9.9 million tune in for X Factor

Almost 10 million people tuned in to watch the return of TV talent show the X Factor.

The ITV1 hit, which was sandwiched between two parts of Simon Cowell's gameshow Red Or Black?, recorded a peak audience of 9.9 million viewers on Saturday night.

Figures showed the average audience was 8.7 million, with both numbers down on the last series.

Red Or Black?, fronted by Geordie duo Ant and Dec, did less well, with the first instalment getting a peak of 4.1 million.

That was beaten by Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull on BBC1, which had a peak audience of 4.9 million.

The second instalment of Red Or Black, which was on after the X Factor, pulled in an extra million viewers at peak.

The X Factor's launch show was up against the Harrison Ford adventure and the National Lottery, but its main rival Strictly Come Dancing - with which the talent contest was involved in a huge ratings battle last year - is not expected to have its launch programme until midway through next month.

ITV bosses will be looking for a ratings boost after the BBC dominated recent weeks with extensive Olympics coverage.

Audiences fell last year, with the 2011 X Factor final pulling in an average audience of 13.1 million, compared with the 17.2 million who watched Matt Cardle triumph in the 2010 competition. And it was the lowest average audience for the finale of the series since 2007, when Leon Jackson won the show.

But it still beat Strictly Come Dancing to a higher average audience across the series.