busker Tom Batchelor had won the show.

The story said a technical error resulted in TV3 airing the final episode months before it was supposed to. But producers on The X Factor's official Twitter account reiterated the shows are filmed live and there was no winner yet. The winner is decided by public vote.

Shortland Street vs The X Factor

Monday, April 22

* Shortland Street: 511,600 (TV2, 7pm-7.30pm)
* The X Factor: 449,740 (TV3, 7.30pm-8.45pm)

Monday, May 13

* Shortland Street: 583,280 (TV2, 7pm-8.05pm)
* The X Factor: 317,010 (TV3, 7.30pm-8.40pm).

Nielsen Television Audience Measurement, All 5+