X factor market 2018. What happened?

The Outright market this year was decimated. If you look on ahorsewithnoname's thread 'X factor pricewatch' he has the final total for 2017 £1,960,964 matched and this year £871,847 total matched. That's over £1 million pound or £500,000 matched less than last year. Anyone with any thoughts why? I know the show has lost millions of viewers over the last few years but I am talking about last year to this.