I do agree the scheduling was an absolute mess but the rest are excuses.

lies!
excuses!

let me list The Voice weakness because it has the weakness too but still winning
- no The Voice winner remains relevant post show (I hope Cassadee breaks that mold)
- all about coaches >>> contestants
- boring battle rounds - but they added 'steal' immediately
- Overkilled season
- too many contestants got eliminated in one night - losing family/region related fans/supporters/viewers
- smaller stage than X Factor
-etc etc

They need to have an X Factor winner be successful! Seriously, remember when Kelly was the first winner of Idol and was hella successful? Yeah, that hasn't happened for XF yet. Until it does, the show will NOT GENERATE INTEREST.

how is that a weakness? a lot of people including me watch the show for the coaches and all 4 coaches have huge star power each attracting viewers.

I still think it was a success though since it created huge social buzz + Simon earned his cash