Series 1 of The X Factor premiered on September 4, 2004 and concluded on December 11, 2004 on ITV. The series was won by Steve Brookstein, with Cowell as the winning mentor. Brookstein received a recording contract with BMG and went on to have minor chart success, with runners-up G4 achieving two platinum albums before splitting up in 2007. It was watched by an average of 7.4 million viewers, making it the least-viewed series until Series 13.