Strictly schedule shake-up

The BBC will dominate Saturday night TV, according to reportsÂ…

08:59 12 August 2009

Strictly Come Dancing will no longer air on Sunday nights but will instead have an extended Saturday evening show.

According to reports, bosses have abandoned the regular format, in which a pre-recorded results show was screened on Sundays after Saturday night's main show.

Dancers will instead compete and then, after public voting and a dance-off, one act will leave on the same night.

A BBC spokeswoman told the Mirror: "We wanted to make Strictly Come Dancing an unmissable TV event so we are packing all the action into one dramatic show.

"Audiences will be watching, voting and seeing who is in and who is out on Saturday night."

The shake-up comes to allow Strictly to rival ITV1's X Factor, which this year will have its main show on a Saturday evening and will air its results show on a Sunday.

In 2008, BBC1 lost out to ITV in the ratings war, attracting 12.6 million viewers against the X Factor's 14 million during  the final of both shows.

Strictly Come Dancing has also attempted to freshen up the format by calling in former contestant Alesha Dixon as a new judge and dropping Arlene Phillips from the panel. Ballet dancer Darcey Bussell will also join the show later in the series.